INDIANAPOLIS – IUPUI took advantage of wild pitching from Wright State and got a two-run home run from Delaney Thompson to win game one of its series against the Raiders 5-2 on Friday (April 5).

With IUPUI (10-25, 4-1 Horizon) up 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Thompson came up with the biggest hit of the day for the Jaguars. McKenzie Loge got on base with a double to left center and moved to third after a wild pitch. Loge led the Jags, going 2-for-3 at the plate. After Mandy Dallas popped up for the second out, Thompson got ahold of one and drove a ball well over the left center field fence for her second home run of the season, putting the Jags up three.

All this came after a big defensive play in the top of the sixth inning to keep the Jags ahead by one. The inning began with back-to-back singles as Wright State finally got to starter Lexi Lucas. The third batter of the inning also singled but with the runner trying to advance to second on the throw home, catcher Sabrina Trevino's throw was right on the money for the first out of the inning. In the next at bat, Wright State looked to tie the game up with a fly ball to Loge in right field but the Loge delivered a strike to Trevino who applied the tag and ended the inning.

IUPUI finished the game with only five hits but took advantage early on of some wild pitching by the Raiders starter Olivia Otani. After two groundouts in the top of the first, Dallas struck out swinging in what should have ended the inning but a wild pitch allowed Dallas to get to first and kept the inning alive. Thompson drew a walk and Kristin London hit a bullet right back to Otani who got her glove up but could not bring in the ball, loading the bases. Jaida Speth brought home the first run of the game on an infield single and Sabrina Trevino was  hit by a pitch in the next at bat to make the score 2-0 in favor of IUPUI with the ball never leaving the infield.

Wright State got a run back in the fourth but in the bottom of the frame a one-out walk drawn by Haley Ginger started another rally. Loge also walked but the first out came as Ginger was retired at third on a fielder's choice. More wildness from Otani showed up as Thompson was hit by a pitch to load the bases and London was hit by another pitch to bring home the Jags' third run.

In total, IUPUI was hit by a pitch five times, the most since at least 2003.

It turned out that the five hits and five runs were all the Jaguars needed as Lucas again kept the Wright State batters off balance with a complete-game performance. The freshman scattered seven hits and stranded two runners while striking out five batters and only issuing one walk. With the win, Lucas improved to 7-9 on the season.

UP NEXT
IUPUI and Wright State will finish up a three-game set with a double-header on Saturday (April 6). First pitch of the first game will be at 1 p.m. and game two will start approximately 30 minutes after the first game finishes.