INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI honored seniors Chelsie Hale and Amy Raker on senior day, but dropped both games of a doubleheader against UMKC on Saturday afternoon. The Jaguars lost game one 9-0 in five innings and game two 8-6 in eight innings.
Game One - Box Score
Walks and errors doomed the Jaguars in a 9-0 loss in the series opener. Starting pitcher Nikki Thomas walked two batters in the first inning and both came around to score on a three-run homer by Megan Ussary after two were out.
The Kangaroos (32-14, 15-5 Summit) added six more in the fourth with the help of two IUPUI errors. Thomas was lifted in the middle of the inning after giving up nine runs. Just four of her runs were earned.
Lindsey Richards took over and worked 1.2 innings of scoreless relief for IUPUI (13-30, 8-12 Summit).
Deanna Friese stifled the IUPUI offense throwing a three-hit shutout. Two of the hits were doubles by Kelsey Rupert. Julie Love singled to round out the IUPUI hits.
Rupert reached third with one out in the third inning, but Friese fanned Hannah Croucher and got Angela Bartucci to pop out to short to end the threat.
Game Two - Box Score
IUPUI's offense found its stroke in game two, but fell short 8-6 in eight innings.
Bartucci's home run tied the game in the sixth inning, before UMKC (32-14, 15-5 Summit) scored two runs with two outs in the eighth inning on a bloop double by Anna Sokolik to secure the win.
The Jaguars were able to come back, but once again put themselves in an early 3-0 hole.Danielle Bennefeld's double to right field was the big blow in the inning.
IUPUI answered in the second inning with two runs of their own. Bartucci singled to bring home Alicia Brewer and Lam followed Bartucci with a single to left to get IUPUI within a run.
The Kangaroos got a two-run double in the third inning from Katie Henning to extend their lead to 5-2. Chelsie Hale smoked a home run to left to cut the lead to two in the bottom of the third.
Emily Ott homered in the fifth inning to give UMKC a 6-3 lead, but IUPUI continued to claw back scoring two runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Rupert doubled for the third time on the day and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After a Hale walk, the Jaguars executed a double steal to make it 6-4. Leah Prewitt's single made it 6-5 before Bartucci's sixth-inning homer tied the game at six.
IUPUI was able to stay in the game due to a solid relief performance by Brewer. Despite taking the loss, she threw 5.2 innings of three-run ball in relief of Amy Raker.
IUPUI's two home runs put them at 36 for the year, one short of the school record (37) set last year.
The Jaguars will take on UMKC in the series finale on Sunday at noon and live stats will be available at IUPUIjags.com
