SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – On March 19, the Maryville Saints capped off a four-game sweep of the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds where they outscored the Hounds 42-12 across that series. Today, at the NCAA tournament on the campus of Illinois Springfield, the Hounds delivered their revenge and more, dominating the Saints 14-5 in the second round of the Midwest Regional. The Hounds now move onto the third round with a chance to punch their ticket to the super regional while the Saints move onto the elimination bout where they will face UIS.
The birthday boy
Seth Spencer was electric on the bump, crossing the 100 punchout mark on the season with a season-high 14 Ks on seven innings of work, giving up only two earned runs. Offense was a three headed beast for the Hounds with
Brandon DeWitt,
Drew Donaldson and
Isaac Bair all grabbing three hits and three RBIs on the day.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First inning explosions continue to be the theme for the Hounds as they slapped on a pair in the first off a pair of Bair double that fell just short of going out, and a
Zack Williams single to center. The runs just kept coming in the next frame, with poor Saint pitching walking home back-to-back runs to make it 5-0. The Saints finally plated one in the fourth, but Donaldson muddied the excitement in the Maryville dugout with a bomb over the right field fence to stretch the lead to 7-1.
The Saint's answered with their own three run dinger in the top of the fifth, but the seventh is where the Hounds put the nail in the coffin on the Saints hopes of a comeback.
Adam Rakestraw took advantage with a runner in scoring position and made it 8-5 with a rocket to left. An
Easton Good single set the plate for DeWitt to make some magic. Dewy, with the bases juice hammered a ball into right center for a triple that made it 11-5
Three more runs would cross in that frame with Donaldson, Bair and Lukac all grabbing RBIs to find the final score.
HISTORY WATCH
Two major marks were hit in the contest. Firstly, the birthday boy Spencer against the first batter crept into the record book as the sixth Hound to ever record 100 Ks in a season. He climbed even higher into the books, landing third in program history with 113 this season, landing him only behind Bill Bright (1953) and
Xavier Rivas (2022).
Drew Donaldson tied the single season runs record with 75 on the season. His mark ties Andy Henderson from 1997 and moves him past Tom Horny from that 1997.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Hounds continue to dominate the punchout totals, with the Hounds striking out 17 Saints to the only four Hounds Ks.
- Greyhounds had a mesmerizing 17-4 lead in the hit column.
- UIndy ate up the Saints bullpen, forcing them to use six pitchers, with two of them recording one or less outs.
HOUND BYTES
Spencer on what worked well for him in the victory…
"Slider was big for me today. With the rain, the ball was a little sticky, so I was able to get it over the plate well. Fastball was one of my bigger pitches because they were sitting slider, using the rain today to my advantage was a big success."
Spencer on his birthday win's importance to him…
"It's huge, birthday game, something good is bound to happen. It all just came together, the boys put some runs up on the board for me."
UP NEXT
The Hounds will face the winner of UIS and Maryville at 3:30 p.m. for a trip to the NCAA Super-Regional. If the Hounds fall tomorrow they will have another chance to punch their ticket forward on Sunday.
