EAST PEORIA, Ill. – The No. 1-ranked and top-seeded UIndy softball team overcame a three-run deficit to earn a 5-4 win against fifth-seeded Missouri-St. Louis at the 2024 GLVC Championship Tournament Friday evening. Junior Jayden Casebolt delivered the clutch hit in the sixth inning, driving in the tying and go-ahead runs with a pinch-hit single.

Junior second baseman Jocelyn Calvin also provided a memorable moment, as her first-inning walk pushed her season total to 45 to break the UIndy single-season record for bases on balls.

UIndy remains in the winners' bracket and will face the winner of tomorrow's Lewis/Drury elimination game. First pitch was originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET, but with afternoon showers expected, the start time has been moved up to 1 ET.

INS & OUTS
Facing the only GLVC team to beat them in the regular season, the Hounds got off to a rocky start, allowing four runs in the bottom of the first. But UIndy ace Kenzee Smith made adjustments and settled in, tossing six scoreless innings the rest of the way to give the Hounds a chance.
 
The UIndy offense chipped away with a single run in the second inning. Calvin found the outfield grass to plate Dominique Proctor, who earlier earned a walk.
 
The scored remained 4-2 Tritons until the top of the sixth. Braxton Downs sparked the rally with a one-out walk and eventually came around on a single from Proctor, setting the stage for Casebolt.
 
Down one with two outs and runners on second and third, Head Coach Melissa Frost looked to her bench for some pinch-hit magic.
 
"I think as soon as we saw Dom's hit up the middle," recalled Coach Frost, "we knew that we needed somebody that was going to provide us a little bit of power and Jay was the first person that came to mind. She hit for us early in the year and I thought she took really great rounds of BP off of me today, and I think that's something that stuck with me.
 
"As soon as the (third) run crossed the plate, I held up 'two' to Coach Ferrell [Casebolt's jersey number is two]. We talked about it and decided to go with my gut feeling, and I'm glad it worked out."
 
Taking her first at bat since February 17, Casebolt calmly stepped into the box and took a 2-1 pitch to the opposite field, scoring Shelby Cook and pinch runner Nicole Pearce to ultimately lift the Hounds to victory.
 

Jayden Casebolt with the game-winning hit! ?? pic.twitter.com/z1XwchiyXK

— UIndy Softball (@UIndySoftball) May 3, 2024