GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – You can sharpie the No. 4 seeded UIndy baseball team into its third straight NCAA DII Super Regional appearance with a 6-1 win over the No. 1 seed Davenport Panthers on Saturday.
After a seven year absence in the NCAA regional tournament, head coach Al Ready has turned Super Regional appearances into a regular, as the Hounds have won 14 of their 15 Midwest Regional games since 2023, including nine in a row after today's victory.
INS & OUTS
Pitching was the name of the game today for UIndy, as Bennett Rogers was wheeling and dealing in his first appearance for the Greyhounds since May 2 against Lewis in the team's regular season series finale. Rogers pitched his fourth game with double digit punch outs, and his seventh quality start. Of his 11 strikeouts today, he struck out eight of the nine Panthers starters today, and seven of the first 14 batters he faced today.
Along with a strong pitching performance, UIndy continued their hot hitting success this weekend by racking up five runs in a two inning span in the third and fourth innings. Brayton Bowen, Chase Mason, Cole Hampton, Ian Kennedy, and Nick Lukac were all responsible for UIndy's five runs in those two innings to give UIndy a 5-0 lead.
Hampton, Lukac, and Mason all combined for six of UIndy's 11 hits, while Austin Bode and Easton Good also both had multi hit games as well, their second and fourth games respectively on the weekend. Good and Lukac capped their weekend's off with success in all facets, slashing 14 hits, seven RBIs, one home run by Good, and combining to steal three bags in three games.
After the Panthers got one back in the sixth inning to make it 5-1, Hampton drove in a run on an infield error to third base that scored Bode to make it 6-1 UIndy after eight innings.
Once Rogers made his exit after a stellar six inning outing, Payton Plym came in to relieve and preserve the Hounds lead. In Plym's relief appearance today he was almost untouchable, as he only allowed two base runners, no hits and punched out three Panthers including a swinging strike out from Chase Kemp in the game's final out to punch UIndy into a regional title with a 6-1 upset win over No. 1 seeded Davenport.
Plym came in for relief for the Greyhounds in the final game of the 2024 Midwest Regional against Maryville, where he found himself in a similar situation as he did today, pitching the final three innings and earning the save.
UP NEXT
UIndy will look to add a fifth NCAA Super Regional title to their collection next weekend when they take on the winner of No. 2 seed Grand Valley or No. 6 seed Northwood at a location and date to be determined.
