LOUISVILLE, Ky. – IUPUI split its final two games at Bellarmine with a win over the hosts and a loss to Dayton to close out non-conference play on Sunday (March 7). The Jags earned a 6-3 win over the Knights to close out play.
IUPUI 6 – BELLARMINE 3
IUPUI finished its weekend at Bellarmine with a season-high in runs (6) and hits (11) to earn a 6-3 win over the Knights.
The Jags started things off strong in the first as
Lauren Youngblood doubled to center with one out. Two batters later, Youngblood was singled home by Abby Haas to put the Jags up 1-0.
Bellarmine loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning after a double and two walks but
Jennah Speth got a flyout to
Maicey Bedrick in left to end the inning and keep the Knights off the board.
Bedrick then got things going for IUPUI in top of the next inning with a one-out double and moved to third two batters later on a
Jaida Speth single. With two outs,
Morgan Gilbert singled to keep the inning going and scored Bedrick. The Jags benefited from a Bellarmine error on the next play, allowing Speth to score and put IUPUI up 3-0.
Up, 3-1 in the fifth, IUPUI staged a two-out rally to increase its lead.
Hailey Pop walked and
Rachael Gregory singled to put two runners on. Bedrick singled to center to score Pop and Tori Divert singled on the next pitch to score Gregory.
The Jags pushed the lead to five as Haas hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Gilbert who led off the inning with a single.
Bellarmine did not make it easy on Speth to close out the game for IUPUI, scoring two runs before the Jags could get the first out. With two runners still on, Gilbert got the runner at third for out one and Speth struck out the next batter for the second out. On the first pitch of the next at bat, Speth got a pop up to Gilbert at short to secure the win for the Jags.
DAYTON 6 – IUPUI 2
To start the day, IUPUI took on Dayton and jumped on the Flyers early as
Jennah Speth hit a home run to right center to take a 1-0 lead.
Lexi Lucas stranded five runners over the first four innings, keeping Dayton off of the scoreboard until the fifth inning.
After a double and a single, a groundout to Gilbert at short brought home the tying run. A sacrifice fly to
Jaida Speth in center field gave Dayton the 2-1 lead. The Flyers increased their lead in the sixth with back-to-back doubles after a pop up. With two outs, an error by IUPUI allowed Dayton's fourth run to score.
Jennah Speth responded in the bottom of the sixth, leading off the inning with her second home run of the game, this one over the center field fence.
Hailey Pop walked and
Maicey Bedrick reached on an error to get two runners on with one out but two strikeouts and a ground out kept IUPUI from getting closer.
Dayton made things harder for an IUPUI comeback, taking advantage of another IUPUI error to score two more runs.
UP NEXT
IUPUI will begin Horizon League play with home four-game series against Oakland on Friday (March 12) and Saturday (March 13). A limited number of fans will be allowed to IUPUI softball home games and are encouraged to bring chairs as seating will be spaced. More information about the home attendance policy can be found
here.
