VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team closed out their weekend Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series with Illinois Central College Saturday afternoon at Jerry Blemker Field.
Vincennes took game one of the day after falling behind 10-4 in the sixth inning before rallying back to win 11-10. ICC took game two of the day to close out the weekend 9-1.
Illinois Central grabbed the momentum early to begin game one, scoring four runs in the first inning.
Vincennes would respond back in the third with a four-run inning of their own, with freshman Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) coming through with an RBI single and sophomore Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.) getting a two-RBI single.
The Cougars would grab the lead back with a run in the fourth, four runs in the fifth and a run in the sixth to take a 10-4 lead over the Trailblazers.
Vincennes launched a late-innings comeback, kicked off by a double by freshman Will Egger (Terre Haute, Ind.) to begin the sixth.
Sophomore Colin Long (Evansville, Ind.) drove in a run on a ground out, before sophomores Peyton Lane (New Paris, Ohio), Connor VanLannen (Clinton, Ind.) and Dale Coy each came through with RBI doubles.
Freshman Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.) closed out the scoring in the sixth with an RBI single to make it a one-run game.
After a scoreless top of the inning by sophomore Luke Osborn (Perrysville, Ind.), Vincennes got back to work at the plate, with freshman Ethan Burdette leading off the inning with a double. His fourth hit of the game.
Burdette would tie the game at 10-10 on an RBI single by Peyton Lane and after a fielding error and an intentional walk, Dale Coy stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out.
Coy came through in the clutch, hitting a walk-off sacrifice fly to score Lane and give the Trailblazers the 11-10 win.
Freshman Nick Kapostasy (Cincinnati, Ohio) got the start on the mound for the Blazers, throwing an inning and a third, allowing four runs on four hits and striking out three.
Freshman Cauy Motsinger (Salem, Ind.) was the first out of the pen and threw two solid innings on the mound, surrendering one run on one hit and striking out five batters.
Sophomore Josiah Sizemore (Cambridge City, Ind.) notched a pair of punch outs in two-thirds of an inning, while sophomores Braedon Nichols (Sullivan, Ind.) and Luke Osborn each struck out one batter.
Freshman Eli Steimel (Sullivan, Ind.) pitched a hitless inning as well for the Trailblazers.
"Defensively, in the first game, obviously we gave them a ton of outs that had to be made on fly balls that just didn't get caught," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "That allowed them to jump out in front and take advantage and do some damage. Credit to our guys, they battled their butts off and came back and got a win out of that deal."
"Our guys did a great job of battling at the plate and guys did what they were capable of," Barney added. "Burdette got one or two bunt hits and he is swinging the bat extremely well. Peyton had a good game and Dale has had a solid performance this weekend. He came up and stepped up with a walk-off sac fly in the seventh."
ICC was the first team to crack the scoreboard in game two of the day as well, plating a pair of runs in the second.
The Cougars would add to their lead with a run in the fifth and a run in the sixth to take a 4-0 lead over the host Blazers.
Vincennes got on the board in the sixth after a single by Colton Evans and an RBI single by Connor VanLannen to drive him in.
Illinois Central responded with a big inning in the seventh, scoring five runs to take an eight-run lead.
Vincennes came up to bat in the bottom half of the inning needing a run to extend the game and got the bases loaded with one out but were unable to push a run across as the Cougars took game two and split the series 9-1.
Freshman Dawson Blaylock (Eaton, Ohio) got the start in game two and threw three and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out three.
Freshman Caleb Moore (Wentzville, Mo.) entered in relief to throw an inning and two-thirds, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out one.
Eli Steimel took the mound for the second time in the day, throwing an inning and a third, allowing one run on one hit.
"It was a disappointing end because we had all the momentum going into game two, thinking we had a chance to get three wins this weekend," Barney added. "Their pitcher did a nice job and we didn't make a whole lot of adjustments and didn't come up with some timely hitting."
"Our starting pitchers have to get us past the fourth inning," Barney said. "It's killing our bullpen, but our bullpen did a pretty decent job for the most part."
Vincennes will hit the road to begin their next week of games, heading to Robinson, Ill. to face-off against Lincoln Trail College Tuesday, April 26. First pitch Tuesday is set for 4 p.m. eastern.
VU will then hit the road again over the weekend when the Blazers travel to Godfrey, Ill. for their weekend MWAC Conference series with Lewis & Clark Community College on Saturday, April 30 and Sunday May 1. First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m. eastern and Sunday is set for 1 p.m. eastern.
"We're going to get our bullpen back in action again and run the guys out there that are capable of throwing Tuesday," Barney said. "We'll do some mixing and matching and hopefully get some offense and jump out ahead and play good defense to get us ready to go to Lewis & Clark this weekend."
"We've got to have a nice weekend, on the road, to really start putting some separation between us and some of the other teams in the conference standings," Barney added.
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
GAME ONE
Illinois Central 400 141 0 – 10
VU (18-22, 8-11) – 004 005 2 – 11
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Lane 2, Coy, Burdette, Egger, VanLannen, Evans. RBI – Long, Lane 2, Evans, VanLannen, Coy 4, Elliott. HBP – Coy, Burdette, VanLannen.
GAME TWO
Illinois Central – 020 011 5 – 9
VU (18-23, 8-12) – 000 001 0 – 1
VINCENNES HITTING
RBI – VanLannen.
