WESTFIELD, Ind. - Key eighth-inning hits from senior Luke Tewes and freshman Mike Rafter backed an outstanding pitching effort from senior Trevor Richards as seventh-seed Drury knocked off No. 2 seed Indianapolis 7-2 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship post-season tourney opener Thursday afternoon at Grand Park.

Coach Scott Nasby's Panthers (28-22-1, the defending league champions, advance in the winner's bracket to play third-seed William Jewell (36-15) - a 15-1 winner over No. 6 seed Bellarmine in another Thursday opener - at 1 p.m. Friday at Grand Park. 

Indianapolis (33-18) was coasting behind Matthew Kaplanis (8-1) through seven innings with a 2-0 lead, as the Greyhounds - the East Division champs and riding an 11-game win streak entering the tourney - struck for two unearned runs in the third off Richards.

But the senior right-hander Richards (4-3), making his sixth post-season appearance of his career, allowed no more from there, holding the Greyhounds at bey until the Panthers rallied offensively in the top of the eighth.

Freshman Ryan Wadkins led off the inning with a single, and Dallas Williams followed suit. After Bobby Lang bunted them over to second and third, Tewes - with first base open - ripped a single to center to score Wadkins and Williams and give the Panthers a spark, tying the game at 2. But DU was far from done.

Tyler Arthur followed with a double down the left-field line, and after an intentional walk to Conner Wilson, the bases were loaded for Rafter, who smacked a three-run double to left-center for a 5-2 Drury lead. Rafter - who entered the game in the fourth due to an injury to DU shortstop John Goodrich - later came home to score on a UIndy error as the Panthers left their half of the inning with a 6-2 advantage.
 

That grew to 7-2 in the ninth when Wilson's RBI double plated Tewes.

Richards left in the bottom of the ninth after giving up a leadoff single to the Greyhounds, his day complete after striking out nine and walking just one while allowing seven hits and no earned runs in eight innings of work.

Gage Jacobs finished off the Greyhounds in the ninth.

"Our entire team showed why we are still playing at this point of the year," said Nasby, whose Panthers have won 11 of their last 13 games. "Never say die, and live pitch to pitch. That was the best I've ever seen Trevor, and I hope he gets a chance to throw for us again. If not, he deserves a chance at the next level.

"Indy's starter (Kaplanis) was as good as we faced this year, and we were able to get a few balls up late to get some big knocks. Tewes, Rafter and Arthur came up with huge hits."
 

Drury out-hit the Greyhounds 12-7. Williams went 3-for-5 - he's now 16 for 29 (.552) at the plate over his last seven games - while Tewes, Rafter and Wilson had two hits each. Tewes is now 8-for-12 with six runs and six RBIs over his last three games.
 

Drury and William Jewell will be meeting in a quick turnaround after the Panthers and Cardinals met for four games last weekend in Liberty, splitting the doubleheaders each day. Jewell rallied from an 8-1 deficit with eight runs in the ninth to highlight their 9-8 victory on Saturday, while the Panthers pounded out a combined 35 hits in Sunday's doubleheader split.

NOTES
*Tewes, who pushed his season RBI total to 42, now has 104 runs driven in for his two-year career as a Panther, the sixth best career total in the program's history. All five players ahead of Tewes on the list were four-year Panthers.

*Tewes earlier in the day was honored by being named to the Capital One Academic All-District squad. The senior from Lincoln, Neb., carries a 3.44 gpa as an Exercise and Sports Science major.

*Drury pushed its winning streak against UIndy to six games. The Panthers sent the Greyhounds into the loser's bracket of the tourney last year in Evansville with a 2-1 victory in the second round after sweeping them in four regular season meetings at Meador Park.

*Richards improved to 4-3 on the year with career victory No. 22 as a Panther. That's third all-time on the DU charts behind only senior teammate Austin Faulconer (26), Friday's likely starter (who will also be making his sixth post-season appearance), and the 25 victories by former DU standout Will Landsheft, now pitching professionally in the Arizona Diamondbacks' organization.

*With 15, 20 and now 12 hits on Thursday, Drury has batted .409 (47 for 115) over its last three games to push its team batting average to a season-best .303.

*The Panthers improved to 8-1 in the GLVC Tourney under Nasby with the victory with their fifth straight triumph in the league's post-season event.