EAST PEORIA, Ill.- After falling in their opening round game to 12th ranked Indianapolis 5-3, the Drury Panthers won their first postseason game in program history with an 8-0, 5-inning win over 22nd ranked Southern Indiana in an elimination game in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois.
 
The Panthers, seeded seventh on the tournament bracket, moved their record to 35-22 while Indianapolis, seeded second, improved to 43-12, and Southern Indiana was knocked out of the tournament with a 33-19 mark.
 
Drury's come from behind effort in their first game on Friday fell short in a 5-3 loss to the Greyhounds. Indianapolis built a 5-0 lead with a run in the first inning and four runs in the third.
 
The Panthers got back in the contest in the top of the sixth with three runs as Kinzy Mathis started the inning with a triple, then scored ahead of a tag at the plate on Hailly Greenough's ground ball. With Greenough on base through a fielder's choice, Megan Holmes belted a two-run home run to pull Drury within two.
 
The Panthers got the tying run to the plate after a two-out walk to Kaelie Smith, but Indianapolis starter Halie Waters (22-7) got Jacy Ummel to ground into a fielder's choice to end the game.
 
"We got going too late," said Drury head coach Jerry Breaux. "We tried to play catch-up, and we're usually pretty good at that, but our team fought, and that carried over to our second game."
 
Waters pitched all seven innings and allowed just three hits with three runs, four walks, and eight strikeouts.
 
Kasey Cazares (14-6) took the loss for Drury and lasted three innings before Daisy Dudek worked three shutout innings to keep the Panthers in the game.
 
All nine Indianapolis players in the line-up had at least one hit as the Greyhounds banged out 16. Megan Holmes went 2 for 3 with two RBI's for Drury.
 
The Panthers stayed alive with an 8-0 win in five innings over the tournament's number three seed and defending national champion Southern Indiana in Game Eight.
 
Drury struck for two runs in the second inning on an RBI-single by Serenity Healy and a sacrifice fly by Devin Hale. The Panthers then opened a cushion with four more runs an inning later scoring on two-RBI doubles from Megan Holmes and Hailly Greenough. Kinzy Mathis drove in two more with a double in the fourth to give Drury the eight-run lead they needed to end the game in five innings.
 
Hailly Greenough (7-9) pitched five scoreless innings and allowed five hits, all singles, with one walk and three strikeouts. Haylee Smith (7-4) took the loss for the Screaming Eagles.
 
"I think we came in with a bit of a mission to win the first playoff game for this program," said Breaux. "We came out with some fire, took control of the game, and then didn't look back."
 
Holmes went 3 for 3 with two runs, two RBI's and a double while Healy finished the game 2 for 3 with two runs and a stolen base.
 
The game marked the first postseason win ever for the program. Prior to this season, Drury had only qualified for the GLVC tournament twice in their 12-year history and was 0-4 all-time in the event until their win on Friday. 
 
The Panthers will advance to Game 10 of the tournament on Saturday and will face fifth-seeded Illinois Springfield at 11 am in East Peoria, Illinois.
 
 
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