VU baseball clinches spot in MWAC Tournament with doubleheader sweep of Spoon River

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team punched their ticket to the 2023 Mid-West Athletic Conference tournament Thursday afternoon with a sweep of the first two games of the final four-game weekend conference series of the regular season against Spoon River.

VU picked up the win in game one of the day 12-2 before coming back in game two and ending the day with an 11-1 victory over the Snappers.

The Blazers got off to another great start Thursday morning, with sophomore leadoff hitter Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.) leading off the bottom of the first with a single, followed by a walk by sophomore Kobe Bartlett (Rockport, Ind.).

The pair would be driven in on a two-RBI triple by sophomore Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) and Evans would later score on a sacrifice fly by freshman Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.) to give the Blazers an early 3-0 lead.

VU would add another run in the second after sophomore Nick Kapostasy (Cincinnati, Ohio) led off the inning with a first-pitch double and later coming around to score on a groundout by freshman Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

The Trailblazers would firmly take control of the first game of the day with a big, seven-run third inning, which included RBI singles by Hinton and Burdette and a two-out two-RBI triple by sophomore Colin Long (Evansville, Ind.) to give the Blazers an 11-0 lead.

Spoon River would get a run back in the fourth and extend the game with a run in the fifth before VU would load the bases with one out after back-to-back singles by freshmen Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.) and Bryton Griffy (Louisville, Ill.) and a walk by freshman Tucker Helton (Terre Haute, Ind.).

Whitehead would come in to score the winning run on a wild pitch as VU came away with a walk-off 12-2 victory in game one over Spoon River.

Sophomore Xavier Hart (Jeffersonville, Ind.) got the start on the mound in game one of the day, allowing one run on four hits in four innings pitched, while striking out a season-high eight batters.

Freshman Aaron Fenn (Fort Wayne, Ind.) entered to get the final out of the fifth inning, retiring the only batter he faced on just two pitches.

"We got the win in game one by coming up with some big hits throughout the game," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "We got a triple by Colton in the first and a sac fly by Hinton, giving us an early lead. Then Kapostasy leads off the second with a double and scores and three singles back-to-back in the third start us on a seven run third inning. Guys just stepped up. A lot of different guys contributed at the plate. This was a good team win for us, we just have to play better defense."

"Xavier threw really well today, if we make plays behind him, he could have easily gone six or seven innings today," Barney added. "We wanted to get him out of there at around 90 pitches so he can turn around and possibly go for us at the conference tournament next week and I feel good about the way he threw today. Then Aaron Fenn coming in and getting the last out of the fifth was big for us. Can't complain about the pitching today, it was a great job out there by those guys."

The Blazers looked to carry this momentum into game two of the day and wasted little time setting the tone by putting up another seven-run inning.

VU started the bottom of the first in game two with a four-pitch walk by Ethan Burdette, followed by Kobe Bartlett being hit by pitch and both were again driven in on a two-RBI triple by Colton Evans, giving him four RBIs on the day.

The inning would continue with an RBI double by Jace Parnin and a two-RBI single by Kobe Bartlett to give the Blazers the early 7-0 lead.

VU would again continue to add to their lead in the second after back-to-back two out walks by sophomore Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.) and freshman Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.), the pair would be driven in on a two-RBI double by sophomore Will Egger (Terre Haute, Ind.) as VU took a 9-0 lead into the third.

Spoon River would get their first base runner of the game with one out in the third and later scored in the inning to cut the VU lead to 9-1.

Vincennes would look to increase their lead again in the fourth, leading off the inning with three straight walks by Heyerly, Egger and Parnin, before Heyerly would score on a bases-loaded walk by Colin Long.

VU would get their lead to double digits on a wild pitch that scored Will Egger, giving the Blazers an 11-1 advantage.

Freshman pitcher Josh McCormick (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished what he started and picked up the complete game victory on the mound by shutting down the Snappers in the fifth to give VU the 11-1 victory and send the Blazers to the MWAC Conference tournament.

McCormick picked up his first complete game of his VU career, throwing five innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out two.

"There were a lot of opportunities in game two that we were able to take advantage of offensively," Barney said after his team drew 11 walks in the game. "When we get free bases, extra bases and extra outs, guys stepped up. We started out in the first with a walk and a hit by pitch and a two RBI triple by Colton. Got two more walks and an RBI double by Jace Parnin and then a walk and a big two-RBI single by Kobe Bartlett all in the first, when you get four guys on base with walks and then the guys behind them come up with some big hits, it's a great way to start the game. Plus Josh McCormick threw really, really well."

Vincennes has now punched their ticket as the No. 7-seed in next week's Mid-West Athletic Conference Tournament hosted by Heartland Community College at the Corn Crib in Normal, Ill. The tournament is set to begin Wednesday, May 17 and run through Saturday, May 20.

Before that though, the Trailblazers will look to build some more momentum heading into the postseason when VU hosts Spoon River for the final doubleheader of the regular season Friday, May 12. The season finale doubleheader is set to begin at 12 p.m. eastern.

"We've just got to play better defense tomorrow," Barney said. "That's the biggest challenge for us right now. We need to continue to get quality starts out of our guys, take advantage of mistakes and come up with some timely hitting. If we can do those four things and get ourselves ready to roll into the conference tournament with hopefully two more wins tomorrow with Gavin Craggs and Logan Medsker starting on the mound."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

Spoon River – 000   11 – 2

VU (23-30, 11-18) – 317   01 – 12

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Kapostasy. 3B – Long, Evans. RBI – Long 2, Evans 2, Hinton 2, Burdette, Parnin. HBP – Coy. SF – Hinton. SB – Burdette, Evans, Hinton.

GAME TWO

Spoon River – 001   00 – 1

VU (24-30, 12-18) – 720   2x – 11

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Egger, Parnin. 3B – Evans. RBI – Bartlett 2, Evans 2, Egger 2, Long, Hinton, Parnin. HBP – Bartlett. SB – Hinton.