CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The 2024 Vincennes University Spring regular season came to a close Sunday evening as the Blazers headed up to Champaign for the final two games of their four-game split Mid-West Athletic Conference series with Parkland College.
The Trailblazers held early leads in both games Sunday but came out on the wrong end of a 9-3 final score in game one and a 10-6 final score in 11 innings in game two.
The day got off to a pretty good start for the Trailblazers, with sophomore Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.) leading off the game with a single and later scoring the first run of game one on an RBI single by sophomore Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.).
Vincennes would build on this early lead in the second after sophomore Kade Hinton led off with a walk followed by back-to-back singles by freshman Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) and redshirt freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.).
Hinton would come in to score on a double play, giving the Trailblazers an early 2-0 lead over the Cobras.
Parkland would respond, however and rally back to take their first lead of the day with five runs in the third.
Vincennes was able to get one of these runs back in the fourth after Holden Clifton led off the fourth inning with a single, giving him two hits on the game and was able to come around and score on an RBI single by freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.), his second hit of the game.
This would be as close as VU would get to regaining their lead unfortunately, as Parkland answered back with a run in the fourth and fifth and added two more insurance runs in the sixth to pull away late and come away with the 9-3 victory in game one.
Sophomore Max Lines (Indianapolis, Ind.) got the start in game one of the day for the Trailblazers, throwing three and one-third innings, allowing six runs on six hits and striking out four and began the game by retiring the first six batters he faced.
Sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) was called out of the bullpen and was able to pitch the final two and two-thirds innings of relief, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out the first two batters he faced.
The Trailblazers looked to bounce back and end the regular season on a high note in the game two series finale.
VU again got out to a fast start in game two after Jace Parnin led off the game with a single and would come around to score on an RBI single by sophomore Bryan Kohlmeyer (Paris, Ill.).
The Vincennes lead continued to grow in the second after freshman Noble Johnson (Terre Haute, Ind.) drew a two-out walk and scored on an RBI double by Parnin.
Parnin would steal third and come in to score on a dropped third strike to put the Blazers ahead 3-0.
Parkland would get on the board in the bottom half of the second, plating a pair of runs to cut the VU lead down to one.
Vincennes would get a run back in the third inning after Bryan Kohlmeyer reached on a walk and came around to score on an RBI double by sophomore Dylan Ecken (Louisville, Ky.).
Parkland again answered back and took their first lead of the game after scoring three runs in the third and adding another run in the fourth to take a 6-4 lead.
Vincennes would continue to battle in this regular season finale, using a leadoff walk by sophomore Keegan Schlotterbeck (Centerville, Ind.), a hit by pitch by sophomore Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.) and a walk by Bryan Kohlmeyer to load the bases in the seventh.
Schlotterbeck would come in to score after Dylan Ecken was hit by a pitch and Juarez would score the game tying run on an RBI single by freshman Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.).
This regular season finale would remain tied and head into extra innings after Parkland College left runners in scoring position in the eighth and ninth innings.
Vincennes looked to be in great shape to break the tie game in the 10th inning after a leadoff single by freshman Jaydon Bradbury (Terre Haute, Ind.) and a single by Jace Parnin, giving him three hits in the game, but were unable to push a run across in the inning.
Parkland would eventually break the tie and end the game with a big walk-off grand slam in the 11th inning, ending the VU regular season by taking game two of the day by the final score of 10-6.
Freshman Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) got the start in game two of the day for the Trailblazers, throwing four innings, allowing six runs on four hits and striking out three.
Freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) was the first Trailblazer out of the bullpen in game two, throwing two strong innings, allowing just a single hit.
Freshman Bryce Gross also kept the Cobra offense at bay, throwing three shutout innings out of the pen, allowing three hits and striking out three.
Sophomore Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) kept the game going in extra innings, allowing one hit and striking out one in an inning of work.
