Trailblazers fall at Central District Championships

UNION, Mo. – The 2025 Spring VU baseball season came to an end Friday afternoon at the Central District Championships hosted by East Central College in Union, Mo.

The Trailblazers opened the day in the Semifinals against Heartland Community College where the Blazers fell to the Hawks 8-4.

Vincennes then dropped into the elimination bracket where they faced North Central College and fell to the Pirates 13-1.

VU opened their day with a Mid-West Athletic Conference rematch against Heartland Community College and were again able to strike early against the Hawks after a leadoff single by freshman Carter Gricius in the second, followed by an RBI single by sophomore Yancey Edlin to give the Blazers the early 1-0 lead.

Heartland would respond in their half of the second inning, plating five runs in the inning to grab their first lead of the afternoon at 5-1.

Vincennes continued to battle in the later innings however, using another leadoff single by sophomore Bradyn Douglas and another single by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.) to put runners on for Carter Gricius.

Gricius came through at the plate again, coming away with a big three-run home run, his seventh of the season to cut the Heartland lead back down to one at 5-4.

Heartland would get a pair of runs back in the seventh before the game was paused in the top of the eighth inning for an hour and 15 minutes for a lightning delay.

The Blazers resumed play after the delay with Gricius on second, getting his third hit of the game just before play was paused but were unable to get the run in.

Heartland extended their lead with a run in the bottom of the eighth, which Vincennes could not answer in the ninth as Vincennes dropped the Semifinal showdown to Heartland C.C. 8-4.

Freshman Eastin Whaley (Kokomo, Ind.) got the start in game one of the day for the Trailblazers, throwing into the seventh inning, allowing six runs, three earned on six hits and striking out two.

Freshman Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) was the first out of the bullpen for VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney, throwing one inning, allowing one run on two hits and striking out two.

Freshman Grayson Reichert (Shepherdsville, Ky.) came on after the weather delay to pitch the eighth inning, allowing one run on three hits in one inning on the mound.

Vincennes dropped into an elimination game to close out the day, facing off against the Pirates from North Central College in Trenton, Mo.

The Blazers found themselves playing from behind in this game with the Pirates striking early with a run in the first and three runs in the second to take an early 4-0 lead.

North Central continued to apply pressure at the plate, breaking the game open with four more runs in the third and adding five runs in the fourth.

Vincennes kept battling to the end, getting on the board in the fifth with a solo home run by sophomore Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.), his first home run of the season and first home run as a Trailblazer.

VU was unable to keep this momentum going however and unable to extend the game as the Blazers dropped game two of the day to North Central College 13-1.

Sophomore JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) got the start on the mound for Vincennes in game two, throwing two and two-thirds innings, allowing eight runs, three earned on seven hits and striking out two.

Freshman Jakob Hoyer (Georgetown, Ind.) came in out of the bullpen to throw two-thirds of an inning, allowing three runs on four hits before turning the game over to sophomore Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) who threw the final two-thirds of an inning, allowing two runs, one earned on one hit.

The 2025 Region 24 B Champion Vincennes University Trailblazers closed out their 2025 season with a final record of 28 wins and 34 losses.

The Blazers had a very successful season however, securing the most wins by a VU Baseball squad since 2016, capturing VU's first Region Championship since moving to Region 24 in 2016 and winning the first Mid-West Athletic Conference Championship in VU Baseball program history.

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

VU (28-33, 15-23) – 010   003   000 – 4

Heartland – 050   000   21x – 8

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Gricius. HR – Gricius. RBI – Gricius 3, Edlin. SB – Johnson. Sac Bunt – Douglas.

GAME TWO

VU (28-34, 15-23) – 000   01 – 1

North Central (MO) – 134   5x – 13

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Gricius. HR – Fessel. RBI – Fessel. HBP – Johnson.