Hart slams the door as Blazers complete weekend sweep of Schoolcraft

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team closed out their busy week of playing nine games in nine days by picking up the weekend sweep over Schoolcraft College with a 5-4 victory at Jerry Blemker Field Sunday.

The Blazers got off to another slow start Sunday afternoon with the Ocelots scoring in the first inning in all four games this weekend. Schoolcraft pushed one across in the first to take the early 1-0 lead.

VU would get on the board in the third after a lead off single by freshman Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

Newman would come around to score on an RBI single by sophomore Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.) to even the score.

Burdette would score on an RBI single by freshman Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.) to give VU a 2-1 lead after three innings of play.

Schoolcraft would answer back with a run in the fourth to even the score at 2-2.

Vincennes would regain the lead in the sixth after Carter Whitehead led off the inning with a single. Whitehead would later score on a throwing error by Schoolcraft.

Sophomore Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.) came through later in the inning with a two-out double and would be driven in on an RBI single by Trevor Newman.

VU would tack on an insurance run in the seventh after sophomore Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on an error.

Evans would score on an RBI single by Carter Whitehead, giving him three hits and two RBIs on the day.

This run would prove crucial for the Blazers after Schoolcraft looked to avoid the sweep with a late comeback and were able to get a run in the eighth and a run in the ninth.

The Ocelots had the tying run on first with no outs before VU sophomore closer Xavier Hart (Jeffersonville, Ind.) entered from the bullpen to strikeout the final three Schoolcraft batters of the day and complete the four-game weekend sweep for the Trailblazers.

"Our hitters took advantage of their mistakes today," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "We didn't quite swing it as well as he had all weekend, but Schoolcraft's starter was pretty solid today. Ethan Burdette really set the table for us today getting on base three times. Plus, two RBIs and three hits by Whitehead. A double by Dale Coy and an RBI down in the order by Newman. Kade Hinton got a sac bunt down and walked."

"The positive thing, again, out of this is that a lot of guys contributed at the plate," Barney added. "Hopefully we can keep that rolling into next weekend."

Sophomore Jake Stuteville (Rockport, Ind.) got the start on the mound for the Blazers and threw five plus innings allowing two runs on six hits and striking out five.

Freshman Logan Medsker (Marshall, Ill.) was the first out of the bullpen for VU, throwing two shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out four.

Freshman Aaron Fenn (Fort Wayne, Ind.) came in to pitch the eighth inning and allowed two runs on three hits and striking out one.

Xavier Hart entered in the ninth with runners on first and second with no outs and would continue to strike out all three batters he faced to close out the win.

"Jake gave us a solid outing," Barney said. "He gave us a chance to win and kept them to two runs. He had a quality start, but we've got to stay out of the walks and hit by pitches. Then the bullpen did a great job. Medsker came in and gave us two innings. Aaron Fenn did a great job in his inning and then you have Xavier Hart closing it out with three strikeouts. It was a really good job on the back end from our bullpen today."

The Trailblazers will now have a week to prepare for their next opponent when VU opens Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) play next weekend by hosting Danville Area Community College Saturday, March 18 for a doubleheader with game one beginning at 2 p.m. eastern.

The four-game conference series will then shift to Danville, Ill. on Sunday, March 19 for the final two games of the series. First pitch Sunday is set for 2 p.m. eastern.

"The biggest thing we can, hopefully, take out of this weekend is confidence," Barney said. "We also hopefully got used to what it was like to play four games in a weekend. If we can get those two things out of this weekend and have a solid week of practice ahead of us to get ourselves ready to go for Danville next weekend, then we feel good about where we stand right now."

BOX SCORE

Schoolcraft – 100   100   011 – 4

VU (10-11) – 002   002   10x – 5

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Coy. RBI – Whitehead 2, Burdette, Newman. HBP – Coy. SB – Coy.