Trailblazers drop Monday showdown with Wabash Valley College

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Baseball team returned to Jerry Blemker Field Monday evening for a weekday showdown with Wabash Valley College from Mt. Carmel, Ill.

The Trailblazers used this opportunity to get multiple players useful game experience as the Trailblazers get set to head into Mid-West Athletic Conference play this weekend.

VU fell behind early, was able to build some momentum through the middle innings but unfortunately came out on the wrong end of a 25-7 final score to the Warriors.

The Warriors got the scoring started early, scoring three runs in the first, three more in the third and fourth innings and another four runs in the fifth to take a big 13-0 lead over the Trailblazers

Vincennes would battle back and build some momentum in the bottom of the fifth after freshman Jevan Andrews (Hobart, Ind.) led off the inning by being hit by pitch, followed by a walk by sophomore Noble Johnson (Terre Haute, Ind.).

The pair moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch and freshman Jakob Hoyer (Georgetown, Ind.), who entered as a pinch runner for Andrews scored the Trailblazers first run on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.).

Sophomore Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) kept the inning going with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 13-2.

The Trailblazers kept this momentum going in the sixth with sophomore Damon Kay (Spencer, Ind.) and freshmen Kory Kingsbury (Evansville, Ind.) and Wyatt Burris (Farmland, Ind.) loaded the bases with three straight walks.

VU would go station to station on the basepaths with an RBI single by Jakob Hoyer and an RBI single by freshman Kaden McKinney (Vincennes, Ind.).

The inning continued with a bases loaded walk by freshman Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) and Hoyer coming in to score his second run of the game on a passed ball.

VU finished the big five-run sixth inning with Kaden McKinney scoring on a dropped third strike, bringing the score to 13-7 going to the seventh.

Wabash Valley rebounded at the plate and closed out the game strong, plating a pair of runs in the seventh and putting together a big 10 run eighth inning to finish the game after eight innings by the final score of 25-7.

Freshman Grayson Reichert (Shepherdsville, Ky.) got the start on the mound for the Trailblazers Monday evening, throwing two and one-third innings, allowing six run on seven hits and striking out two.

Sophomore Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) was the first out of the pen for the Trailblazers and started his outing with back-to-back strikeouts on six pitches to finish out the third inning.

Okes would finish his game throwing two innings, allowing seven runs, five earned on five hits and striking out three.

Freshman Jacob Allen (Vincennes, Ind.) threw two and two-thirds innings Monday, allowing two runs, one earned on three hits and striking out three.

Freshman Kyle Holder (Mount Vernon, Ind.) entered to pitch the eighth inning, allowing 10 runs, six earned on four hits and striking out one.

The Trailblazers will look to bounce back and get back in the win column in their next outing when VU hits the road Wednesday, March 5 to take on Oakland City University JV in Oakland City, Ind. at 4 p.m. eastern.

The Blazers will then close out the weekend Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9 as Vincennes opens Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) play at John Wood Community College in Quincy, Ill. First pitch for both days is set for 1 p.m. eastern.

BOX SCORE

Wabash Valley – 303   340   2(10) – 25

VU (8-4) – 000   025   00 – 7

VINCENNES HITTING

RBI – Douglas, Hoyer, McKinney, Gross, Stultz. SB – Andrews. HBP – Andrews, Kingsbury. Sac Fly – Gross.