NORMAL, Ill. – The Vincennes University baseball season likely came to an end Thursday afternoon as the Blazers dropped their elimination game to Danville Area 11-1 on Day Two of the Mid-West Athletic Conference tournament.
The Jaguars wasted little time getting the scoring started with a run in the first.
Danville would continue to add to their lead with runs in the second and third innings, taking a 3-0 early lead.
Danville Area completely shifted all the momentum of the game to their side in the fifth, doubling their lead with three runs in the inning.
The Jags pitchers kept the Blazers off-balance all game, with VU only able to post two hits through the first four innings.
Vincennes got on the board in the fifth however, when a two out walk by Ryne Wheeler was followed by back-to-back singles by Peyton Lane and Trent Weiss, driving in the Blazers first run of the game.
Danville responded to add three more runs in the sixth and two in the seventh, putting the Blazers season in jeopardy.
Ryne Wheeler again came through with a two out walk in the bottom of the seventh, which was immediately followed by a ground-rule double by Peyton Lane to give Vincennes runners at second and third needing just one run to extend the game.
The run never came through though and the Jaguars finished off the elimination game with an 11-1 win over Vincennes.
"Unfortunately (Danville) got the momentum and they kept it pretty much the whole day, putting up three runs in the first three innings then putting three-run spots in the fifth and sixth and capping it with two in the seventh," VU baseball coach Chris Barney said. "We just didn't have the pitching to do it and their left-hander did a good job against our guys."
"I just told our guys everybody at some point reaches the end of their season and unless you are the last man standing, it never quite ends the way you wanted it to or the way you thought it should. But our hats are off to the guys that are moving forward, the guys that are moving on in life. We've had some special guys who have been here for three years and have contributed to the program over those years. We also had some freshmen who really stepped up and did a great job for us this year. We have to keep that in mind and keep moving forward here."
Braedon Nichols got the start on the mound for the Blazers after Connor VanLannen was called on to pitch four innings of relief in VU's elimination game win Wednesday night.
Nichols lasted into the fifth inning, giving up three runs on eight hits and recording one strike out.
Parker Watts pitched 1.1 innings in relief, giving up five runs on two hits and punching out one.
Watts was relieved by Cody Swimm who pitched an inning, of one hit baseball. Swimm surrendered two runs and recorded a strikeout.
Bailey Elliott was called on to get the final two outs in the seventh inning.
The 2021 Spring Trailblazer baseball season will likely end with a final record of 24-31, with an 11-21 MWAC conference record.
"Our guys battled all year and they put themselves in a position at the end of the season to have to win to get into the tournament and they did," Barney added. "They scrapped and fought and clawed their way into it and obviously we made a little bit of noise here at the tournament, not as much as we wanted to do, but it's been an up and down road for us."
"We just have to get better all the way around. This was just our second full year in this conference, so it's still a feeling-out process but we've now been through it twice and have gone to the tournament both years. So, I think that is a victory in itself but not what we're looking for in a totality of things."
Danville Area 1 1 1 0 3 3 2 – 11 11 1
Vincennes (24-31) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 – 1 5 2
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Peyton Lane. RBI – Trent Weiss. Run – Ryne Wheeler.
