INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 2-ranked and top-seeded UIndy softball team opened the 2024 NCAA DII Midwest Regional with a convincing 8-0 win versus eight-seed Missouri S&T. The victory was good for No. 54 for the Greyhounds on the season, matching the program record for most in a season.
 
UIndy remains in the winners' bracket and will face the victor of the Lewis and Saginaw Valley matchup tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET. The Miners, meanwhile, head to an elimination game versus that same game's loser tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
 
INS & OUTS
Facing the team that defeated them in a winner-take-all GLVC championship game last Sunday, the Hounds plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning and didn't look back. They kept pressure on with a solo homer from Braxton Downs in the third before hanging a four-spot in the fourth inning to blow it open.
 
In the circle, Kenzee Smith was her usual nearly-unhittable self. The reigning GLVC Pitcher of the Year strung together four scoreless frames, with a first-inning single and a second-inning walk accounting for the only base runners she allowed. Junior Jayden Casebolt came on in relief to handle the fifth, completing the shutout.
 
Downs had a day at the plate. The Louisville, Ky., native and All-GLVC performer went 3-for-3, driving in three runs and coming a triple shy of the cycle. Megan Nicholas added a pair of hits, while Smith had a double and a run scored in her first game holding a bat since the season-opening weekend.