Strong starts give Trailblazers doubleheader sweep at Jerry Blemker Field

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Baseball team returned to Jerry Blemker Field Tuesday morning looking to bounce back from their home opener Monday afternoon with doubleheader action against Morton College and a rematch against NJCAA Division III No. 15 Joliet Junior College.

The Blazers were able to open up fast starts in both games and ride the early momentum to a 5-2 victory over Morton College and an 8-4 victory over Joliet to complete the doubleheader sweep.

Vincennes opened the day Tuesday morning with a showdown against Morton College.

VU opened the scoring on the day in the second inning after a lead off walk by freshman Jarret Phillips (Jeffersonville, Ind.), who advanced on a stolen base and came around to score on a groundout put in play by sophomore Noble Johnson (Terre Haute, Ind.).

Vincennes continued to add in the second after a single by freshman Carter Gricius (Scottsburg, Ind.) was followed by a big two-run home run by sophomore Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.), his second of the season, to put the Blazers on top early 3-0.

Morton would get a run back and final crack the scoreboard in the fourth, before VU answered back in the fifth on back-to-back singles by freshman Jevan Andrews (Hobart, Ind.) and an RBI single by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.).

The two teams would trade runs in the sixth, where Vincennes took advantage of a leadoff single by Noble Johnson, who was driven in on a bases loaded walk by Nate Montgomery, giving him two RBIs on the day and his third time reaching base in four plate appearances.

The Trailblazers pitching would hold in the seventh after Morton looked ready to strike with the bases loaded with only one out but were unable to push the runs across and extend the game as Vincennes closed out the 5-2 victory over the Panthers.

Sophomore JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) got the start on the mound for the Trailblazers, throwing five strong innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits and striking out eight while picking up his first winning decision of the season.

Freshman Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) was the first out of the pen for the Trailblazers, throwing one and one-third innings, allowing one run on two hits and striking out two.

Sophomore Bryce Gross stepped in in the seventh and closed out the game for the Blazers striking out two in two-thirds of an inning to pick up the save.

"It was a great job by JD Bowser stepping up," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "It was a good bounce back win for us after a tough night last night. We actually swung the bats okay in the first game and did a pretty good job defensively."

"Bowser pitched well," Barney added. "Ty Stultz got us a couple of key outs and then we turned around and had Bryce Gross close it out. Multiple guys stepped up with multiple RBIs, so game one was pretty good."

VU looked to keep this momentum going in the evening portion of Tuesday's doubleheader, getting a chance at revenge against NJCAA Division III No. 15-ranked Joliet Junior College.

Vincennes again struck early, getting on the scoreboard in the second inning after sophomore Damon Kay (Spencer, Ind.) began the inning with a hit by pitch.

Freshman Jarret Phillips followed that with a walk and the two advanced around the bases by taking advantage of a passed ball and a wild pitch, plating Kay to give the Blazers an early 1-0 lead.

Noble Johnson was able to get on base later in the inning with another walk, stealing second and then coming around to score on a two-RBI broken bat single by sophomore Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.) to put the Blazers on top 3-0 early.

Vincennes would get another run in the third inning, scoring after loading the bases by Nate Montgomery being hit by pitch and Damon Kay and Jarret Phillips drawing walks.

Montgomery would score on a groundout put in play by sophomore Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) to increase the Trailblazer lead to 4-0.

Joliet would respond in the fourth inning with a pair of runs and later cut the deficit to one with a run in the sixth to cut the VU lead down to 4-3.

Vincennes looked to answer back and pick up a few insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth and got the inning started right with a lead off single by Yancey Edlin.

Edlin's walk was followed by a walk by Brody Fessel and the pair moved up 90 feet on a successful sacrifice bunt by freshman Jakob Hoyer (Georgetown, Ind.).

Edlin would then come in to score on a passed ball as Fessel moved to third and sophomore Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) kept the inning going with a two-out walk.

Jevan Andrews legged out an infield RBI single and Douglas would come around to score on a passed ball.

VU closed out the inning with a double steal which allowed Andrews to score from third before Nate Montgomery was tagged out in a run down, giving the Blazers a commanding 8-3 lead going into the seventh.

Joliet would look for a big late comeback in the seventh inning and were able to plate one run in the inning but were unable to get more as Vincennes closed out game two of the day 8-4, completing the doubleheader sweep.

Freshman Eastin Whaley (Kokomo, Ind.) got the start on the mound for Vincennes in game two, throwing three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three to pick up the winning decision.

Freshman Wyatt Burris (Farmland, Ind.) entered in the fourth, allowing two runs on three hits in one and one-third innings while striking out two.

Sophomore Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) pitched the final two and two-thirds innings of relief, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and striking out four while picking up the save.

"Game two was a different scenario," Barney said. "Eastin Whaley set the tone, throwing three scoreless innings. It was his first outing of the year and we got him out of there with some success. Got Wyatt Burris on the dirt for the first time. He was okay. He induced some ground balls, they were just able to find the holes. Then Colton Okes did a great job of coming in and shutting the door and giving us a chance."

"Ugly win," Barney added. "We took advantage of their mistakes. When teams give you multiple runners with walks or hit by pitches, we did a good job of taking advantage of it and finding ways to score runs on some passed balls and wild pitches, just putting the ball in play, getting some double steal situations on first and third. It worked out to our advantage and the guys did a really good job but we've got to do a better job offensively of swinging the bat if we expect to be really competitive in this league."

The Trailblazers will return to Jerry Blemker Field tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 26 as VU continues their busy week of action against Frontier College at 3 p.m. eastern.

The Blazers will then continue this home stand Friday, Feb. 28 against Lincoln Trail College at 3 p.m. eastern and a Saturday, March 1 doubleheader against North Iowa Area Community College at 11 a.m. eastern and No. 15 ranked Kellogg Community College at 6:30 p.m. eastern.

The busy week will conclude Sunday, March 2 when VU takes on an opponent to be named later at 1 p.m. eastern.

"Frontier is going to be a challenge tomorrow," Barney said. "We're limited on pitching but we are going to find a way to get nine innings out of some guys. Then we turn around and we've got a really competitive schedule this weekend. Kellogg is Nationally ranked. North Iowa Area has got some really good arms and are a really competitive program. Coach Josh Merrill used to be an Assistant at the University of Southern Indiana. Lincoln Trail has had a tough start to the season but has played as good of competition as you can play, playing against some ranked Division I programs. It's going to be a test for us this weekend."

"We've got to continue to pitch well, which we've done throughout the year and shown that we are capable of," Barney added. "We've got to come up with some timely hitting and continue to play really good defense. If we do that, we'll be in some games and find some ways to win games. If we miss on some of those things against the clubs that we have coming in here, it could be a struggle."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

Morton – 000   101   0 – 2

VU (3-3) – 030   011   x – 5

VINCENNES HITTING

HR – Gross. RBI – Gross 2, Montgomery 2, Johnson. SB – Phillips 2, Andrews. Sac Bunt – Miller.

GAME TWO

Joliet – 000   201   1 – 4

VU (4-3) – 031   004   x – 8

VINCENNES HITTING

1B – Andrews, Edlin, Fessel. RBI – Fessel 2, Edlin, Andrews. HBP – Kay 2, Montgomery. SB – Douglas, Fessel, Andrews, Johnson.