ROBINSON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team took a short trip north to Robinson for another mid-week showdown with the Statesmen Tuesday afternoon.
Vincennes gave up one big inning to host Lincoln Trail, where three fielding errors led to a big six-run inning for the Statesmen.
VU attempted a comeback but ultimately fell short as Lincoln Trail came away with the 12-7 win.
The Statesmen came into the game looking for some revenge against the Blazers after VU picked up the 5-4 win in 10 innings April 19 at Jerry Blemker Field.
Lincoln Trail got started early, scoring a run in each of the first two innings to grab the early 2-0 advantage.
Lincoln Trail grabbed control of the game in the bottom of the third, when the Statesmen scored six runs on three hits in the inning, while VU surrendered three errors and walked one batter.
Vincennes looked to close the gap in the fourth, with sophomore Peyton Lane (New Paris, Ohio) and freshman Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) leading off the inning with back-to-back doubles.
Evans would come around to score later in the inning on a ground out to cut the deficit to 8-2.
LTC grew their lead back with a pair of runs in the fourth and a run in the fifth before Vincennes scored again in the seventh.
Sophomore Josiah Sizemore (Cambridge City, Ind.) hit a double and scored on a wild pitch. Freshman Mahkai Pelzer (Douglasville, Ga.) reached on an error and would score on an RBI single by freshman Will Egger (Terre Haute, Ind.)
The Statesmen responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the seventh to take a 12-4 lead.
VU looked to mount a massive late comeback in the ninth, with Pelzer, Egger and sophomore Colin Long (Evansville, Ind.) leading off the inning with three-straight singles.
Colton Evans would drive in a run on an RBI single and freshman Nick Kapostasy (Cincinnati, Ohio) followed him with a sacrifice fly to cut the margin to five.
This would be as close as VU would get though as the comeback attempt fell short with Lincoln Trail picking up the 12-7 win on their home field.
“You give up a big inning and give up six runs, four of them unearned and it’s hard to overcome those crooked numbers,†VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “Our guys battled back. We got ourselves back into the game. But we’ve got to do a better job right from the start and not allow so many free bases. A couple free bases and three errors in that inning and all of a sudden you give up six runs in an inning and that’s a tough obstacle to overcome.â€
VU had four multi-hit games at the top of their order Tuesday, with Long, Lane and Evans each coming up with two hits, including doubles by Lane and Evans and Evans picking up a pair of RBI’s.
Will Egger entered the game in the seventh to take over behind the plate and recorded two singles in two plate appearances, while also coming away with an RBI.
