VU Baseball skid continues after Blazers drop Saturday doubleheader

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team has hit a rough patch early in the spring 2023 season and it continued into Saturday's split doubleheader at Jerry Blemker Field.

The Trailblazers fell to Morton College in the morning game of the day 10-7 and fell to NJCAA Division III No. 13-ranked Joliet Junior College 12-9 in the final game of the night.

The day got off to a rocky start for the Trailblazers with Morton College putting up six runs in the top of the first inning.

VU immediately erased all six of these runs in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double by sophomore Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.), RBI singles by sophomores Colin Long (Evansville, Ind.) and Kobe Bartlett (Rockport, Ind.), a two-RBI double by freshman Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.) and an RBI by freshman Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.).

Vincennes bounced all the way back with six runs of their own in the bottom of the first.

The scoring would obviously slow down with VU taking the lead in the third after Brandon Juarez led off the inning with a single and scored on a throwing error later in the inning to give the Blazers the 7-6 lead.

Morton would regain the momentum in the sixth with four runs, including a two RBI triple to give the Panthers the 10-7 lead.

Vincennes would attempt a late comeback, getting runners on first and second with one out in the seventh, but were unable to push a run across as Morton College took the first game of the day 10-7.

"We've done a great job offensively this season of battling back in most games," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "Unfortunately, so far, more often than not we have still come up short for whatever the reason is. If it's a hit here or there that could win us games. We've just got to do a better job all the way around."

"Carter Whitehead had a good day with a couple of RBIs and a couple of big hits," Barney added. "After that a couple of our other guys really did a good job of stepping up and driving in runs."

Sophomore Jake Stuteville (Rockport, Ind.) got the start on the mound for the Blazers, throwing two-thirds of an inning, allowing six runs, two earned runs, on four hits.

Freshman Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) was the first out of the pen, throwing two innings of shutout ball on three hits and striking out one.

Sophomore Xavier Hart (Jeffersonville, Ind.) pitched two and two-thirds innings of relief, allowing three runs on one hit and striking out five.

Freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.) closed out the final one and two-thirds innings, allowing two hits and striking out one.

"We are in a situation, really this whole weekend, where we need to get more out of our starting pitching," Barney said. "Jake Stuteville only threw two-thirds of an inning today, Gavin got us three innings later and Dawson yesterday only got us into the fourth. We've got to get better quality starts out of our pitching and shutdown innings after we score."

VU looked to have put the morning game behind them when the Blazers returned to the field for the final game of the day against Joliet.

Vincennes got on the board first after sophomore leadoff hitter Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.) and Kaden Elliott led off the first inning with a single by Burdette and an Elliott walk.

Burdette would come around to score on an RBI single by Holden Clifton and Elliott and Clifton would be driven in on a two RBI double by Brandon Juarez.

The Trailblazers would increase their lead in the second after four straight walks and a sacrifice fly by Holden Clifton to give the Blazers an early 5-0 lead.

The Wolves would work their way back into the game with four runs in the third, two runs in the fourth and two runs in the fifth to give Joliet an 8-5 lead.

After Joliet scored another two runs in the sixth to take a five-run lead, the Blazers began their comeback in the sixth with a pinch hit RBI double by sophomore Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.), a sacrifice fly by sophomore Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.), Kaden Elliott scoring on a wild pitch and freshman Bracey Breneman (Linton, Ind.) scoring on an error on a pickoff attempt to put the Blazers within one run going into the seventh.

Joliet would tack on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh, which looked to come in handy after the Blazers loaded the bases on a hit by pitch and back to back walks to begin the bottom of the seventh.

The Wolves would escape the inning unharmed after the Blazers flew out to center field and lined into a double play to end the game. Joliet closed out the night picking up the 12-9 victory at Jerry Blemker Field.

"We let the fourth inning snowball on us in the second game," Barney said. "We had two walks, a passed ball and an error and they were able to score four runs. We are out of the inning if we just make plays and do things that we are capable of doing."

"The other part of this game is that we have to be able to shut those guys down," Barney added. "Joliet is a good club. They are nationally ranked and they did a nice job swinging the bats against us. They scored on us from the third inning on in all five innings. Credit to our guys for battling, but eventually we've got to step up and win a few games here."

Freshman Gavin Craggs (Taylorville, Ill.) got the start on the mound in the second game of the day and threw three and one-third innings, allowing six runs on four hits and striking out three.

Freshman Aaron Fenn (Fort Wayne, Ind.) entered from the pen and threw one and two-thirds innings allowing four runs on three hits.

Freshmen Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) and Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) each threw an inning of relief, with Pinson surrendering a run on three hits and striking out one and Parnin allowing one run on one hit and striking out three.

"We went to Fenn right off the bat out of the bullpen and he had an okay outing," Barney said. "But obviously he's got to be able to get through the lineup a little bit better than what he did."

"Christian Pinson came in and kept us in the game," Barney added. "Then when it got close late it was Jace Parnin who has thrown really well for us lately and did fairly well tonight except for leaving a breaking ball up to their cleanup hitter that he smashed to left field for a two RBI double."

"It's tough right now but we are mixing and matching on the mound and getting a lot of guys experience," Barney said. "So hopefully that pays off as the season plays out."

The Trailblazers will look to end their losing streak when Vincennes returns to Jerry Blemker Field Sunday, Feb. 26 to close out the busy weekend with a rematch against Morton College. First pitch Sunday is set for 1 p.m. eastern.

"We've got to come out tomorrow against Morton and play well," Barney said. "We've got to get a quality start or some quality pitching out of three or four guys that are ready to roll. It's a game that we should feel good about with the energy level that we've had. Even though we haven't been successful with wins and losses, our energy on the dugout and our energy overall on the field has been really, really good. We have just got to be able to put a solid game together offensively, on the mound and defensively and we'll start winning some games."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

Morton – 600   004   0 – 10

VU (3-7) – 601   000   0 – 7

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Elliott, Whitehead. RBI – Elliott, Long, Bartlett, Whitehead 2, Juarez. SB – Bartlett 2, Griffy.

GAME TWO

Joliet – 004   222   2 – 12

VU (3-8) – 320   004   0 – 9

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Coy, Juarez. RBI – Evans 2, Clifton 2, Juarez 2, Coy. HBP – Whitehead. Sac Fly – Clifton. SB – Burdette, Hinton.