EAST PEORIA, Ill. – Eighth-seeded Drury's early runs were not enough as top-seed and nationally ranked second Indianapolis downed the Panthers 4-2 in the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Tournament in East Peoria.
In her first career conference tournament game,
Emma Niemczyk put the Panthers on the board in the first inning with a lead-off home run. The first inning push from Drury did not stop after Niemczyk.
Kelsey Palmer reached on an error and scored with two from first on a double from
Haley Bryant, giving the Panthers a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
Indianapolis' offense woke up in the third inning. Sydney Oliver started the inning with an infield single and advanced to second on a fielder's choice the next at-bat. Oliver scored on the next pitch after Brooklyn Willis doubled to drive in Oliver and cut the Greyhound deficit to one run.
The Greyhound offense took the lead in the fourth inning, 3-2, after three singles in the inning.
Insurance was put on the Indianapolis lead in the next inning. A one-out double from Cara Cooper and moving to third on a passed ball put the next run 60 feet from scoring. Cheyenne Eads put the ball in play to push Cooper across despite the ground out.
Drury had a chance in the seventh, picking up their third hit of the game and first hit since the first inning, but a double play ended the Panthers' hope in the opening round.
GAME NOTES
- Indianapolis pitcher Cheyenne Eads faced the minimum in the final six innings after giving up two runs in the first inning.
- Eads struck out nine to earn her league-leading 27th win of the season.
- Jordyn Foley was the starting pitcher for Drury. Foley threw a complete game, striking out one.
- Indianapolis recorded ten hits in the game compared to Drury's three.
- Josie Jager and Sydney Oliver each had two hits, leading the Greyhounds. Eight different players for Indianapolis had a hit.
- Emma Niemczyk, Kelsey Palmer, and Haley Bryant each had a single hit.
- Niemczyk's lead-off homer was her fourth of the season, team lead, Drury's first lead-off homer this season, and her 48th hit of the season, tying for the third most in a freshman season in program history. Niemczyk is now three away from tying Denise Taylor (2010) for second all-time.
- Hits from Niemczyk and Palmer extended their hitting streak to six games for Niemczyk and nine for Palmer.
- Reece Anderson had six assists in the game for her 159th of the season. Anderson is now one assist away from tying the single-season assist record and two from setting a new record, which she set last season.
- The Panthers turned two double plays in the game to extend the program's single-season record to 31.
- Drury drops to 0-5 against Indianapolis in the GLVC Tournament all-time.
- Drury falls to 7-5 this season when scoring in the first inning and 16-12 when scoring first.
- With Indianapolis ranked second in the country, it is the highest-ranked opponent Drury has faced since they played No. 1 Rogers State on Feb. 12, 2023, in Bentonville, with the Hillcats winning 3-0.
- Drury is now 3-7 this season against ranked teams, with five of those games being against top ten-ranked teams.
UP NEXT
Drury plays (4) Missouri-St. Louis in an elimination game at 10 am. The winner of the early game will face the loser of (2) Missouri S&T and (3) McKendree at 5 pm.
FOLLOW THE PANTHERS
For all the latest information on Drury athletics, please visit
drurypanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on
X,
Facebook, and
Instagram.
#OneDrury
