Errors prove costly as Blazers fall to Olney Central

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team kicked off another big weekend at Jerry Blemker Field Friday afternoon when VU hosted Olney Central College.

VU’s defense proved to be the difference Friday afternoon after the Blazers committed three costly errors and fell to the Blue Knights 9-5.

Olney Central got things started early after taking advantage of a first inning walk and an error which could have ended the inning to pick up a run in the top of the first.

VU would quickly get this run back in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run by sophomore Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.), his second home run of the season.

Olney would again take advantage of a fielding error in the third inning to score a pair of runs in the inning, taking a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the third without recording a hit.

Vincennes would again answer back with a run of their own in the third after sophomore Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) led off the inning with a double, one of his four hits on the day and later scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.).

The Blue Knights would break the game open in the fourth with four straight hits and another fielding error trying to turn a double play allowed Olney Central to score four runs and hold a 7-2 lead.

Olney Central would increase their lead again with a run in the sixth before VU plated a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Kaden Elliott, his second RBI of the game.

The Blue Knights would get this run back in the eighth before VU would score on an RBI single by freshman Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.).

VU would look to complete a late comeback in the bottom of the ninth, with the first four batters reaching base in the inning and Colton Evans scoring his second run of the game after sophomore Kobe Bartlett (Rockport, Ind.) was hit by a pitch.

The Trailblazers had the bases loaded with no outs down by four in the ninth and were unable to get another run on the board after the game ended on a strikeout and a double play to give the Blue Knights the 9-5 win at Jerry Blemker Field.

“Those errors really cost us, we had a chance to get a double play and get out of the inning in the first and the ball got through,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “It was just a lack of communication. In the fourth we started off with an error and it just snowballed from there.”

“We out hit Olney today,” Barney added. “We ended up giving up three runs on no hits in the first three innings and we had some opportunities. Kaden Elliott did a great job at the plate today. I thought Jace Parnin threw really well. I thought Caleb Moore threw okay and obviously Schlotterbeck did a good job at the end. Bryton Griffy going out and getting one of the first two guys he’s faced all year out is a pretty good start.”

“The top of the order, Elliott and Evans really did a great job for us,” Barney said. “We’ve just got to get a little more production out of some guys when the game is on the line. Unfortunately, it takes more than two guys to get it done in baseball. Holden Clifton had a good first two at bats and got a couple of hits and then didn’t get a whole lot after that.”

“We’ve got to figure it out, put the lineup together and bounce back tomorrow,” Barney added. “The good news is that we’ve got three more games still to play this weekend and we will still feel good about ourselves if we come out of here with three wins.”

VU was led off on the mound by sophomore Dawson Blaylock (Eaton, Ohio) who threw three and one-third innings, allowing seven runs, three earned runs, on four hits and striking out three.

Sophomore Caleb Moore (St. Louis, Mo.) was the first out of the bullpen throwing one and two-thirds innings, allowing one run on one hit and striking out one.

Freshman Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) took over in the sixth and pitched two full innings, retiring all six batters he faced including four strikeouts.

Freshman Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) retired the only batter he faced on three pitches, before turning the game over to fellow freshman Bryton Griffy (Louisville, Ill.) who made his first appearance on the mound this season. Griffy allowed one run on one hit and struck out the first batter he faced.

Freshman Keegan Schlotterbeck (Centerville, Ind.) closed out the final one and one-third innings, allowing two hits and striking out one.

“People are going to look at Dawson’s line score but what they are not going to realize is that if we turn that double play in the first, he’s out of that inning in about 10-12 pitches instead of 25-30,” Barney said. “Same thing in the fourth inning when he went back out there and the error cost him. Unfortunately he gave up a couple of hits right after that error and a couple of wild pitches allowed two runs to score. We gave up three runs on wild pitches today.”

“We’ve got to be better if we expect to compete,” Barney added. “But we’ll get there.”

The Trailblazers will look to get back on track tomorrow when VU faces off against Morton College Saturday, Feb. 25 at 10:30 a.m. eastern.

Vincennes will then return to the field to close out the day at Jerry Blemker Field Saturday against NJCAA Division III No. 13-ranked Joliet Junior College at 6 p.m. eastern.

“We’ve got to play better defense and get better pitching tomorrow,” Barney said. “If we can do that and come up with some timely hitting, we’ll get there. We’ve got to start putting all facets together in a game and not just rely on one or two of them and try to get by on that. We’ve just got to get ourselves ready to go because it’s not going to be an easy weekend here.”