VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team opened their final Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series of the regular season Friday afternoon at Jerry Blemker Field against John Wood Community College.
Vincennes earned a spot in the MWAC Conference postseason tournament next week with a game one 7-2 win and continued to better their chances of getting a higher seed with a 5-1 game two win.
John Wood got on the board first in game one in the third inning, taking an early 1-0 lead over the host Trailblazers.
VU responded back in the fourth when freshman Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.) hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field that allowed two runs to score and Vincennes to grab a 2-1 lead.
The Trailblazers added to their lead in the fifth with an RBI single by freshman Jordan Roth (Delphi, Ind.), a sacrifice fly by sophomore Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.) and a two RBI single by freshman Mahkai Pelzer (Douglasville, Ind.) as VU held a 6-1 advantage.
John Wood would et a run back in the sixth before VU would score on a pinch-hit RBI single by freshman Nick Williams (Alexandria, Ind.).
The Trailblazers would hold on to this lead as VU picked up the game one win and clinched a spot in the MWAC Conference baseball tournament with a 7-2 win.
Sophomore Kestler Harbuck (Brooksville, Fla.) got the start in game one and had a really impressive day on the hill throwing six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out six.
Sophomore Braedon Nichols (Sullivan, Ind.) entered out of the pen to close out the final three innings, only allowing two hits and striking out a pair in the process.
Vincennes continued to stay hot into game two, with the first two batters for VU reaching base and later scoring on RBI singles by Connor VanLannen (Clinton, Ind.) and Dale Coy.
John Wood would score a run in the second to cut the lead in half but would not get any closer as the pitching held serve throughout the middle innings of game two.
Vincennes would add some insurance runs in the sixth on an RBI single by freshman Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.) and a two RBI single by Ethan Burdette to give VU a 5-1 lead and needing only three outs to sweep the day.
Sophomore Luke Osborn (Perrysville, Ind.) took the mound and closed out the game with a commanding 10 pitch inning to give the Trailblazers the game two win.
Connor VanLannen got the start in game two, throwing four and one-third innings before having to exit with cramps, allowing one run on five hits and striking out four.
Luke Osborn entered to throw the final two and two-thirds innings, allowing no runs on one hit and three strikeouts.
"Today started for us right on the bump," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "Kestler Harbuck gave us a great outing. Probably his best performance of the year so far and hopefully that keeps his momentum rolling into the tournament. Braedon Nichols threw three innings and threw really well. Then game two, Connor VanLannen threw really well until he cramped up and Luke Osborn came in and got the last two and two-thirds innings. We got some timely hitting today and played pretty good defense for the most part. We only had two errors in both game combined today."
"Our hitters did a good job at the plate today," Barney added. "They battled all day and put together some great at bats. The bottom of our order came through with some big hits and Ethan Burdette, who has been doing it all year for us, continued to stay hot. We'll look to keep him on track and hopefully get the rest of the guys going behind him. I thought Peyton Lane had a couple of big hits and swung it well today. Dale Coy had a big sac fly that helped open it up in game two, so there were a lot of guys that contributed and hopefully we can keep it rolling tomorrow."
The Trailblazers clinched a spot in the Mid-West Athletic Conference tournament which will begin next week on Wednesday, May 18 and run through Sunday, May 22 at the Corn Crib Stadium in Normal, Ill.
Vincennes has the chance to improve their seeding when VU hits the field again tomorrow, May 14 to close out regular season, with one win tomorrow earning the Trailblazers the No. 6 seed in the tournament.
Vincennes will host John Wood for the final two games of the regular season tomorrow, May 14 at Jerry Blemker Field with first pitch set for 11 a.m. eastern.
"Right now we are playing to control our own destiny," Barney said. "One win tomorrow gets us the six seed in the tournament because we have the tiebreaker on Illinois Central. We've still got things to play for tomorrow. We want to play well and feel good about ourselves moving forward into the tournament. Those are all the things that we are shooting for tomorrow, but we still have something to play for."
BOX SCORE
GAME ONE
John Wood – 001 001 000 – 2
VU (22-30, 12-17) – 000 240 10x – 7
VINCENNES HITTING
RBI – Burdette 2, Williams, Roth, Coy, Pelzer 2. SB – Lane, Evans. HBP – Lane, Pelzer.
GAME TWO
John Wood – 010 000 0 – 1
VU (23-30, 13-17) – 200 003 x – 5
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Lane. RBI – Burdette 2, VanLannen, Coy, Elliott. HBP – Evans.
