Late rally leads Trailblazers to win over Olney Central College

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team opened another busy week at Jerry Blemker Field Monday afternoon by hosting the Blue Knights from Olney Central College.

The Trailblazers fell behind early but were able to get the offense going late to pull away and pick up the 9-4 victory over Olney Central.

Vincennes got off to a slow start Monday afternoon, with Olney Central breaking onto the scoreboard with a run in the first and another run in the second to take a quick 2-0 lead.

VU would get a run back in the third after a leadoff single by sophomore Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.), who came around to score on an RBI single by freshman Evan Doran (Indianapolis, Ind.), cutting the deficit in half at 2-1.

Olney Central would get another run on the board in the fifth to increase their lead to 3-1 before the Blazers came firing back in the sixth inning.

Vincennes opened an action packed sixth inning with a double by Evan Doran, which was immediately answered by an RBI single by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.) and an RBI double by freshman Carter Gricius (Scottsburg, Ind.) to even the score at 3-3.

VU would get their first lead of the day on an RBI single later in the inning by sophomore Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) to put the Blazers on top 4-3.

Vincennes would get another run in the seventh after a leadoff walk by Brody Fessel, who advanced on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) and continued around the bases on a pair of wild pitches to put the VU lead at 5-3.

Olney Central would answer back with a run in the eighth before the Blazers broke the game open with four big runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Vincennes opened the eighth inning with the first five batters reaching base safely.

Nate Montgomery got things started with a single, followed by an RBI double by Carter Gricius, his second of the day.

Sophomore Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) reached on a hit by pitch, Edlin reached on a fielder's choice and a single by freshman Jevan Andrews (Hobart, Ind.) loaded the bases for the Blazers.

Bryce Gross came up and cleared the bases with a two-RBI single, with Andrews scoring on the play on a fielding error to give the Blazers a 9-4 lead going into the ninth.

Olney Central looked to rally late in the ninth and were able to get the bases loaded with one out before Vincennes was able to get the Blue Knights to ground into a double play to end the game and give the Blazers the 9-4 victory.

Freshman Jacob Allen (Vincennes, Ind.) got the start on the mound for the Trailblazers and threw four and two-thirds solid innings, allowing three runs, two earned runs on five hits and four strikeouts.

Sophomore Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) was the first out of the pen for the Trailblazers, throwing three innings, allowing one run on one hit and striking out two.

Freshman Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) came in to pick up the four-out save for the Blazers, throwing the final one and one-third innings, allowing two hits and striking out one.

"We got it done because our pitchers did a great job with Jacob Allen starting, Colton Okes and Ty Stultz coming in at the end keeping the damage minimal and holding them to a run here and there and kept us within striking distance," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "They didn't give up a big inning and the good thing that happened for us was that we were able to take advantage of their mistakes and stepped up in some key situations to put some crooked numbers on the board."

"Nate Montgomery comes through at the plate with a big RBI," Barney added. "Then Gricius, who has been doing it all year, has two doubles for two RBIs. Yancey Edlin got an RBI and then obviously Bryce Gross getting two RBIs in the eighth. We got production throughout the order. The middle of the lineup did a good job. Guys did a good job of getting on base. Evan Doran had an RBI and was two for four with a double and barreled up his last at bat with a line drive to center field. So the guys were swinging it well today."

The busy week continues for the Trailblazers as Vincennes will look to pick up another mid-week win over an NJCAA Division I opponent Wednesday, April 23 when VU hosts Volunteer State Community College from Gallatin, Tenn. First pitch Wednesday is set for 2 p.m. eastern.

The Blazers will then return to Jerry Blemker Field this weekend as VU hosts Spoon River College for a Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27. First pitch both days is set for 12 p.m. eastern.

"This biggest thing the rest of this week is to just play hard," Barney said. "We've got to come back and have a good practice tomorrow and get ourselves ready to go for another nine inning game on Wednesday to get us back into some rhythm and get some momentum and feel good about ourselves heading into Spoon River on Saturday and Sunday."

BOX SCORE

Olney Central – 110   010   010 – 4

VU (17-28, 6-18) – 001   003   14x – 9

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Gricius 2, Doran. RBI – Gricius 2, Gross 2, Doran, Montgomery, Edlin. HBP – Napier. SB – Montgomery, Edlin. Sac Bunt – Johnson, Gross.