Kapostasy walk-off gives Trailblazers doubleheader sweep on Opening Day

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team began their Spring 2022 home season at Jerry Blemker Field with a pair of wins over Ancilla and South Suburban.

The Trailblazers won 15-5 in six innings over Ancilla before taking game two 8-7 over the South Suburban Bulldogs on a walk-off sac fly by freshman Nick Kapostasy (Cincinnati, Ohio).

In the first game of the day, the Ancilla Chargers struck first, scoring in the top of the first on game one starter Braedon Nichols (Sullivan, Ind.)

Vincennes got on the board in the second inning when an RBI single by Mahkai Pelzer (Douglasville, Ga.) brought in Josiah Sizemore (Cambridge City, Ind.) who doubled earlier in the inning.

Ancilla and VU traded three-run innings in the third to stay even at four-all heading into the fourth.

The Trailblazers took the lead in the fifth on a two RBI single by Sizemore, two of three RBI's for the freshman outfielder as part of a four for four game one at the plate.

After the Chargers got a run back in the sixth, Vincennes took control of the game in the bottom of the sixth when the Trailblazers sent 12 batters to the plate.

VU scored eight runs on nine hits to force a run rule ending to the first home game of the season at Jerry Blemker Field as the Blazers won 15-5 over the Chargers.

Nichols held the mound against Ancilla, throwing four innings, giving up four runs on six hits and striking out five.

Freshman Kobe Bartlett (Rockport, Ind.) came out of the bullpen in relief to throw two innings, giving up one run on three hits and three strikeouts, winning his first career decision.

In game two, South Suburban got on the board first in the top of the third. VU quickly responded with a three-run bottom of the third, taking the lead on a two RBI single by freshman Nick Williams (Alexandria, Ind.).

Vincennes built on their lead in the fifth with an RBI single by Peyton Lane (New Paris, Ohio) and an RBI double by Connor VanLannen (Clinton, Ind.) gave the Blazers a 6-2 advantage.

The Bulldogs responded back in the top of the sixth to bring in five runs to take a one run lead.

After a scoreless bottom of the sixth, Vincennes began the final inning of play needing one run to tie and two to win.

Vincennes led of the inning with the first two batters reaching base. An RBI single by VanLannen brought in Peyton Lane.

The Trailblazers picked up the walk-off win when the Bulldogs left fielder collided with the third basemen on a sacrifice fly ball by Nick Kapostasy, which allowed freshman Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) to score the winning run and give the Blazers the 8-7 win.

Dawson Blaylock (Eaton, Ohio) took the mound as the game two starter and threw four solid innings, giving up one run on four hits and punching out four.

Sophomore Luke Osborn (Perrysville, Ind.) picked up the winning decision in relief after picking an inning and a third, giving up no runs on two hits and getting a strikeout.

"We played and we battled and we found a way to win," VU Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "That's the positive thing that came out of today. We can't play that way against really good teams. We gave away way too many free bases and made too many errors and allowed things to snowball on us like the sixth inning against South Suburban."

"Thank goodness we took advantage of the mistakes that Ancilla made, which allowed us to stay in the game and then open it up late," Barney added. "But we've got to do a better job of bunting the baseball and catching the ball on some routine plays and just make the routine plays and we will be alright. I'm excited about the way our guys fought and battled today. When they were down they stayed in the game the whole time and I feel good about that side of it."

"Our hitters did a really good job today," Barney said. "Sizemore going four for four in the first game and then the middle part of our order did a great job all day today. If you go back and look at it, the bulk of our hits came from the three through six hitters. Then we had late in game two Kapostasy comes through with a sac fly. Of course, when a guy puts the ball in play, good things are going to happen. A lot of guys contributed, which is another positive thing for us when we start looking at things."

The Trailblazers will conclude the four-game set Monday, Feb. 21 when Vincennes hosts Ancilla at 12:30 p.m. eastern. VU will end the day by taking on South Suburban with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. eastern.

"We've got Jake Stuteville (Rockport, Ind.) throwing in game one tomorrow and Connor VanLannen in game two, so we're right where we need to be," Barney said. "We've still got some guys in the bullpen that can throw. I feel really good about it. We've worked through a plan to rotate some guys in tomorrow, so we don't have a lot of guys playing all four games and we feel really good about where we are with some guys. We are in a good situation and we need to come out and battle tomorrow and hopefully pick up two more wins."

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

Ancilla – 103  001 – 5

VU (1-3) – 013   038 – 15

HITTING STATS

2B – VanLannen, Sizemore. RBI – Burdette 2, Lane, Evans 2, Williams, Sizemore 3, Finley, Coy. SB – Sizemore.

GAME TWO

South Suburban – 001   015   0 – 7

Vincennes (2-3) – 003  030   2 – 8

HITTING STATS

2B – Long, VanLannen. RBI – Lane, Williams 2, VanLannen 2, Kapostasy. Sac Fly – VanLannen, Kapostasy. SB – Long, Lane.