INDIANAPOLIS – On the final day of the season, the University of Indianapolis baseball team left it all out on the field, picking up a split with Illinois Springfield on Monday at Greyhound Park.
 
After dropping the opener by a 3-1 score, the Greyhounds appeared to be headed to a defeat in game two. But a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth snatched victory away from the Prairie Stars, giving the Hounds a thrilling 10-9 win to close out the season.
 
Kyle Orloff drove in three runs in game two, including the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly. Conor White notched his first career four-hit game in the finale and scored two runs, the last one on a great slide to walk-off game two.
 
GAME ONE: Illinois Springfield 3 – UIndy 1
UIS took advantage of some erratic play to open the scoring in the second. The Stars loaded the bases thanks to a fielding error and two walks, bringing Drew Harper to the plate with two outs. Harper made the Hounds pay with single to left, bringing home a pair of runs.
 
That lead would hold until the bottom of the third when the combination of a UIS miscue and timely hitting led to the team's first run of the day. Storm Joop reached on an error and Macy Holdsworth followed with a one-out single to put two on. After an Orloff fly out, Dylan Jones laced a single back up the middle, scoring Joop and cutting the lead in half.
 
But UIS restored their two-run lead when Division II home run leader Michael Rothmund connected for his 23rd long ball of the year in the sixth. UIndy loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but couldn't come up with a big hit in their last threat of game one.
 
Brian Wichman (1-4) allowed just one hit in 1 1/3 innings of work, but was lifted after walking three and being charged with two unearned runs. Reid Werner came in and allowed one run on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts over the final 5 2/3 innings.
 
Cameron Zunkel (3-2) scattered six hits, walked one and fanned two in a complete game effort.
 
GAME TWO: UIndy 10 – Illinois Springfield 9
Orloff opened the scoring in game two with a bloop single to left that brought Joop home from third. UIS responded with a run of their own in their half of the second, but UIndy broke the tie in the bottom of the frame. White scored on a throwing error to put the Hounds back in front and Orloff added to the lead with an RBI single later in the inning to make it 3-1.
 
Once again, the Prairie Stars evened things up, scoring twice in the third on an Austin Muensch two out, two-run triple. That score would hold until the bottom of the fifth when White's bases loaded single brought Jones home to make it a 4-3 game.
 
The lead was short-lived as the Stars tied things up once again in the sixth. Rothmund crushed the second pitch of the inning for his second long ball of the day, tying the game at four.
 
After a scoreless trip to the plate in the sixth, UIndy grabbed their fourth lead of the day in the seventh. With runners in scoring position and nobody out, Nick Miller sent a high chopper over the infield and into right, bringing both runners in to make it 6-4 Hounds.
 
Down to their final three outs, the Prairie Stars showed they had one last rally in them. UIS drew three walks and pounded out four hits on their way to a five-run frame and a 9-6 lead.
 
A leadoff strikeout put UIndy down to their final two outs, but the Hounds showed they had a rally of their own left in the tank. Miller and Hunter Waning drew back-to-back walks with the former coming in to score on Jake Perreira's double into the left field corner.
 
White followed with a single into right center, bringing Waning home and cutting the lead to one. Joop was intentionally walked to load the bases for Blake Richardson and the junior was hit by the first pitch he saw to force home the game-tying run.
 
With the UIS infield and outfield both playing in, Orloff sent a 1-1 pitch into right field. Muensch came down with the fly ball and nearly threw out White at the plate, but a savvy slide from the junior outfielder gave UIndy the win and triggered a wild celebration from the Greyhound bench.

What a slide by @UIndyBaseball's Conor White to score the winning run vs. UIS! #AlphaDogs pic.twitter.com/I6rigV2Uvz

— UIndy Athletics (@UIndyAthletics) May 8, 2017

 
Chris Boettcher (3-2) earned the win after recording the final two outs of the ninth inning. In his final game as a Greyhound, Connor Mailloux made the start and lasted 3 1/3 innings before exiting in favor of Michael Schalasky. Schalasky tossed five innings of three-hit ball before being lifted in the ninth.
 
Monday's games were the final in the UIndy careers of Mailloux, Jeff Lavin, Jonathan Bowen, Jake Shaw, John Eberhardt and Ryan Wood. UIndy closes the 2017 campaign with a 27-23 record, going 11-17 in GLVC play.