VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team opened a busy weekend slate of games at Jerry Blemker Field under the lights Friday night against Morton College from Cicero, Ill.
The Blazers battled early but the game got away late as the Panthers came away with an 18-6 victory over Vincennes.
VU got off to a great start Friday night, with sophomore starting pitcher Logan Medsker (Marshall, Ill.) setting the tone by striking out the final two batters of the first inning.
The Vincennes bats followed suit in the bottom of the inning with leadoff hitter, freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) reaching on a five-pitch walk, stealing second and advancing to third on a throwing error by Morton.
Douglas would later score on a ground out by sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) to give the Blazers an early 1-0 lead.
The Panthers responded in the second with a pair of runs to take their first lead of the game before Vincennes would even the score in the fourth after a double by sophomore Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.).
Newman would come around to score after Bradyn Douglas reached on an error to tie the game at 2-2 heading to the 5th.
Morton College again responded back with three runs in the fifth, which was immediately matched by three runs for Vincennes in the bottom of the fifth.
The Trailblazers opened the bottom of the fifth with a single by sophomore Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and a walk by redshirt freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.).
Those two were followed by back-to-back RBI singles, first for freshman Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.) and freshman Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.).
Montgomery would cross home plate later in the inning after a successful sacrifice bunt by sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and a sacrifice flyout by Trevor Newman, evening the game at 5-5.
Morton College once again answered strong in the next inning, breaking the game open with five runs in the sixth to take a 10-5 lead and adding on with four runs in the seventh to increase the lead to nine.
VU would look to pull off a massive late comeback in the seventh after Nate Montgomery led off the inning with a four-pitch walk, his fourth time reaching base on a three for three day at the plate with three singles.
Montgomery scored on a double play put in play by Trevor Newman, cutting the deficit to 14-6.
This would be as close as the Blazers would get however as the Panthers added four more runs in the eighth and were able to close out the 18-6 victory over the Trailblazers.
"Obviously we didn't get it done on the mound today," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "Our pitching staff and our bullpen just didn't come through like I had hoped. We tried to put some guys into some high leverage situations and it didn't get done. We didn't make an error today and gave up 18 runs."
"We've got to step up at the plate and come up with big hits with two outs," Barney added. "But you have to tip your hat to Morton tonight. They did a good job of coming out of the gym and getting on the dirt."
VU got an excellent start on the mound Friday night by sophomore Logan Medsker, who lasted four plus innings, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out nine, setting a new career-high for strikeouts.
Freshman Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) was the first out of the bullpen for VU, throwing one innings and allowing three runs on two hits and striking out one.
Freshmen Colton Okes (Evansville, ind.), Alex Wandersee (Centerville, Ind.), JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.), Brody Shaw (Cory, Ind.) and sophomore Keegan Schlotterbeck (Centerville, Ind.) all saw time on the mound for the Blazers Friday night, with Wandersee ending with two strikeouts, Bowser striking out one and Schlotterbeck striking out one.
"You've got to tip your hat to Morton," Barney said. "They did a great job of hitting with two outs. Our inability to find the third out and walks from the bullpen were the difference. Logan Medsker threw pretty well tonight for his fourth outing of the year."
"Nate did a great job at the plate," Barney added. "Trevor Newman did a good job with an RBI and a double. Bradyn Douglas is starting to get back into a groove and drove in a run. Corbin Napier went two for four with an RBI. Bryton Griffy had two hits, so we battled and put the ball in play. We just have to do a better job of coming up with hits in timely situations."
The Trailblazers will look to bounce back in a big way when VU returns to Jerry Blemker Field tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 24 for a split doubleheader.
Vincennes will begin their day against Olney Central College at 1:30 p.m. eastern before returning to the field for the night game of the day against NJCAA Division III No. 7-ranked Joliet Junior College.
The Trailblazers will then close out the weekend slate on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 1:30 p.m. eastern against an opponent to be determined.
"We've got to win two games tomorrow," Barney said. "We've got to get to where we feel good about ourselves. We've got Olney first, who has struggled but got a win today. Then we've got Joliet, who is the seventh ranked team in the country in Division III and they are very good, so we are going to have to do what we can."
"Kaleb Marrs is on the bump in game one," Barney added. "Then it will be the bullpen in game two. This is one of those times when we have to do a good job. But they are seven inning games, so we have to play well all the way through and bounce back. That's the bottom line here. A loss is a loss, whether it's by 12 runs or two. So we've got to find a way to bounce back tomorrow."
Scheduled dates and times for all VU baseball games are subject to change. Be sure to follow 'Vincennes University Athletics' on Facebook, X, or Instagram to stay up to date on any and all VU baseball schedule changes.
BOX SCORE
Morton – 020 035 44 – 18
VU (1-6) – 100 130 10 – 6
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Newman. RBI – Robinson, Montgomery, Napier, Newman. SB – Douglas. SF – Newman.