CARY, N.C.—The UIndy baseball team wrapped up its magical season at the NCAA Division II Championship Monday, falling to fifth-seeded Cal State San Bernardino, 10-8. The Greyhounds managed a five-run flurry in the ninth and brought the potential game-winning run to the plate but ultimately fell just short.
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Trailing by seven runs heading into bottom of the ninth, the Hounds mounted one final push. UIndy loaded the bases with nobody out before carving into the lead with an RBI single
Brandon DeWitt and a towering three-run homer from
Isaac Bair.
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Zack Williams (HBP) and
Nick Lukac (walk) kept the rally alive but the Yotes finally managed to get the third out, advancing to Wednesday's next round while ending the Hounds' season to remember.
"How 'bout those Hounds, man. We almost did it again," head coach
Al Ready told the
IndyStar. "All we wanted to do is give ourselves a chance. That's all we could have asked for in that situation."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first two frames of the contest remained quiet with
Seth Spencer on the mound for the Greyhounds. The game, however opened up in the third, where a six-spot by the Coyotes set the tone.
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It took until the fourth for the Hounds to respond, etching across two with a Bair double and a Williams RBI groundout. But the Coyotes didn't let up, further stretching their lead with a pair of RBI singles and a sac fly in the sixth to make it 9-2.
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DeWitt's bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh answered the Coyotes second sac fly of the day, but the Hounds still trailed big. The bottom of the ninth is where the Hounds attempted their move with the aforementioned theatrics, but it was too little too late as the Hounds saw their season end.
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INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Bair, in his last game as a Greyhound, left it all out there, going 2-5 with four RBIs.
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Drew Donaldson's chase for the single-season hits record came just short, ending the year with 95, seven from tying the record and eight from breaking it. As a consolation, he does now hold the single-season runs and total bases record.
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Austin Bestul and
Wyatt Phillips were solid again out of the bullpen, each throwing up a zero in the final two frames.
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SENIOR CLASS
The Hounds leave Cary, N.C., with a group of 13 seniors that are departing the UIndy program. That group included
Isaac Bair,
Aaron Blake,
Jared Bujdos,
Brandon DeWitt,
Nick Foy,
Cameron Ginter,
Brian Keeney,
Kase Lawson,
Wyatt Phillips,
Adam Rakestraw,
Reid Rector,
Denton Shepler and
Brady Ware.
HOUND BYTES
HC Al Ready on opening statement at the postgame press conference...
"First and foremost, let me just tell you how proud I am of my guys, especially these two guys sitting up here with me (Bair and
Denton Shepler) right now. They've been with us four or five years; all the hard work and dedication that it takes to get to this stage. And these aren't the only ones of course. I can't say how proud I am of these guys."Â
Ready on what he said to his seniors...
"I told my seniors this at the very end. It's almost, to me, for a lack of a better term, gang mentality. Once a Hound, always a Hound. Those guys have been through a lot; the seniors on any college baseball team have been through a lot in the last five years just like anybody else. For them to stick it out and grind it out, to get here to Cary. Even though the outcome isn't what we wanted, to end our season here in Cary, is just a memory that these guys will cherish for the rest of their lives. I'm so proud of all of them, and I'm so happy they got to experience it."
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