CARY, N.C. – CARY, N.C. – The University of Indianapolis baseball team's season has come to an end at the NCAA DII Championship in Cary, N.C. The Greyhounds battled the No. 3-seeded Catawba Indians early on Tuesday morning, attempting a comeback but falling short with a final score of 15-9.
UIndy was able to plate seven runs between the eighth and the ninth, but were unable to fully summon the Cardiac Hounds magic.
The Greyhounds send off a truly special group of seniors which have helped bring UIndy back-to-back regional titles for the first time in program history. Those seniors included
Drew Donaldson,
Zach Fell,
Cameron Ginter,
Scott Henrich,
Jackson Kirkpatrick,
Brandon Markarian,
Brady Mundell,
Logan Peterson,
Zach Rana,
Blake Sarjent,
Dakota Sill,
Will Spear,
Caleb Vaughn,
Luis Vergara,
E.J. White,
Zack Williams and
Nolen Wolf.
Seniors Vaughn and Donaldson both sent home runs out of the park as their final acts in the Crimson and Grey. Adding on RBIs was Williams and
Easton Good.
Pitching wise, the Greyhounds employed nine different arms to accumulate 27 outs, with
Dawson Gabe seeing the most amount of time with his 3 & 1/3 innings pitched.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The words "play ball" had barely left the umpire's lips before the Indians were up by two runs. Catawba, facing
Carter Nowak, took the first two fastballs they saw deep to left field, beginning what ended up being a long day for the Hounds pitchers.
A RBI-groundout in the bottom of the first by Williams and a Good sacrifice fly were the lone runs the Greyhounds scored up until the eighth. In the meantime, Catawba plated 14 runs, scoring in every inning minus the fourth and ninth.
After another Williams' RBI got the wheels churning for the Hounds in the eighth, Vaughn blasted a home run deep to left field for his 10th of the season and 29th of his illustrious career.
The bombs didn't end there as just an inning later, Donaldson capped off his historic career as a Hound with a three-run dinger of his own. His sixth of the season has him end with 18 while wearing the Crimson and Grey.
HOUND BYTES
Head Coach Al Ready on the loss…
"That's a tough one… we're always trying to stay out of the big inning, typically you're not beaten by ones and twos, but a couple big ones there on the board, combined with a bunch of ones and two is never a good recipe and that was difference… We scored enough runs today, but if we would have stayed out of those innings we've been alright."
Will Spear on the team's attempted comeback…
"I think it says everything about this program and what we stand for… there no quit attitude has been there all season long. It's been here all five years since I've been here, and it just shows you that the Hounds are never truly out of the game."
Vaughn on leaving the program better than he found it…
"Just being a senior in this program, it's been such a blessing for both of us being here at UIndy. The fact that we could help lay the foundation and build a culture where it's not only about winning, but it's about family and at the end of the day, there's no other people I'd rather go down with other than the Hounds."
