INDIANAPOLIS—The sixth-ranked UIndy softball team earned a pair of statement wins Saturday, downing the visiting Maryville Saints 8-0 and 6-1. In a battle of the top two teams in the GLVC, the wins allowed the Greyhounds to leapfrog Maryville into first place in the conference standings.
 
The action featured two-homer days from both Lexy Rees and Megan Nichols, as well as the first collegiate win for Alexa Huth.
 
GAME 1 | UIndy 8, Maryville 0 (5 innings)
The Hounds relied on the long ball to snap the Saints' nine-game win streak and ultimately run-rule their guests. UIndy went yard in three consecutive innings, with Rees' two-run blast (3rd inning) and solo shot (5th) sandwiching Emily O'Connor's three-run dinger in the fourth inning.
 
O'Connor's was good for her team-leading 10th tater of the season, while Rees notched her second career two-homer game (at Lindenwood, 4/29/22).
 
UIndy piled on in the fifth after Rees' second homer, as Sydnee Perry and Maddy Stout came around on Jocelyn Calvin's double to invoke the mercy rule.
 
Kenzee Smith, meanwhile, recorded her sixth shutout of the season. She surrendered a mere two hits on the way to her 21st win of the year.
 

?? | The bats came alive as the Hounds take game 1!

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— UIndy Athletics (@UIndyAthletics) April 8, 2023

 
GAME 2 | UIndy 6, Maryville 1
Freshman Alexa Huth (1-0) garnered her first career start and delivered a solid outing. The Fort Wayne, Ind., product allowed just four hits and one run in 4 2/3 innings of work on the way to her first collegiate victory.
 
With the score 3-1 Hounds, Huth struck out the first two hitters in the fifth before a walk and a single ended her day. Smith returned to the circle and took it from there, with a fielding error accounting for the lone base runner for the balance of the contest. She earned her third save of the season in the process and has not allowed an earned run in 25 consecutive innings.
 
The UIndy bats were effective as well, especially Megan Nichols'. The sophomore center fielder, who leads the Hounds in hitting, crushed two home runs in the game – a solo homer in the first and a two-run shot in the third.
 
Calvin accounted for the three remaining runs, stealing home in the fifth inning and roping a two-run single in the sixth. She and Nichols combined for four hits, four runs and five ribbies.
 
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds wrap up their lengthy homestand with a mid-week double versus in-region Cedarville. First pitch from Baumgartner Field is set for Wednesday, April 12 at 2 p.m.