VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team fell victim to a pair of big innings Saturday evening in the first two of their four-game weekend Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series with No. 15-ranked Lincoln Land.
The Blazers dropped the first two games of the series 10-4 and 10-0 at Jerry Blemker Field.
VU got off to an excellent start to the day, with freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) leading off the first inning with a single, then moving around the bases on a bunt single and a throwing error and later scoring on a bases loaded walk by freshman Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.) to give the Blazers and early 1-0 lead.
Lincoln Land would answer back and get on the scoreboard in the second inning with three runs.
Vincennes got a run back on the loggers in the fourth after sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base and came around to score on an RBI single by sophomore Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.) to cut the VU deficit to one.
After a few solid innings of both teams’ pitchers putting zeros on the board, Lincoln Land broke the game wide open in the eighth with a big seven run inning.
Vincennes would extend the game in the bottom of the eighth after a leadoff walk by sophomore Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.), another fielder’s choice by Jace Parnin and a two-RBI single by Trevor Newman, giving him three RBIs on the game.
This would be as close as the Blazers would get unfortunately as Lincoln Land closed out game one in the ninth to pick up the 10-4 victory.
Freshman Carson Allen (Louisville, Ky.) got the start in game one for the Trailblazers, throwing six solid innings, allowing three runs, one earned on seven hits and setting a new career-high with six strikeouts.
Freshman Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) was the first out of the pen, throwing two innings, allowing seven runs, none earned on four hits and striking out two.
Freshman Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) pitched the ninth for the Blazers, allowing only one base runner in the inning.
“Game one Carson Allen did a great job and gave us six innings,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “He gave us a chance to win, we’ve just got to come up with big hits. It’s the same things we haven’t done all year. We had the bases loaded with nobody out and only got one run out of the inning instead of coming up with a big hit. Got punched out on a fly ball in the infield and it just didn’t happen for us. But Carson Allen did a great job of keeping us in the game.”
The Trailblazers looked to bounce back in game two but immediately had to play from behind after Lincoln Land plated a pair of runs in the second.
Lincoln Land would again put together a big inning at the plate, adding to their lead in the fifth with six runs to take an 8-0 lead.
The VU offense struggled to get base runners all game and were unable to push a run across against the Lincoln Land pitchers as the Loggers added a run in the sixth and another run in the seventh to close out game two and take the 10-0 victory over the Trailblazers.
Vincennes was only able to produce two hits in game two at Jerry Blemker Field, with Nate Montgomery getting a single in the fourth and freshman Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) leading off the fifth with a single.
Freshman Kaleb Marrs (Terre Haute, Ind.) got the start in game two for Vincennes, throwing four and two-thirds innings, allowing six runs, five earned on nine hits and striking out six.
Sophomore Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) came in to pitch an inning and one-third out of the bullpen, allowing three runs on two hits and striking out one.
Freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) pitched the seventh, allowing one run on one hit and striking out one in an inning of work.
“Game two, we’ve got to hit,” Barney added. “We had two hits and that was it. Credit to their pitching staff, they did a nice job against us. But at the same time, we’ve got to hit the ball. We got a few barrels here and there and hit the ball right at some guys but at the same time they were able to step up and get 12 or 14 hits in the game. We’ve got to be able to turnaround and do the same thing and start coming up with some big hits here and there.”
Vincennes will look to bounce back and come away with a series split tomorrow, Sunday, April 14 when the Blazers return to Jerry Blemker Field for the final two games of the series. First pitch Sunday is set for 12 p.m. eastern.
“We’ve got to play better,” Barney said. “That’s the bottom line. We’re making errors. We gave up a big inning in the first game because we didn’t make a play and then all of a sudden gave them five outs. It’s just one of those situations where good clubs and Lincoln Land obviously is a good club, you can’t give them extra outs because they will take advantage of it. That’s one of the biggest things that we’ve got to do a better job of along with coming up with some big hits.”
