INDIANAPOLIS – With the last regular season series of the year on the schedule, the Greyhounds helped their chances of making the GLVC conference tournament on Saturday, picking up two wins over Lewis. The Hounds now move to 31-17 with a 16-15 conference record as they battle for the seventh or the eighth-seed in the tournament.
Brandon DeWitt was special from the mound in game one as he tossed a complete game, only giving up one run while striking out five and allowing just six hits. He was helped on the offensive side by
Denton Shepler who has a massive first inning three-run homer to help lead the Hounds to a 4-1 first game victory.
On the second game, the "Twin Shredders" in
Nick Lukac and
Jared Bujdos carried the offensive load alongside
Isaac Bair.
GAME 1 - UINDY 4, LEWIS 1
In a lightning-fast contest that only lasted an hour and 28 minutes, the Greyhounds took the advantage early. DeWitt, on the first pitch he saw, lifted a ball over the shortstop's head with
Drew Donaldson doing much of the same in his at bat. That opened the opportunity for Shepler as he worked a deep count and absolutely demolished a ball over the right field wall.
Adam Rakestraw made himself known later that frame, scoring
Jared Bujdos on a hard-hit ball down the right field line. The scoring stayed quiet minus the third when a single by the Flyers scored their lone run. Outside of that snafu, DeWitt was dominant, going the rest of the contest scoreless, giving up three more hits in the next four frames.
GAME 2 - UINDY 5, LEWIS 3
It was a
Brady Ware bump day in game two with him going three-up-three-down in the first two innings of the game.
Nick Lukac was the first to reward Ware's excellence, hammering a ball over the left field wall for his first home run since Feb. 25.
The Flyer's flew their own homer out of Greyhound Park in the third with then a sacrifice fly making it 3-1. The Hounds, down but not out, fought back with Bair playing hero ball. In a pinch hitting situation, Bair drilled a ball into left field past the hands of the shortstop to score both Lukac and Bujdos and tie the game.
A Flyer wild pitch would later score Bair from third and move Donaldson to second. Just an at bat later,
Caleb Vaughn crushed a ball towards the foul pole in left that would end up being his second three-bagger of the year and score the fifth run of the contest for the Hounds.
With a dangerous bases-loaded situation in the sixth,
E.J. White came into the contest. A 4-3 double play ended the inning and fired up not only White but Greyhound skipper
Al Ready.
White ended the contest in the seventh, eliciting a pair of grounders to Donaldson to end the day and to pick up his fourth save.
HOUND BYTES
White on his performance late in the second game…
"As a reliever, when you come in for those jam situations, bases loaded, your job is to just fill up the zone, get a ground ball, get weak contact and trusting your defense. I think that is something that every pitcher has to have, not only trust in yourself but in the guys behind you. I'll take a ground ball to
Drew Donaldson every day of the week."
White on the support Ready and the team showed him…
"Coach Ready, he's a funny guy and when he shows emotion, we know he loves and cares for us all. Seeing him fired up is awesome, it's a great feeling and seeing the guys running out of the dugout, that's a special one."
Shepler on what has been working well for him during his hot stretch…
"I had a bad half to start the season, but seeing other guys take their approaches, I started going with them and it just turned out well. I knew it was my last weekend at Greyhound Park so why not go out with a bang."
UP NEXT
The Hounds will finalize the series tomorrow against the Flyers at 12 p.m. at Greyhound Park. The senior day procession will preceed the contest.
