INDIANAPOLIS – The University of Indianapolis baseball squad made it a 5-0 start to their season, winning both games of a Saturday doubleheader against in-region foe Grand Valley State.
Nick Lukac, in his Greyhound debut, was a menace to the Lakers, going 6-7 with six hits and two RBI across the two games.
GAME 1 | UIndy 4, Grand Valley State 2
Brandon DeWitt threw another gem to start the early season, going all seven innings, giving up only four hits and one earned run. He was accurate as could be asked, only handing out four free passes, while grabbing 11 strikeouts. The offense was electric behind him as well, led by the heroics of Lukac.
The majority of the Hounds scoring came in the bottom of the third, where a
Caleb Vaughn double sent DeWitt, hitting for himself, home for the first run of the contest.
Brady Ware went on to send
Drew Donaldson home from third just an at-bat later. A Lukac missile through the left side scored the final run of the third.
More small ball was the success story for the Hounds, with DeWitt scoring Spear on a sac fly to centerfield.
GAME 2 | UIndy 10, Grand Valley State 8
The second game of the doubleheader was a much higher scoring affair, with every frame minus the sixth and ninth seeing runs come across the plate. A disastrous start to the contest by
Seth Spencer saw three straight singles load the bases. After a hit by pitch the Lakers took their first lead of the series, up 1-0. A opportunistic unassisted double play by
Easton Good ended the jam and the inning for the Hounds.
Facing their first deficit of the series, Donaldson, the reigning player of the week, crushed a ball off the right center wall for a triple to make it 1-1, scoring the lead-off man DeWitt. Spencer went on to throw a gem of a second, with two Ks and ground out. His offense rewarded him and then some with Good absolutely mashing a ball off the dome, scoring
Jared Bujdos and Lukac, making it 4-1.
Grand Valley answered with two in the top third. It was until the bottom of the fourth where the Hounds took back the lead. They did it in style however, sending two balls out of the park, coming off the bats of Bujdos and Lukac. The dingers derby against the pen of the Lakers wasn't over, however, with Ware making sure he got his in. The big lefty smashed a ball over the right field fence for a two RBI homer.
Despite a 8-3 lead, the game was far from over, with the Lakers taking advantage of walks by the Hounds to net two more runs in the top of the seventh. That scoring spree was capped off by a two RBI triple to make it 8-7 going into the bottom of the seventh. Just a inning later, the Lakers sent a ball out of the park themselves to even it up a eight-apiece.
With the bases juiced at the bottom of the eighth, DeWitt was the hero of the second game, hitting a missile up the middle, right past the pitcher to score two, the final runs of the contest.
Wyatt Phillips got the win in the second game, going two and third innings, giving up only three hits and one run.
HOUND BYTES
UP NEXT
The Hounds look for the sweep tomorrow at 12 p.m. versus Grand Valley State.
