UIndy Athletics

INDIANAPOLIS – The top two teams in the Midwest went toe-to-toe at Baumgartner Field Thursday afternoon. The No. 2-seed McKendree Bearcats came out on top in the first game of the best-of-three series, topping the host and top-seeded Greyhounds, 3-2
 
UP NEXT
The two Midwest powers return to the field tomorrow to determine the Midwest champ. First pitch of game 2 is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET, with a UIndy victory forcing a winner-take-all game 3.
 
INS & OUTS
McKendree's Sami Huck got the best to UIndy's Caitlin Bunte in a matchup of the GLVC's two Co-Pitchers of the Year. Bunte surrendered just on earned run, but the Bearcats managed to push across a pair of unearned tallies in the top of the sixth to break a 1-1 stalemate.
 
UIndy got one back in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI groundout by pinch hitter Christina Stankus but ultimately could not catch the 'Cats.
 
Sydney Oliver generated UIndy's only extra-base hit of the day with a third-inning double. She would later come around to score on Cheyenne Eads' single. Eads also added to her record-setting hit-by-pitch total after taking one on the arm in the seventh. She currently owns the highest single-season HBP total in Division II history with 38.

Bunte and Maya Rodriguez chipped in a single and a walk apiece. In the circle menawhile, Bunte dipped to 27-4 on the year, striking out three and walking one in the complete-game effort.