Long sets school record as Blazers fall to No. 12 Parkland

VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes University sophomore center fielder Colin Long (Evansville, Ind.) set a new school record for hits in a career Friday afternoon, giving him 163 surpassing Jeffrey Hanna who set the record back in 1989.

“Colin has had a great career here,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “We were fortunate to have him back this year. He plays a great centerfield and is now the career hits leader at VU, so that’s a pretty big feather in his cap. Tip of the cap to him for what he’s accomplished here.”

Unfortunately, the rest of the day did not go as well for the Blazers, falling in game one of the day 12-2 and dropping game two 11-1 to No. 12-ranked Parkland College.

The day started out great for VU, getting on the board first in the second inning of game one after Vincennes led off the inning with three straight singles by sophomores Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.) and Will Egger (Terre Haute, Ind.) and freshman Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.).

Coy and Egger came around to score later in the inning on a two-RBI single by sophomore Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.).

The Blazers were unable to keep the momentum at Jerry Blemker Field however, with Parkland answering back in a big way to put up seven runs in the third to grab the lead.

The Cobras continued to build on their lead with a pair of runs in the fourth and three runs in the fifth to take a 10-run lead.

The Trailblazers looked to answer back but were unable to put together a rally, even with VU’s batters accounting for 11 hits for the game, as Parkland took game one of the day 12-2.

Freshman Josh McCormick (Indianapolis, Ind.) got the start on the mound in game one of the day, after throwing two innings of one-hit shutout ball, the game got away from him in the third as McCormick finished three and one-third innings, allowing nine runs on seven hits and striking out one.

Freshman Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) came out of the bullpen to throw the remaining inning and two-thirds, allowing three runs, all unearned, on two hits and striking out one.

“We competed today for about two innings,” Barney said. “Then, for some reason, we couldn’t find the strike zone. Both games our starting pitching just didn’t get it done. It’s disappointing to see guys not be able to get out of the second inning that have been doing it all year for us in McCormick and Hart. So to do it in back-to-back games is not a great way to start the weekend.”

Game two of the day did not get off to a good start for the Blazers with Parkland starting the game with a six-run first inning.

VU looked to answer back in the bottom half of the inning and got a leadoff double by Ethan Burdette, followed by a single by sophomore Kobe Bartlett (Rockport, Ind.).

Burdette was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Colin Long to cut the VU deficit to 6-1.

Parkland responded in the second to get the run back and built on their lead with two runs in the third and a run in the fourth and fifth inning to take an 11-1 lead.

VU looked to extend the game and got a leadoff walk by freshman Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.), his second walk of the game but the Blazers were unable to push another run across as Parkland closed out the 11-1 victory.

Sophomore Xavier Hart (Jeffersonville, Ind.) got the start in game two for VU, throwing an inning and a third, allowing seven runs on four hits and striking out two.

Sophomore Dawson Blaylock (Eaton, Ohio) was the first out of the pen in game two, throwing an inning and two-thirds, allowing two runs on three hits.

Sophomore Eli Steimel (Sullivan, Ind.) entered in the fourth, throwing an inning and two-thirds, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out one before turning the game over to sophomore Jake Stuteville (Rockport, Ind.) who picked up a strikeout to end the fifth inning.

“We couldn’t get out of the first inning without the game getting away from us in game two,” Barney added. “Also, our hitters have to set up and do a better job. We had some opportunities to score some runs and come up with some key hits when we are down and try to change the momentum and we just didn’t get it done.”

“We also have to play better defense,” Barney said. “We had a couple miscues today. Had four errors on the day. There were some bloopers that fell both ways but they had a few more than we did and Parkland stepped up when they needed to.”

The Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series now shifts to Champaign, Ill. for the final two games of this four-game weekend set Saturday, May 6. First pitch tomorrow is set for 1 p.m. eastern.

“We are going to have to play better baseball tomorrow,” Barney said. “Reset is probably the better way to look at it, there are not a whole lot of things to take out of these games today. We’ve got to come ready to play, compete and throw strikes. Hopefully Gavin Craggs and Logan Medsker can get it done for us on the mound and give our hitters a chance to breathe a little bit and not have to play from behind as much.”

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

Parkland – 007   23 – 12

VU (21-28, 9-16) – 020   00 – 2

VINCENNES HITTING

RBI – Burdette 2. SB – Evans.

GAME TWO

Parkland – 612   11 – 11

VU (21-29, 9-17) – 100   00 – 1

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Burdette. RBI – Long. SF – Long. SB – Bartlett.