OAKLAND CITY, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team hit the road Thursday evening for another weekday tune up before the start of Mid-West Athletic Conference play this weekend, heading to Oakland City University to take on OCU JV.
The Trailblazers battled hard, getting some valuable game experience for the younger players on the roster but unfortunately came up on the wrong end of a 18-7 final score to the Mighty Oaks.
Vincennes got off to a great start Thursday afternoon, opening the game in the first with a single by sophomore Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) and back-to-back walks by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.) and freshman Jakob Hoyer (Georgetown, Ind.) to load the bases.
Freshman Kaden McKinney (Vincennes, Ind.) stepped up and cleared the bases with a big three-RBI double to put the Blazers ahead early 3-0.
Oakland City would respond in the bottom half of the inning with three runs of their own to even the game at 3-3 going to the second.
In the second, the Trailblazers again looked to strike early with a leadoff single by freshman Evan Doran (Indianapolis, Ind.), one of his two hits in the game.
Sophomores Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) and Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) reached base with a walk for Douglas and Gross reaching on an error that allowed Doran to score.
After Corbin Napier was hit by pitch to load the bases Nate Montgomery hit into a fielder's choice to score Douglas, with Gross scoring right behind him after a throwing error to put the Blazers back on top 6-3.
Oakland City would again respond in their half of the inning, plating two runs to cut the VU lead down to one at 6-5.
The game got away from the Trailblazers in the middle innings, with Oakland City scoring seven runs in the third and five runs in the fifth to build a commanding 17-6 lead.
Oakland City kept the offense going in the sixth with another run to take a big 18-6 lead going into the seventh.
Vincennes stepped to the plate needing to score three runs to extend the game and looked to get a rally going after a leadoff walk by Nate Montgomery, his third walk of the game and fourth time reaching base safely.
Montgomery advanced to second on a successful sacrifice bunt by Jakob Hoyer and would move up to third on a groundout by Kaden McKinney.
Montgomery would come around to score on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 18-7, but the Trailblazers were unable to get another run across in the inning as Oakland City JV closed out the 18-7 victory over the Blazers.
The Trailblazers sent a series of pitchers to the mound to get some in game experience ahead of their first conference weekend of the season.
Sophomore Bryce Gross took the mound at the start, throwing the first inning, allowing three runs, two earned on three hits and getting three strikeouts.
Freshman Wyatt Burris (Farmland, Ind.) took over in the second inning, throwing an inning-plus, allowing seven runs, three earned on two hits.
Freshman Kory Kingsbury (Evansville, Ind.) entered in the third, throwing two and two-thirds innings, allowing five runs on four hits and striking out three.
Freshman Ryan Rayburn (Columbus, Ind.) came in to get the final out of the fifth inning, allowing two runs on two hits in one-third of an inning.
Freshman Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) pitched the sixth inning for the Trailblazers, allowing one run on two hits and striking out one.
The Trailblazers will look to bounce back as they hit the road again this weekend for their first Mid-West Athletic Conference series against John Wood Community College in Quincy, Ill.
The four-game weekend series is set to begin Saturday, March 8 at 1 p.m. eastern, with games three and four of the series to be played Sunday, March 9 at 1 p.m. eastern.
BOX SCORE
VU (8-5) – 330 000 1 – 7
Oakland City JV – 327 051 x – 18
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – McKinney. RBI – McKinney 3, Montgomery, Gross. HBP – Napier. Sac Bunt – Hoyer.