VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team closed out the home portion of their regular season at Jerry Blemker Field Saturday afternoon, dropping the first two games of their Mid-West Athletic Conference series to Parkland College 6-0 and 4-0.
Parkland broke open the scoring on the day in game one with a run in the second inning.
Vincennes managed to get a lead-off single by sophomore Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.) in the first and a one-out single by sophomore Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.) in the second but were unable to move those runners into scoring position.
VU looked to be in a good spot in the fourth after a lead-off double by sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.) but were unable to advance the runner past second base.
Parkland added on to their lead in the fifth to take a 2-0 lead over the Blazers, before VU again looked to be able to break onto the scoreboard with a leadoff single by sophomore Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.) and a walk by sophomore Kade Hinton in the fifth but again came up empty.
Parkland would add some late insurance runs by plating four runs in the seventh before Vincennes had another good opportunity to cut into the deficit in the eighth.
VU loaded the bases with only one out after Blake Heyerly was hit by pitch, freshman Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.) got a single and Trevor Newman walked to load the bases.
The Trailblazers continued to have a tough time breaking onto the scoreboard, getting a runner in scoring position in five straight innings but ultimately coming up with a zero in the run column.
Parkland would close out the game to pick up the game one victory over the Trailblazers 6-0.
Freshman Carson Allen (Louisville, Ky.) got the start in game one and had to exit early after just three and two-thirds innings due to injury. Allen had only surrendered one run on one hit and struck out one before exiting in the fourth inning.
Allen handed the game over to sophomore Josh McCormick (Indianapolis, Ind.) out of the bullpen and McCormick made an immediate impact, getting out of the fourth inning with just a single pitch.
McCormick would go on to throw three and one third innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and striking out four.
Freshman Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) came in to pitch the final two innings for the Trailblazers, allowing just a single hit in two shutout innings of work.
"Our hitting still has to step up and we just didn't get it done," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "Their pitching was really good and we couldn't sustain anything against them offensively."
"I thought Josh McCormick did a really good job," Barney added. "The kicker is that they scored four runs on four hits in the seventh inning. We gave up those four runs with two strikes and two outs and just couldn't find that third out, so we've got to do a better job there. But McCormick threw well. Colton Okes threw really well also."
Vincennes looked to bounce back and pick up a win in the final home game of the 2024 regular season, but again found themselves facing an early uphill battle.
Parkland came out firing in game two, scoring two runs in the first and getting another run in the second to take an early 3-0 lead.
VU would again get a lead-off single by Carter Whitehead to begin the home half of the first inning but continued to struggle turning baserunners into runs scored.
VU would get a runner in scoring position in the second inning after Nate Montgomery began the inning with a walk, followed by Kade Hinton reaching on a fielder's choice and advancing to second on a walk by sophomore Bryan Kohlmeyer (Paris, Ill.).
The Vincennes offense was held at bay through the middle innings as Parkland increased their lead to 4-0 with a run in the sixth.
The Blazers had another opportunity to strike in the bottom of the sixth after Carter Whitehead led off the inning with another single, giving him both of VU's hits in game two.
Whitehead would unfortunately not advance after sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) reached on a fielder's choice and a throwing error but was unable to come around to score.
Vincennes closed out the home finale by dropping game two of the day to Parkland College by the final score of 4-0.
Freshman Kaleb Marrs (Terre Haute, Ind.) got the start in game two of the day for the Trailblazers and was able to settle in after a tough start to the game, throwing five innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out seven.
Freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) was the first out of the pen for VU in game two, allowing one unearned run on one hit in one inning of work before handing the game over to sophomore Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) in the seventh.
Pinson closed out his final VU home game allowing one hit before retiring the final three batters he faced.
"Kaleb Marrs kept us in the game and gave us a chance," Barney said. "JD Bowser did a great job. We had an error and that run scored in the sixth. Then Pinson did a good job after giving up a lead-off double and didn't allow that run to score. So the pitchers in game two gave us a chance and our hitting just needs to step up in key situations."
The Trailblazers will look to gain some momentum going into the postseason as VU closes out the 2024 regular season tomorrow, May 5 with the final two games of this MWAC Conference series.
Tomorrow's doubleheader will be played in Champaign, Ill. as the series shifts to Parkland College. First pitch time tomorrow is set for 1 p.m. eastern.
"Hopefully we can get a couple of wins tomorrow," Barney said. "We need to start getting our hitting going. We've played pretty good defense and our starting pitching has been more than adequate to keep us in games and giving us an opportunity. So our hitters have to get it going."
BOX SCORE
GAME ONE
Parkland – 010 010 400 – 6
VU (13-39, 5-24) – 000 000 000 – 0
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Heyerly. SB – Douglas. HBP – Douglas, Heyerly.
GAME TWO
Parkland – 210 001 0 – 4
VU (13-40, 5-25) – 000 000 0 – 0
VINCENNES HITTING
HBP -Heyerly. SB – Douglas.
