Trailblazers drop pitchers’ duel at Wabash Valley

MT. CARMEL, Ill. – The Vincennes University baseball team hit the field for the first time in a full week Friday afternoon, heading down to nearby Wabash Valley College for a single nine-inning game.

The Blazers found themselves in another close ballgame with a tough NJCAA Division I program and unfortunately came out on the wrong end of a 2-0 final score.

The VU offense was held in check by some really good pitching by the Warriors, with VU getting their first base runner in the third on a walk by sophomore Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.).

Wabash Valley would break the scoreless tie in the bottom of the 3rd before VU got into the hit column for the first time in the top of the fourth after a walk by sophomore Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and a single by sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.).

The Warriors would add to their lead in the sixth, which VU again responded back with some action on the bases in the seventh after a leadoff single by Blake Heyerly, his second hit of the game.

Heyerly was followed by a four-pitch walk by sophomore Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.) and sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) reaching on a bunt fielder's choice.

Vincennes got another runner on in the eighth after freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) reached on a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a balk, but was unable to come around to score.

The Trailblazers were held off the scoreboard as the Warriors pitching staff closed out the 2-0 victory.

"Tough way to get going again," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "Ran out against probably the best pitcher we've seen all year, who is going to South Carolina next year. He did his job and we obviously struggled against him."

"But we ran nine guys out on the mound," Barney added. "We had a plan to keep everybody fresh for the upcoming Conference series at Heartland Monday and Tuesday. So we ran nine guys out there trying to get them ready and back on the dirt and all nine of them did a great job. We had one mistake with a pickoff play at third base or we would have been out of that inning. But those guys came in and threw strikes and battled. They had command and had a feel for where they wanted to throw the baseball. So you tip your hat and that's the thing that we take out of this."

"We've got to do a better job in the couple of innings when we had opportunities to score," Barney said. "Somebody has to step up with a big hit and we've just got to continue to work on that."

VU looked to get some arms back in action on the mound and opted to throw nine different pitchers during Friday's game.

Sophomore Josh McCormick (Indianapolis, Ind.) got the start on the mound and was able to get through the first inning allowing one hit and striking out one.

The Trailblazers got a clean second inning out of freshman Alex Wandersee (Centerville, Ind.), including a strikeout, before turning it over to sophomore Max Lines (Indianapolis, Ind.) in the third.

Lines would get through the inning after allowing two hits and one unearned run while also picking up a strikeout.

Freshman Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) was able to work himself out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth before freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) took over in the fifth and struck out a pair.

Freshman Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) pitched the sixth, allowing one run on two hits and striking out a pair.

Sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) took over on the mound after spending the first six innings as the designated hitter and got through the seventh without allowing a hit.

Freshman Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) and sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) combined to throw a clean eighth inning, with Gross getting the first two outs before trading places with Parnin, who had been playing shortstop to that point and Parnin stepped up to strike out the only batter he faced.

"All those guys had command on the mound today and were able to locate some pitches and off-speed pitches," Barney said. "We were able to get out in front of guys and pitch backwards to a few guys. They did a good job that way and all nine did exactly what we needed from them."

"Josh McCormick, Wandersee threw really well, Lines came in, Okes got himself into a jam and got himself out of it without giving up any runs," Barney added. "Then you had Edlin and Bowser, then Bryce Gross and Jack Robinson and obviously Jace coming in to finish off the eighth inning with a strikeout. You come away feeling good about that and hopefully that's something that we can build off of as we move forward and get ready for Heartland."

The Trailblazers will look to bounce back as they continue through a very tough part of their schedule when VU returns to Mid-West Athletic Conference play Monday, April 8 and Tuesday, April 9 at No. 10-ranked Heartland Community College in Normal, Ill.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 12 p.m. eastern, with first pitch Tuesday scheduled for 11 a.m. eastern.

The Blazers will then return home to Jerry Blemker Field Wednesday, April 10 to face off against Volunteer State Community College at 3 p.m. eastern before taking on No. 16-ranked Lincoln Land Community College Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14 in another four-game MWAC Conference series.

Scheduled dates and times for all VU baseball games are subject to change. Be sure to follow 'Vincennes University Athletics' on Facebook, X and Instagram to stay up to date on any and all VU baseball schedule changes.

"It's the meat of the schedule," Barney said. "We are going to have to do some damage at Heartland and try to pick up a few wins, if not more. We've got a midweek game with Volunteer and then we turn around and have Lincoln Land at our place. The two top teams in the conference right now in back-to-back series and we've got to be ready to play."

BOX SCORE

VU (11-22, 4-8) – 000   000   000 – 0

Wabash Valley – 001   001   00x – 2

VINCENNES HITTING

1B – Heyerly 2. BB – Douglas, Hinton, Juarez, Whitehead. SB – Douglas.