VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball closed out the weekend Sunday afternoon at Jerry Blemker Field with the final two games of their four game Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series with the Cougars of Illinois Central College.
The Trailblazers unfortunately came up on the wrong end of a 7-0 game one and an 11-5 final in game two Sunday.
VU did not get off to a great start at Jerry Blemker Field, with the Cougars quickly taking control of game one with a pair of runs in the first and second innings to take an early 4-0 lead.
Vincennes would get a couple of runners on in the fourth on a two-out double by sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) and a single by Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.) but were unable to push across a run in the inning.
Illinois Central continued to add on with a run in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth.
Vincennes again looked to be in striking distance in the seventh after a double by sophomore Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.) but were again held off the scoreboard as ICC closed out the 7-0 victory in game one of the day.
Freshman Alex Wandersee (Centerville, Ind.) got the start in game one for Vincennes, throwing five and one-third innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and striking out four.
Wandersee then turned it over to freshman Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) who came in to throw the final one and two-thirds innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits and striking out one in his outing.
"Game one was the pitching," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "We gave up four runs in the first two innings and their guy stepped up and did a great job. You have to tip your cap to him. We got three hits off of him in seven innings and he didn't walk anybody. He threw strikes and really did a good job against us."
"Offensively it was hard to get it going," Barney added. "It was 4-0 after two, the tacked on a couple more later on. We battled, but at the same time came up short, so not a very good outing for us in that one."
Vincennes looked to turn things around and close out the weekend strong in game two of the day and got on the scoreboard in the second inning in a big way.
VU's first six batters of the inning reached base safely, led off by sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.) being hit by a pitch, followed by back-to-back walks for sophomores Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.) to load the bases.
Sophomore Bryton Griffy would drive in the first two runs of the game on a fielding error, giving VU an early 2-0 lead.
The Blazers weren't done there though, as freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) followed that with a single to load the bases a second time in the inning, which was then followed by a big two-RBI double by Jack Robinson.
Douglas would come in to score the fifth Vincennes run in the inning on a groundout put in play by sophomore Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.), giving the Blazers a big 5-0 early lead over the Cougars.
Illinois Central would answer back in their next inning however, scoring three runs in the third and three more in the fourth to rally back to take a 6-5 lead.
ICC would add another run in the fifth and tack on a few late insurance runs in the eighth and ninth.
Illinois Central closed out the ninth and picked up the 11-5 victory over the Trailblazers to end the weekend series.
Freshman Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) took the mound to start game one for VU, throwing two and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs on no hits and striking out two.
Sophomore Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) allowed three runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning, before handing off to freshman Noah Dearmitt (Franklin, Ind.) who allowed one run on one hit in two-thirds of an inning.
Sophomores Jack Robinson and Jace Parnin were called in from the field to pitch in the series finale, with Robinson allowing two hits and striking out two in two shutout innings, while Parnin allowed four runs on three hits and struck out three in two innings of work.
Freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) closed out the final inning for the Blazers on the mound, striking out one in a hitless appearance.
"Game two was extremely disappointing," Barney said. "We were up 5-0. I thought Colton Okes threw well. Obviously struggled at times in his first time starting for us but came out and gave us two shutdown innings where we were up. He hasn't pitched that long before for us, so his pitch count got a little high and we made the move."
"Unfortunately with our bullpen it's hard to sustain stuff," Barney added. "The guys came in and got their outs but couldn't sustain it. ICC scored 11 runs, with seven of those runs getting on with walks. We gave them opportunities and they took advantage of it and we had some opportunities that we didn't really take advantage of. We've got to get better timely hitting and it's just not happening for us right now. Hits aren't falling for us right now and when we do barrel up a ball we hit into a double play. I've seen more double plays this weekend then I care to say. That's just the way it falls and we're going to have to work to get better."
The Trailblazers will look to turn things around and bounce back Tuesday, March 19 when Vincennes heads to Fairfield, Ill. for a single midweek showdown at Frontier Community College at 4 p.m. eastern.
VU will look to gain some momentum headed into their next MWAC weekend series when the Trailblazers host Danville Area Community College Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m. before shifting the series to Danville, Ill. for the final two games Sunday, March 24, first pitch Sunday is also scheduled for 2 p.m. eastern.
"We've got to play well against Frontier," Barney said. "We're going to be short on arms, again, going into a midweek game and we're going to have to figure some things out with our bullpen and get us some guys who can give us two or three innings here or there. Get our hitters, hopefully, back on track and get ourselves ready to go for Danville."
BOX SCORE
GAME ONE
Illinois Central – 220 012 0 – 7
VU (9-15, 3-4) – 000 000 0 – 0
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Juarez, Robinson.
GAME TWO
Illinois Central – 003 310 022 – 11
VU (9-16, 3-5) – 050 000 000 – 5
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Juarez 2, Robinson. RBI – Robinson 2, Griffy 2, Hinton. HBP – Heyerly 2.