GREENWOOD, Ind. – Star left-handed pitcher Xavier Rivas sat down 13 batters from the mound while UIndy had six home runs leave the park this evening in a conference clash victory over Missouri S&T. The Greyhounds opened the floodgates in the eighth inning and pulled in a 12-4 win at Center Grove High School to move to 12-15 overall and 6-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
 
HOME RUN DERBY
Caleb Vaughn headlined action from the plate after sending out three homers over the wall. Aaron Blake smashed a grand slam in the eighth while Alex Vela and Zack Williams had one solo shot apiece. The six homers is the most by UIndy this season, outlasting the previous high of three hit by the team on March 5th against Wayne State (MI). Missouri S&T also joined the home run party with three of its own, making it nine combined between both programs.

RIVAS STRIKEOUT STREAK
With his 13 Ks this evening, Rivas continues to shine in his sophomore campaign as he has now recorded double-digit strikeouts in all seven games he has appeared in this season. His total sits at 84 strikeouts in 51-1/3 innings pitched.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Back-to-back solo shots from Vela and Vaughn in the opening inning off the scoreboard in left field gave the Greyhounds an early two-run advantage.
 
Despite S&T adding a solo homer of its own in the second to chip away at the deficit, Williams went deep for UIndy in the bottom half to help UIndy keep the short advantage.
 
Refusing to quit, the Miners went deep twice over the wall in the third to tie the game, but Vaughn added another dinger to put the Hounds back in front in the bottom half. Eventually, S&T tied the game up in the eighth.
 
Finally, Blake stepped up as a pinch hitter in the bottom half of the eighth and crushed a grand slam over the left field wall. This sparked the huge inning for UIndy, who added more runs on a Vela RBI single and Vaughn homer. S&T could not answer the call in the final inning.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-The Hounds had a game-high 14 hits while the Miners produced seven.
-Five different Greyhound batters had a multi-hit game, led by Vaughn with three.
-Alongside Rivas, Chaney Morgan and Blake Sarjent saw action out of the bullpen. Morgan was eventually tabbed as the winning pitcher.
 
UP NEXT
Action between the Hounds and Miners will continue tomorrow with a single nine inning game beginning at 1 p.m. ET.