TIFFIN, Ohio – For the second straight Saturday, the UIndy softball team authored a walk-off win to capture postseason glory. After walking off UIS in the
GLVC Tournament championship game last weekend, the Greyhounds did it again to Hillsdale Saturday in the
NCAA DII Midwest Regional 2 final.
Cara Cooper's long single in the bottom of the seventh brought home
Shelby Cook to down the Chargers, 3-2, and earn a trip to the Midwest Super Regional.
The Hounds will be making their third straight trip to "Supers". UIndy will travel to top-seed Saginaw Valley for the best-of-three series May 15-16.
INS & OUTS
Third-seeded Hillsdale fought its way through the loser's bracket to get to Saturday's final and gave itself a chance to advance with a
2-0 win over the Hounds in the afternoon's first contest. After G-MAC Pitcher of the Year Joni Russell earned the win over GLVC Freshman of the Year
Cheyenne Eads in the first contest, both teams opted to go with their aces once again in game two.
UIndy put the game-one shutout behind it and tagged the Hillsdale All-American with a two-run second inning.
Sydney Oliver's one-out walk put a runner on for
Shelby Cook, who tattooed a 2-1 pitch for a home run, giving the Hounds the early lead. The blast upped her career RBI total to an even 100, as she became the 18th Greyhound to hit the milestone.
The Chargers finally got on the board in the top of the fifth, as a couple of singles and a hit by pitch produced their first run and made it 2-1 UIndy.
Hillsdale managed to knot it up with another tally in the top of the seventh. They would strand the potential go-ahead run at second, however, as Eads induced an inning-ending ground ball.
Russell, meanwhile, got the leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh, but the Hounds responded with a hit parade. Cook,
Tori Angles,
Brooklyn Willis and Cooper strung together four consecutive singles, with Cooper's knock driving home Cook with the game winner.
Willis had a pair of base hits on the day. She now has 84 hits to her credit this year, matching the program's 13-year-old single-season record. Angles and
Josie Jager also had two hits, with Jager adding a walk. Eads (25-11) pitched all 14 innings on the day, striking out a total of 13 batters and walking only two.
FUN FACTS
- The upcoming Super Regional pairing of UIndy and Saginaw Valley features a rematch of the 2009 Supers, which the Hounds won, two games to one.
- Saturday's result marks the second time UIndy bested Hillsdale ace Joni Russell at the NCAA regional, as the Hounds earned a 1-0 victory back in 2023.
