ROBINSON, Ill. – The Vincennes University baseball team got off to an excellent start Thursday evening at Lincoln Trail College, holding a 5-1 lead after four innings.
But the Trailblazers were unable to keep the Statesmen down as Lincoln Trail scored two in the seventh and two in the eighth to complete a late comeback and take the game 6-5 over Vincennes.
VU wasted little time getting started Thursday at Lincoln Trail, with the second batter of the game, sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) hitting a single, followed by a big two-run home run by sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.), his third home run of the season and third career home run.
The Statesmen would get a run back in the second to cut the VU lead in half at 2-1 before freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) increased the VU lead with a two-out two-RBI single to give the Blazers a 4-1 advantage.
Vincennes would add more to their early lead in the fourth after sophomore Keegan Schlotterbeck (Centerville, Ind.) led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a successful sacrifice bunt by sophomore Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.) and reach third on a throwing error by the Statesmen.
Schlotterbeck would come in to score VU's fifth run of the ballgame on a hard hit RBI single by Blake Heyerly, giving Heyerly three RBIs on the game.
Lincoln Trail would slowly look to chip away at this Trailblazers lead, scoring a run in the fifth, two runs in the seventh and two runs in the eighth to battle all the way back to take a 6-5 lead.
The Blazers would look to extend the game in the ninth but were unable to get a runner on base as Lincoln Trail closed out the comeback victory over the Trailblazers 6-5.
"We did everything right today except win," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "We played well defensively. We walked too many guys later on in the game. Those were most of the guys who scored. Out of the six runs we gave up, one of them reached on an error, three reached on walks and one was hit by pitch."
"It's tough, that's something that has been plaguing us all year," Barney added. "We're trying to save our arms for the weekend. We threw nine guys today and seven of them threw pretty well. Unfortunately two of them towards the end struggled with walks and we just didn't get it done."
"We had an opportunity to blow the game open early and get a couple more RBIs and struck out and popped out," Barney said. "We've just got to do a better job of swinging it when those opportunities come up."
"Blake Heyerly is swinging it really well," Barney added. "Bradyn Douglas also stepped up today with two RBIs in that type of situation."
VU got several quality innings out of their pitching staff Thursday evening, throwing nine different pitchers on the mound, led off by sophomore Max Lines (Indianapolis, Ind.), who pitched a hitless first inning, while also picking up a strikeout.
Freshman Kaleb Marrs (Terre Haute, Ind.) pitched the second inning, allowing one run on two hits before turning it over to sophomore Josh McCormick (Indianapolis, Ind.) in the third.
McCormick pitched a hitless third inning, striking out one batter before freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) entered to pitch the fourth.
Bowser faced the minimum after getting an inning ending double play, throwing just 10 pitches in the inning.
Freshman Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) allowed one unearned run on one hit while striking out one, while sophomore Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) struck out one in a hitless sixth inning.
Freshman Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) allowed two runs on one hit in an inning of work, while freshman Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) closed out the eighth inning, striking out one without allowing a hit.
"I liked seven out of the nine," Barney said. "All of them gave us a chance. Starting with Max Lines getting three outs in four hitters. Kaleb Marrs got himself into a little bit of jam but was able to get out of it. McCormick threw really well and so did JD Bowser. Colton Okes, who got into a little bit of trouble and gave up a run but got himself out of it and then Pinson threw well. So those first six today did really well for us."
"That's the meat of our pitching staff right there and hopefully they can continue that this weekend," Barney added.
VU will look to get back on the winning side of things when the Blazers return home to Jerry Blemker Field this weekend for another Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series, hosting John Wood Community College Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28.
This is the penultimate conference series for the Trailblazers as the 2024 regular season begins to wind down, with VU hosting Wabash Valley College Tuesday, April 30 before taking on MWAC opponent Parkland College to close out the season.
VU will take on the Cobras in a split season, with the first two games of the four-game series being played in Champaign, Ill. Friday, May 3 and the final two games being played at Jerry Blemker Field Saturday, May 4.
"We're competing," Barney said. "But we've got to win some games. We've got to figure out how to win and be successful winning and closing out games. We had this game won early on today, had some opportunities to bust it open and just didn't get it done."
"We saw one of their weekend pitchers and got after him early," Barney added. "That's a positive for us, hopefully. But we've just got to be ready to play. Come out with some energy and passion and find a way."
BOX SCORE
VU (13-34, 5-19) – 202 100 000 – 5
Lincoln Trail – 010 010 22x – 6
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Whitehead. HR – Heyerly. RBI – Heyerly 3, Douglas 2. HBP – Drabant. SB – Douglas, Gross. Sac Bunt – Whitehead.