INDIANAPOLIS—In a matchup of the top two teams in the GLVC, the No. 5-ranked UIndy softball team split a home doubleheader versus 17th-ranked Southern Indiana Friday afternoon. The Greyhounds, who returned to Baumgartner Field after spending the last six games away from home, traded 4-3 wins with the nationally-ranked Screaming Eagles.
 
UIndy's game-one victory snapped USI's 16-game winning streak, while the Eagles' triumph in the capper broke the Hounds' 11-game hot streak.
 
GAME 1 | UIndy 4, USI 3
The Greyhounds handed the Eagles their very first conference loss behind a gritty pitching performance from Kenzee Smith. Though she struck out 10 in the contest, Smith (18-3) had to pitch around five walks and two hit batsmen to record the hard-earned win.
 
USI did all their damage in the sixth, scoring three times to pull within a single run. But with the bases loaded and just one out, Smith stifled the rally by getting the final two outs of the frame and went on to sit the Eagles down in order in the seventh.
 
Super-senior Gianni Iannantone drove in three runs to fuel the offense, plating two with a first-inning single and bringing in another with a sac fly in the fifth. Emily O'Connor added an RBI single in the fifth inning.
 
Dominique Proctor and Megan Nichols each added two hits and two runs, with the latter pulling off a spectacular diving catch in the bottom of the seventh to help seal the win.
 
GAME 2 | USI 4, UIndy 3
The Screaming Eagles turned the tables in game two, winning by an identical 4-3 final. USI trailed 3-0 through five innings but delivered two-run homers in both the sixth and seventh frames to earn the comeback win.
 
Starter Haylie Foster (17-2) was tagged with just her second loss of the season. She kept the Eagles hitless through the first four innings until a leadoff single in the fifth.
 
Iannantone notched another ribbie with a solo shot to center in the second inning. Proctor tacked on a two-run double off the right-center fence in the fourth, while Sydnee Perry chipped in two walks and a run.
 
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds remain on campus Saturday to host a doubleheader versus Missouri-St. Louis. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET.