FINDLAY, Ohio – On the same day they became the No. 25 team in the country, the University of Indianapolis baseball team proved that true, enduring some rare late-April cold in Findlay, Ohio to earn a 6-2 region victory.
 
Jackson Kirkpatrick was the story of the game, with the graduate-student going for 12 strikeouts in 5 & 1/3 innings of work. Kirkpatrick's day marked the first win of the season for him, as well as his longest start of the season. It is the second 10-punchout performance for Kirk as well, with him going for 13 against SBU earlier this season.
 
 
The offense did their job as well, rewarding Kirk with six runs of offense across the nine-inning affair. Zack Williams led the force from the plate, going 3 for 5 with a pair of RBIs on a big double in the fifth.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Kirkpatrick, despite giving up a run in the first, was able to rebound well, tossing the next four scoreless, including a three-punchie fourth.
 
Bryce Goodwine tied the ballgame with a sac bunt in the third. With a fresh start, the Hounds leaned on Williams who set one down in left field for extra bases and a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth.
 
 
A one-run response in the bottom half of the fifth was swiftly answered by the Hounds who padded the lead with runs in the sixth and seventh. Cole Hampton was responsible for the Hounds lone sixth-inning run, demolishing a ball over the left field wall for his, now team-leading, sixth homer of the season.
 
 
From there Payton Plym went to work from the bullpen. The junior out of Seatonville, Ill. earned his first save of his career with 3 & 1/3 innings of work. Plym gave up just one baserunner during that time, using just 29 pitches to record ten outs.
 
UP NEXT
The Truman State Bulldogs come into town for the last home series of the series for the Hounds. They will kick off the four game set on Friday at 3 p.m.