Blazers complete the doubleheader sweep with pair of walk-off wins

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team continues to roll through their weekend series with Schoolcraft College at Jerry Blemker Field with a pair of wins Saturday afternoon.

VU took down the Ocelots in comeback fashion in game one of the day 5-4 before coming back and picking up the six-inning run-rule 15-5 victory in game two.

The Trailblazers got off to a slow start Saturday afternoon, with Schoolcraft responding back after being run ruled Friday night to score three runs in the first.

VU got their first time at the plate and were led off by a four-pitch walk by sophomore Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.).

Burdette would steal second and third before coming around to score on a wild pitch to give the Blazers their first run of the game.

Schoolcraft would get this run back in the second and increase their lead to 4-1 heading to the bottom of the second.

The Trailblazers would look to pick up the late comeback with a pair of runs in the fifth on an RBI single by sophomore Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.) and an RBI double by sophomore Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) to cut the deficit to 4-3.

VU would even the score in the sixth with a double by sophomore Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.). Freshman Bryton Griffy (Louisville, Ill.) would pinch run and score the tying run on an RBI single by sophomore Will Egger (Terre Haute, Ind.).

After a big top of the seventh, where freshman catcher Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.) ended the inning by throwing out a Schoolcraft baserunner at third and picking off a runner at first.

Ethan Burdette led off the bottom of the seventh and reached base for the fourth time in the game on a hit by pitch.

Burdette advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kaden Elliott and came around to score on a walk-off by freshman Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.) to give the Blazers the 5-4 victory.

"Burdette has done it all year long for us," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "We will hopefully stick with him the rest of the year and do everything he is supposed to do and continue to play well."

"The good news in the first game was we had about five or six hitters that all stepped up at the plate," Barney added. "Those guys came up in big RBI situations and found a way to score some runs to get us back into the game. The guys battled and tied it up late."

"Schoolcraft had a nice pitcher on the mound in this game," Barney said. "Their pitcher is a pretty good arm for them and we did a nice job of staying on it and battling with him at the plate."

Freshman Josh McCormick (Indianapolis, Ind.) got the start on the mound in game one for the Blazers and really settled in after the first two innings to throw six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out five.

Sophomore Eli Steimel (Sullivan, Ind.) and freshman Xavier Hart (Jeffersonville, Ind.) combined to pitch the seventh inning, with Steimel getting the first out of the inning and Hart retiring the final two.

"First game of the day Josh had a tough first inning and then he really settled in and gave us five quality innings after that," Barney said. "That's what we needed and then our bullpen did the rest in the seventh. Steimel comes in and does his job and then going to Xavier Hart to finish it out. Xavier threw okay. He didn't have a great first pitch but after that was able to settle in and was able to get guys out. Hats off to the bullpen, they came in and did what they are supposed to do."

The Blazers then had to turn around for the second half of the doubleheader and again fell behind early with Schoolcraft plating a run in the first inning.

This time, however, VU didn't waste any time grabbing the lead back with a six-run first inning including a two-RBI double by sophomore Kobe Bartlett (Rockport, Ind.) and a monster grand slam home run by Will Egger, his first collegiate home run.

VU would add to their lead in a big way in the second with a three-run home run by Bartlett, giving him five RBIs in the first two innings of the game, his first collegiate home run as well. Giving the Trailblazers the early 9-1 lead.

Schoolcraft would get a pair of runs back in the third, before the Blazers answered with a run in the third on an RBI single by Kaden Elliott.

The Ocelots would get another two runs in the fourth to cut the VU lead down to 10-5.

Vincennes would get a run back in the fourth on a run driven in after Ethan Burdette was hit by a pitch.

The Trailblazers looked to pick up their third win of the weekend and third walk-off win in the sixth and got started with a leadoff single by Dale Coy, who would advance to second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch.

Coy would be driven in on an RBI double by freshman Bracey Breneman (Linton, Ind.). Breneman would be driven in on an RBI single by Will Egger, giving him five RBIs on the game.

After back-to-back singles by freshman Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Ethan Burdette loaded the bases, sophomore Nick Kapostasy (Cincinnati, Ohio) came through with a two-RBI walk-off single giving the Blazers the 15-5 win and invoking the NJCAA 10-run rule.

"We got this second done because of our hitters," Barney said. "Pitching has got to be better than what it was. We gave up two errors in the first inning, gave up a run, had a hit by pitch that we've got to make plays on. But our hitters did a great job. We barreled up on eight of nine hitters and scored six in the first and put Schoolcraft kind of back on their heels a little bit."

"We answered again in the second with a three run shot by Bartlett, giving him five RBIs on the game," Barney added. "Other guys stepped up as well in this game. Will Egger steps up with a grand slam. So obviously in the second game the hitters did a nice job and then Jace Parnin did a nice job at the end to shut the door on the last two innings."

Sophomore Dawson Blaylock (Eaton, Ohio) got the start on the mound for the Blazers in game two and threw two and one-third innings, allowing three runs on one hit and striking out three.

Blaylock turned it over to sophomore Caleb Moore (St. Louis, Mo.) out of the pen who pitched an inning and one-third, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out one.

Freshman Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) would come in to help settle the Schoolcraft batters and pitch the final two and one-third innings, allowing four hits and striking out two.

"We've got to get more out of our starting pitching," Barney said. "Caleb did a good job of coming in and getting the first two guys out he faced and then he struggled in the next inning and that's why we made the move. Jace Parnin did a great job with the last two innings on the mound."

The Trailblazers will look to continue their winning streak and complete the four-game weekend sweep with a single, nine-inning game tomorrow, Sunday, March 12 at Jerry Blemker Field. First pitch tomorrow is set for 12 p.m. eastern.

"We've just got to play well and get something out of our starting pitching tomorrow," Barney said. "Jake Stuteville will be on the mound for us tomorrow and we've still got a lot of guys in the bullpen that are ready to roll. I feel good about where we are at and continue to swing the bat and have some confidence and try to figure out how to sweep a club. If we do that, then we will feel good about it going into our first conference weekend next week."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

Schoolcraft – 310   000   0 – 4

VU (8-11) – 100   021   1 – 5

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Coy, Evans. RBI – Elliott, Evans, Egger. HBP – Burdette. SB – Evans, Helton, Burdette 2.

GAME TWO

Schoolcraft – 102   200 – 5

VU (9-11) – 631   104 – 15

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Burdette, Breneman, Bartlett. HR – Egger, Bartlett. RBI – Bartlett 5, Egger 5, Kapostasy 2, Burdette, Elliott, Breneman. HBP – Burdette, Evans, Breneman. SB – Coy.