Trailblazers drop hard fought doubleheader at No. 10 Heartland

NORMAL, Ill. – The Vincennes University tough baseball schedule continued Monday afternoon with the Trailblazers jumping back into their Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) schedule on the road at defending National Champions and No. 10-ranked Heartland Community College.

The Blazers battled with the Hawks throughout but ultimately came out on the wrong end of an 8-4 and 14-4 final scores.

Vincennes got off to a slow start against the Hawks, with Heartland getting on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the first.

The Blazers would answer back to get on the board in the second inning after back-to-back singles by sophomores Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

Freshman Reed Drabant (Columbia, Ill.) followed that by reaching on a hit by pitch and sophomore Bryton Griffy (Louisville, Ill.) reaching on a walk to load the bases.

Freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) cleared the bases with a three-RBI double to put the Blazers on top 3-1.

Heartland would slowly work their way back with a run in the fourth and two runs in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead.

VU would even the score in the seventh after Bryton Griffy led off the inning with a single and advanced on a successful sacrifice bunt by Bradyn Douglas.

Griffy would come around to score on a big RBI double by sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.), his third hit of the game, to even the score at 4-4.

Heartland would regain the lead in the bottom of the seventh with a run and added on with three insurance runs in the eighth as the Hawks closed out the 8-4 game one victory.

Freshman Carson Allen (Louisville, Ky.) got the start in game one for the Trailblazers, throwing six-plus strong innings, allowing five runs on 10 hits and striking out four.

Freshman Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) was the first out of the pen for VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney, throwing one and one-third innings, allowing three runs on three hits and striking out one.

Freshman Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) was called on to get the final two outs of the eighth inning, retiring both batters he faced, including one strikeout.

The Trailblazers looked to bounce back in game two of the day and early on found themselves in a pitchers' duel with the score still tied at 0-0 going to the bottom of the fourth.

Heartland, again, was the first to break onto the scoreboard and did so in a big way, breaking the game open with 11 runs in the fourth inning.

Facing an early run-rule defeat, the Trailblazers refused to give up in the top of the fifth with freshman Damon Kay (Spencer, Ind.) making the most of just his second at bat of the season by launching a solo home run, his first collegiate home run.

Following this big fly, the Blazers seemed to have a new burst of life with Blake Heyerly and sophomore Bryan Kohlmeyer (Paris, Ill.) following the home run with back-to-back singles, Heyerly's third hit of the game and sixth hit on the day.

Jace Parnin did not want to feel left out of the fun as he came through with a big three-run home run, his second of the season and second of his VU career to cut the Vincennes deficit to 11-4.

The Hawks responded back in the sixth to close out the game with three runs and pick up the run-rule victory over the Blazers by the final score of 14-4.

Freshman Kaleb Marrs (Terre Haute, Ind.) took to the mound in game two for the Trailblazers, throwing three-plus innings, allowing four runs on two hits and striking out five.

Marrs got off to an excellent start to the game, retiring the first seven batters of the game, including all five of his strikeouts.

Freshman Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) was the first out of the pen in game two, allowing seven runs on seven hits in an inning of work.

Freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) came in to pitch the final one and one-third innings, allowing three runs on five hits.

The Trailblazers will look to come away with the series split when VU returns to the Corn Crib Tuesday, April 9 for the final two games of this MWAC Conference series. First pitch tomorrow is set for 11 a.m. eastern.

The Blazers will then return home to Jerry Blemker Field for a single mid-week showdown with Volunteer State Community College Wednesday, April 10 at 3 p.m. eastern.

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

VU (11-23, 4-9) – 030   000   100 – 4

Heartland – 100    120   13x – 8

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Douglas, Heyerly, Whitehead. RBI – Douglas 3, Heyerly. HBP – Drabant. SB – Heyerly, Parnin. Sac Bunt – Douglas.

GAME TWO

VU (11-24, 4-10) – 000   040 – 4

Heartland – 000   (11)03 – 14

VINCENNES HITTING

HR – Kay, Parnin. RBI – Parnin 3, Kay. HBP – Bradbury. Sac Bunt – Griffy.