INDIANAPOLIS – The UIndy baseball team split Friday's doubleheader against Drury, after a hard fought extra innings loss in game three, and a confident rebound win in game four.
The wind was a factor in both games, as there were a combined seven home runs between both teams today, with five of those seven home runs being to left field, in the direction of the wind. Cole Hampton was responsible for two of the Hounds' three home runs today, bringing Hampton's season total to 10 with six of those 10 coming in his last seven games played.
Every batter today for both teams recorded at least one hit over both games, showcasing the offensive firepower of both teams, with the teams combining for 73 hits and 49 runs over all four games.
GAME 3 | UIndy 7, Drury 10
The Panthers took this one in extra innings, after a back-and-forth game that saw five lead changes and four ties.
Armen Torosian and Cole Hampton got things going for UIndy, with a three run home run from Hampton in the first, followed by a sacrifice fly that brought in the Hounds' fourth run of the game just two innings later. Along with Hampton and Torosian, every other Hound who stepped up to the plate in game three recorded a hit, which is the first time that's happened this year for UIndy.
UIndy's next three runs came in the fourth inning after the Panthers retook the lead for the second time, 5-4. Brayton Bowen and Easton Good were the driving forces behind UIndy's three run fourth, as Good singled and stole home, while Bowen hit a sacrifice fly in his first at bat of the game, to give UIndy the 7-5 lead after four. This is Bowen's fourth RBI of the season, compared to Good's team leading 33rd RBI.
After Drury retook the lead on a bases-clearing double to right field from Hesston Gray in the top of the eighth inning, the Hounds had runners on first and third with one out down 10-7 in the bottom of the inning, but couldn't find a way to drive those runners home. Proving Gray's bases-clearing double was the decisive blow for UIndy, as they fell in a thrilling game three.
GAME 4 | UIndy 6, Drury 4
Bennett Rogers was the story in this one, as he pitched his fourth consecutive complete game for UIndy. This is the most consecutive complete games thrown by a UIndy pitcher since 2013. Rogers tallied five strikeouts, allowing seven hits and four runs, and keeping the Panthers to only one base runner the final four innings.
Hampton homered again in this one, with a two run home run in the first inning to give UIndy the 2-1 lead, which was then followed by three runs in the third by Drury to retake the lead 4-2.
Good, Hampton and Lukac continued their hot hitting in game four today, as all three drove in three more runs to bounce back on top 5-4, before Austin Bode in his return from a one-game absence, belted a home run off the UIndy ARC bubble to close out the day for the Hounds and give them to 6-4 victory in game four.
UP NEXT
The Hounds will have the next three days off before heading to Hammond, IN on Tuesday for a doubleheader against Purdue Northwest, with the first of the two games set to begin at 2 p.m., and the second game set to start 30 minutes after game one.
