Crider
Terry Griffin
9
Indianapolis UINDY 5-8
13
Winner Drury DRURY 6-2
Indianapolis UINDY
5-8
9
Final
13
Drury DRURY
6-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Indianapolis UINDY 0 0 6 1 0 0 2 0 0 9 10 1
Drury DRURY 3 3 3 1 0 2 1 0 X 13 17 2

W: Logan, Alex (2-0) L: K. Marrs (0-1) S: Funk, Joey (1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Eric Doennig, Associate AD - Media Relations

Crider, Panthers Surge Past UIndy on Opening Day of DU Invite

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Powered by a big day at the plate from All-America infielder Jackson Crider, Drury baseball rode another offensive outburst to a 13-9 victory over Indianapolis on the opening day of the Drury Invitational Friday at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park.

Crider belted his first home run of the season -- a three-run shot in the second inning -- and drove in four runs on the day to lead Drury's 17-hit attack. The Panthers (6-2), who racked up 23 hits Sunday in their 12-7 victory over UCO, scored 10 times over the first four innings to seize control of the game.

Six different Panthers recorded multi-hit performances, paced by three-hit efforts from Logan Reidelberger (3-for-5) and Luke Matschiner (3-for-5). Crider finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs, and DU's lineup registered seven extra-base hits on the day.

Drury broke on top with a three-run first -- the first of three straight three-run rallies to start the contest. Reidelberger's one-out double in the first plated Crider with the first run of the game, before Matschiner brought home the second with his RBI bouncer to shortstop. Next, a two-out error brought home Connor Bain, who singled and swiped second to help fuel the rally.

In the second, Landon Willbrand doubled to start the inning and Caleb Briggs drew a walk to set up Crider's three-run blast to center that doubled the Panther lead to 6-0.

Selected as the Great Lakes Valley Conference's preseason favorite, the Greyhounds (5-8) responded in a big way against DU starting pitcher Coleman Morrison, who shut down the UIndy offense with four strikeouts over two hitless innings to open the ballgame.

But the visitors coaxed back-to-back walks to open the third, before Austin Bode's RBI-double kicked off a string of four consecutive UIndy hits that produced runs -- three of which went for extra bases. Garrett Rusch's double scored a pair of runs, before hits from Chase Mason and Gavin Duran plated runs to slice the DU lead to one run. A wild pitch chased home a sixth run in the rally to make it a 6-6 game.

The Panthers answered promptly in the home half of the third, using hits from Matschiner, Xander Schmitt and Willbrand to spark another threat. Paul Pratte's double to right brought in two runs, before Briggs lofted a sacrifice fly to left to give DU a three-run cushion once again.

Schmitt's sac fly an inning later plated the 10th Drury run, following base hits by Matschiner and Colin McClure to open the inning.

From there, DU relievers Alex Logan (2-0) and Joey Funk combined to take control from the mound, joining forces to limit the Greyhounds to two seventh-inning runs on just four hits over the final 5 1/3 innings. Logan struck out four hitters in his 2 2/3 frames to earn the victory, and Funk closed out the night with 2 2/3 innings of two-hit work.

Drury added two key runs in the sixth on Schmitt's RBI-triple and a Willbrand sacrifice fly that extended the lead to 12-7. After the Greyhounds matched DU's two-run rally with one of their own in the top of hte seventh, Briggs tripled and scored on Crider's ground out to account for the final scoring rally of the contest in the home half of the inning.

With a four-run lead in hand, Funk cruised to the finish line, retiring seven of the final eight hitters in succession to wrap up the save. 

Bain finished the day 2-for-5 with a stolen base, while Schmitt (2-for-4) drove in two runs and scored two more and Willbrand went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers conclude play in the Drury Invitational Saturday (Feb. 28) with contests against Washburn (2:30 p.m.) and Missouri S&T (5 p.m.) at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park.

Fans may purchase 2026 Drury baseball season tickets or single-game seats through DruryPanthers.com.

For all the latest information on Drury baseball, visit DruryPanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on X and Instagram.

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