INDIANAPOLIS – The University of Indianapolis baseball team is now 8-0, coming off a two-game doubleheader sweep of the in-region Purdue Northwest Pride.
 
Nick Lukac, continuing his success from the Grand Valley State series, and Caleb Vaughn both were large parts of the Hounds offense, with the duo grabbing three RBIs apiece in the doubleheader. The bullpen was stout for the Hounds, giving up only two earned runs over 16 innings.
 
GAME 1 | UIndy 7, Purdue Northwest 5
Starting his first game as a Greyhound, Brady Ware was electric to start the doubleheader, striking out the side in the top of the first. The Prides starter struggled mightily to start his day, walking Brandon DeWitt and giving up a single to Drew Donaldson before issuing a walk to Vaughn. That lined up Ware an opportunity to help himself, grounding out to second, not before sending DeWitt home. Another Hound walk and a Lukac sacrifice fly made it 2-0 after the first frame of action.
 
Despite the hot start, Ware faltered in the second, giving up the lead off of some situational baseball by the Pride. The score stayed at 3-2 in favor of the Pride until the Denton Shepler was able to send home Donaldson on a bases loaded double play.
 
The score flipped back and forth yet again, with the fifth seeing more small ball by the Pride scratch a run across. The Hounds, however, answered back big, with Lukac smoking a ball through the third base and shortstop gap to make it 5-4. Bujdos did much the same, driving a ball into shallow right field to make it 6-5. Vaughn grabbed his lone RBI of the contest in the top of the seventh, adding some extra insurance for the closer Wyatt Phillips who grabbed a save in the match-up.
 
GAME 2 | UIndy 6, Purdue Northwest, 1
Pitching excellence by Frankie Klemm, also making his first Greyhound start, alongside the bullpens lockdown nature was the storyline of the Hounds second game. The Pride grabbed the lead in second, driving a ball right back at Klemm to score what ended up being their only run of the contest.
 
The pitching of the pride was stout going through four, only giving up their first run in the bottom of the fifth, coming via a Vaughn sacrifice fly.
 
The high powered offense of the Hounds only needed a small break and they got it big in the bottom of the sixth, putting up a three spot on the Pride. Lukac got the party started with a long triple as the leadoff man. Jared Bujdos' double scored him just an at bat later. DeWitt followed up with a rocket up the middle to score another. Vaughn lucked out with a pop up that dropped after being bobbled by the catcher, scoring the third run of the inning.  
 
The final two runs came off the bat of Donaldson who drove a ball into shallow left field to send Will Spear home. Two at bats later, Vaughn did the same, sending Donaldson home to find the final score of 6-1.
 
Nolen Wolf, Brandon Markarian and Steven Jones all were lights out in the pen in the second game, throwing three innings of one-hit ball.
 
MORE NOTES
The Greyhounds 8-0 start to the season is the best they've seen since the year 1999 in which the Hounds went 8-0 before tying a contest with the Marian Knights. The current program record for most wins to start a season sits at 19, set in the spring of 1997. 

HOUND BYTES
Head Coach Al Ready on the teams performance so far this spring….
"We got a real nice ball club, we've been pitching the ball really well, we've been swinging the bats pretty well. We've made the plays; I would have thought that having nine days off we would have been a little rusty out there today, but other than a couple throws across the infield… our defense was solid today. It shows, the upperclassmen that we have, the experience that we have… that's really showing in these first eight games."
 
Ready on Klemm's day…
"He pitched fantastic for us last weekend, works quick on the left side, you know how much I love left handed pitchers. He is probably the fastest working guy we have on the staff, and the defenders love that… Frankie's one of the guy keeps everyone involved, he is just a great asset for our ballclub and he did a fantastic job today."
 
UP NEXT
The Hounds continue their extended home streak, hosting Davenport on Friday, March. 10 with first pitch set to start at 3 p.m.