Trailblazers shutout Ancilla to close out split doubleheader

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team closed out a long day at Jerry Blemker Field strong with a 7-0 shutout over Ancilla College.

Vincennes got the day started Saturday morning and fell to South Suburban College 15-12.

The Bulldogs grabbed the early lead, plating a run in the top off the first in game one of the day at VU.

A run the Trailblazers would quickly get back after a leadoff single by sophomore Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.) and an RBI single by Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.).

South Suburban would answer back as well with another run in the second before VU would rally by scoring two runs on a fielding error and another run on an RBI double by sophomore Colin Long (Evansville, Ind.) to give Vincennes a 4-2 lead.

VU would tack on another run in the third after sophomore Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.) led off the inning to reach base on an error and was later driven in on a sacrifice fly by freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.).

South Suburban would answer back in a big way after falling behind 5-2 with a six-run two-out rally in the fourth and a five-run two-out rally in the fifth to jump in front 13-5.

VU would attempt a late comeback started in the sixth by a leadoff walk by freshman Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) who would come around to score on a fielding error.

The Trailblazers later scored on an RBI single by Elliott and a balk before freshman Xavier Brown (Franklin, Ind.) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and freshman Bryan Kohlmeyer (Paris, Ill.) scored on a fielding error as VU cut the deficit down to 13-10.

South Suburban would get two insurance runs in the seventh on a two-RBI double and VU would answer with a leadoff single by freshman Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and a two-run home run by Colton Evans, his second of the year.

This would be as close as the Trailblazers would get however as South Suburban finished off the 15-12 win over VU.

"There were a lot of guys that swung the bats well in the first game of the day," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "We've just got to be a little more timely and we've got to be a little more patient at the plate. We had some guys in scoring position and our guys start to get anxious and got themselves out on the first or second pitch. We've got to do a better job of, if we are going to swing at that first or second pitch, making sure it's a good pitch to hit and doing something with it rather than a weak ground out or an infield pop up."

VU was led off on the mound by sophomore Dawson Blaylock who pitched three and two-thirds innings in the start, allowing four runs on eight hits and striking out four.

Freshman Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) came in to get the final out of the fourth and the first two outs of the fifth, allowing five runs on one hit in an inning pitched.

Freshman Keegan Schlotterbeck (Centerville, Ind.) threw an inning and a third in relief, allowing two hits and striking out two.

Sophomore Eli Steimel (Sullivan, Ind.) entered to get the final out of the seventh and allowed one run on one hit and striking out one.

"The first game was really a tale of two teams," Barney said. "First we gave up a six run and a five run inning in back-to-back innings and you just can't do that. On top of that, out of the 15 runs we gave up, 13 of them came with two outs, so we have to find a way to get the third out of an inning. That's something I haven't seen in many years of baseball is a team giving up that many two out runs."

"But, to our credit we battled back," Barney added. "Our guys swung it well and took advantage of a couple of their mistakes, as they did with us. We found a way to compete, but we've just got to do a better job on the bump of finding that third out."

The Trailblazers looked to put this early loss behind them in the final game of the day at Jerry Blemker Field when VU hosted Ancilla College.

VU got off to a hot start after sophomore starter Jake Stuteville (Rockport, Ind.) struck out the side in the top of the first, the first three batters for Vincennes reached base to load the bases.

The Trailblazers would get a run across in the first on a walk by sophomore Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.) to take the early 1-0 lead.

VU would add another run on the board after a field error allowed Keegan Schlotterbeck to reach third. Schlotterbeck was later driven in on a groundout by Kade Hinton.

Dale Coy then got things started in the third with a one-out double, before sophomore Kobe Bartlett (Rockport, Ind.) was hit by a pitch and both would score on a pair of fielding errors to give the Blazers a 4-0 lead after three.

Stuteville would again strike out the side in the top of the fourth, leading the way for the Trailblazers to score three runs in the bottom half of the inning.

First coming on an RBI double by Xavier Brown, who would later score on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Kobe Bartlett to give the Blazers a commanding 7-0 lead.

Stuteville would continue to work efficiently on the mound, only allowing one base runner in the fifth and sixth innings before turning the game over to sophomore Xavier Hart (Jeffersonville, Ind.) who closed out the seventh inning with three straight strikeouts, giving the Blazers the 7-0 shutout victory.

"I thought we got off the deck really well with Hinton and Whitehead leading off with back-to-back hits and a fielding error to get bases loaded quickly," Barney said. "Dale Coy then walks and we are able to get a run in the first inning. Later in the game Dale gets a double and scores on a throwing error which cost them a double of bases. Then in the fourth Xavier Brown comes up with a big two-out hit."

"We were able to take advantage of their mistakes," Barney added. "We got some timely hitting when we were given some extra opportunities and it was nice to see us take advantage of those mistakes."

Stuteville threw six scoreless innings, allowing only four hits and striking out a career-high 12 batters.

Hart would come in and pitch a hitless seventh inning, striking out three of the four batters he faced.

"Jake threw really well," Barney said. "It all starts on the mound and he did a great job of competing and mixing and matching and getting ahead of guys. Then Xavier Hart comes in in the seventh and hopefully does what Xavier will do for us this year, shut them down for an inning and get us a win. My hat is off to those guys for how they competed today."

The Trailblazers will look to keep this momentum going as they look to close out the weekend on a high-note tomorrow Sunday, Feb. 19 when VU will again face-off against Ancilla College. First pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. eastern.

"We've got another game tomorrow against Ancilla," Barney said. "Gavin Craggs will go for us on the mound. The other part of today was that we played a lot of different guys in the second game. Tomorrow we are going to go back to what we feel like is our everyday lineup and hopefully get our guys ready to go down to Wabash Valley on Tuesday."

"But we are not looking past Ancilla tomorrow," Barney added. "We are still going to have to play well and do the things that we are capable of, as well as getting a quality outing out of Craggs on the bump."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

South Suburban – 110   650   2 – 15

VU (1-4) – 131   005   2 – 12

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Long. HR – Evans. RBI – Long, Evans 3, Elliott, Clifton, Brown. HBP – Parnin. SF – Brown, Clifton. SB – Long, Burdette.

GAME TWO

Ancilla – 000   000   0 – 0

VU (2-4) – 112   300   x – 7

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Coy, Brown. RBI – Hinton, Brown, Coy, Bartlett. HBP – Bartlett.