VINCENNES, Ind. – VU sophomore Connor VanLannen threw a seven-inning complete game Saturday afternoon to help give the Trailblazers a split of the first two games of a four-game series with NJCAA Division II No. 14-ranked Lincoln Land College.
The Loggers took game one over Vincennes 12-3 before VU battled back in game two to win 9-5.
Game one of this Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) doubleheader got off to a slow start, with neither offense able to get a run across in the first two innings.
Lincoln Land broke the scoreless tie in the third with a five-run inning, which was immediately answered with an RBI double by sophomore Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.) and an RBI single by freshman Nick Kapostasy (Cincinnati, Ohio).
Lincoln Land added to their lead against a short-handed Trailblazer squad that had only 16 players active Saturday, with the Loggers scoring three runs in the fourth.
Vincennes would get a run back on an RBI single by sophomore Peyton Lane (New Paris, Ohio) but the Loggers continued to pull away with another three run inning in the fifth giving Lincoln Land an 11-3 lead.
Lincoln Land would add another run in the seventh as game one of the four-game series ended with a run-rule finish as the Loggers picked up the 12-3 win at Jerry Blemker Field.
Freshman Jake Stuteville (Rockport, Ind.) got the start in game one, throwing four-plus innings allowing 10 runs on six hits and striking out three.
Sophomore Ryan Bartley (Tuscola, Ill.) and freshman Cauy Motsinger (Salem, Ind.) finished the game in relief with Bartley throwing two innings and Motsinger taking the seventh.
Bartley allowed two runs on two hits and struck out one, while Motsinger only allowed one hit.
The Trailblazers took the field in game two hoping to split the day as VU turned to sophomore hurler Connor VanLannen (Clinton, Ind.).
Lincoln Land again struck first, scoring one run in the second to take an early lead.
Vincennes answered back in a big way with Peyton Lane driving in a run on an RBI double, followed by an RBI double by freshman Jordan Roth (Delphi, Ind.) as VU took a 4-1 lead after the third.
The Loggers would close the margin with a pair of runs in the fourth before the Trailblazers put up another four-run inning with a bases loaded walk by Dale Coy and a two-RBI single by Jordan Roth to give the Blazers an 8-3 lead over No. 14 Lincoln Land.
Lincoln Land plated a pair of runs in the fifth but were only able to cut the deficit to three.
Vincennes added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI single by Dale Coy to drive in Peyton Lane who scored his third run of the game.
VanLannen took the mound in the seventh, having already thrown 130 pitches in the game and finished with a six pitch inning to give the Trailblazers the 9-5 win over Lincoln Land.
VanLannen threw seven innings allowing five runs on eight hits and punching out 10 batters for the game.
"You have to take your hat off to the 16 guys we had out here that battled all day and had to overcome that," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "Connor VanLannen did an unbelievable job for us on the mound. He's done it all year for us and hopefully he can keep it rolling."
"We also got big hits from Jordan Roth and Dale Coy stepping up with Roth getting three RBI's and Coy getting two," Barney added. "The guys in the middle of the order are doing what they are supposed to and the guys ahead of them were getting on for them. For the most part, we played pretty good defensively. We only had one error in game two, which was down significantly from game one."
"Eli Steimel came through in some of his first at-bats of the year and gets two hits on the day," Barney said of some of the VU players playing out of position with only 16 active players. "Kobe Bartlett has played a fair amount for us but had to play back-to-back games in center field. Jordan Roth played out of position at second base and made a great play in the field in game two. It takes effort like that from everybody. Our other guys sustained playing well and now we will be able to get a lot of guys back tomorrow."
VU will take the field again tomorrow, Sunday, March 27 to finish out the four-game Conference series with Lincoln Land at Jerry Blemker Field.
First pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 12 p.m. eastern.
"We are just going to have to play well," Barney said about the matchup tomorrow. "Lincoln Land is going to play. They are a good club. They battle and they don't make mistakes. Usually they are fundamentally sound and well-coached, so we just have to do a great job of staying ahead of it and minimizing damage. We also have to continue to hit, we out-hit Lincoln Land in both games today."
GAME ONE
Lincoln Land – 005 330 1 – 12
VU (10-11, 3-2) – 002 100 0 – 3
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Coy. RBI – Lane, Coy, Kapostasy.
GAME TWO
Lincoln Land – 010 220 0 – 5
VU (11-11, 4-2) – 004 401 x – 9
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Lane 2, Roth. RBI – Lane, Coy 2, Roth 3. SB – Egger, Evans.