INDIANAPOLIS – After 22 non-conference games away from Baumgartner Field, the 20th-ranked UIndy softball team kicked off both its home and conference slate Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Drury University.  The Greyhounds (19-5) got a walk-off home run from Natalie Lalich to win the extra-inning opener, 5-3, before cruising to a 7-1 victory in game two.
 
UIndy 5, Drury 3 (10 inn.)
In their first extra-inning game of the year, the Greyhounds delivered in the clutch, holding the Lady Panthers (10-13) off the board in the eighth, ninth and 10th frames before getting a two-run bomb to deep center from Lalich in the bottom of the 10th.
 
In fact, all five of UIndy's runs came from the long ball. The Hounds fell down 3-0 through four innings before Dani Turner's two-run blast in the fifth and Taylor Podschweit's solo shot in the sixth tied it a three apiece.

Turner led off the 10th with a single and a stolen base before Lalich ended it with one final swing. Both players share the team lead with eight home runs on the season.
 
Freshman pitcher Lauren Honkomp (13-1) grinded out all 10 innings in the circle, facing 44 batters without walking a single one. She scattered 10 hits and struck out two on the way to her 13th consecutive winning decision.
 
UIndy 7, Drury 1
Game two did not feature the drama of the previous contest, as the Hounds broke open the game with a six-run fourth inning. UIndy batted around in the frame, with Podschweit (double) and Turner (triple) each producing an RBI extra-base hit.
 
Cathy Skaggs finished 2 for with a run and an RBI, while Jessie Noone scored after her first-inning double.
 
Freshman Crystal Sicard (6-3) got the pitching win with a solid 6 1/3 innings of work. She gave a run in a bumpy third inning, but recovered to retire the final 10 batters she faced.
 
The Hounds remain home to face Missouri S&T Sunday, March 19, with the first pitch of the doubleheader scheduled for noon Eastern.