ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Entering the first round of the 2022 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Championship Tournament, the University of Indianapolis baseball team had hit a cold stretch at the end of the regular season by having lost six straight games which included falling in 11 of the last 13. However, the squad left all that in the rearview mirror and pulled together one of the biggest upsets the tournament has seen in a very long time, defeating the Green Division top-seeded team Drury by a staggering final of 11-1 in just seven innings of play.
 
ROLL WITH RIVAS
Just a day removed from being named as the GLVC Pitcher of the Year, Xavier Rivas earned the start on the bump against the Panthers and pitched a gem to help lead UIndy forward. The Portage, Indiana native tossed the full seven complete innings of work where he allowed just two hits and three walks and tallied a dominating 11 strikeouts against arguably one of the best statistical offensive teams in the conference. With this, he has now tallied 128 strikeouts this season and continues to inch closer up the UIndy single season strikeout leaderboard, sitting only behind legendary Bill Bright who managed 148 Ks in 1953.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Greyhounds raced out ahead in the contest after scoring a pair of runs in the second inning of play. Holding onto this small advantage, Jared Bujdos stepped up to the plate an inning later and launched a two-run home run over the left field fence to give the Hounds a 5-0 lead.
 

?? | IT'S GONE! ??

Jared Bujdos crushes a ball off the bat and gives UIndy a 5-0 lead over the top seed Drury Panthers in the third inning! pic.twitter.com/YrCF4sd1hG

— UIndy Athletics (@UIndyAthletics) May 13, 2022

 
The runs eventually poured in a few innings later in the sixth, which saw UIndy cross six total. Bo Minor, Alex Vela, and Caleb Vaughn all tallied RBI doubles each while Zack Williams and Bujdos each earned walks with the bases loaded. The final run of the inning scored on a fielding error by the Panthers. Drury added its lone run in the bottom half of that inning but it wasn't enough to prevent the run-rule loss.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-UIndy managed eight hits as a team at the dish while Drury had just two.
-Vaughn led the team with three hits while Vela had two.
-Bujdos managed a game-high four RBIs on offense while Vela added two.
-Drury had three fielding errors while the Hounds had just one.
 
UP NEXT
With the win, UIndy will now move on to face Quincy in the second round tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. ET at Maryville University.