EAST PEORIA, Ill. – The top-seeded UIndy softball team (41-6) fended off not one but two elimination games Saturday, advancing to the conference final at the 2021 GLVC Championship. The Greyhounds took down No. 4-seed Maryville, 8-1, before dispatching fifth-seeded Rockhurst, 2-0.
 
Senior Hallie Waters topped the list of standout individual performances, as the Boonville, Ind., product spun a one-hit shutout versus Rockhurst to cap the day.
 
The Hounds are now set to face No. 2-seed McKendree Sunday to decide the league title. With the Bearcats yet to take a loss this week, UIndy will need to defeat them in consecutive games tomorrow. The first contest is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.

GAME 1 | UIndy 8, Maryville 1
The Greyhounds sent the Saints packing with a convincing win in the day's first elimination game. Two runs came across in the first inning on the two-run single from Lexy Rees and the Hounds never looked back.
 
Freshman pitcher Kenzee Smith (20-2) made the early lead stick, scattering six hits – all singles – and allowing just a single unearned run to notch win No. 20.
 
Four different Greyhounds went on to garner an RBI in the third inning, while Emily O'Connor punctuated the scoring with a two-run double in the fifth.
 
GAME 2 | UIndy 8, Rockhurst 0
After the Hawks edged the Hounds earlier in the weekend, the Greyhound's enacted revenge behind a stellar start by Waters. The GLVC Pitcher of the Year kept Rockhurst hitless through 5 1/3 innings and her lone walk didn't come until seventh and final frame. She finished with seven strikeouts to up her season record to 20-3.
 
Offensively, Lexy Rees' two-run blast in the top of the second provided the only runs of the game until the Hounds broke it open in the seventh. Each of the first six UIndy batters reached base in the game-clinching rally, including a pair of two-run doubles from Sydnie Foster and Brooke Montgomery. The scoring was capped by a sacrifice fly from Maddy Stout.