NORMAL, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers fell Saturday afternoon in the final two games of their Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) road doubleheader at No. 17 Heartland CC.

Vincennes began the day strong at the Corn Crib with lead-off hitter freshman Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.) reaching base on an error to begin game one.

Burdette would come around to score on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Peyton Lane (New Paris, Ohio) to give Vincennes a 1-0 early lead.

The Trailblazers added to their lead in the second on back-to-back doubles by freshman Will Egger (Terre Haute, Ind.) and Ethan Burdette as VU held a 2-0 lead.

Heartland got on the scoreboard in the second inning and took the lead with three runs in the third.

The Hawks built on this lead with four runs in the fourth, before Vincennes answered back with a two-RBI triple by freshman Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) and an RBI single by sophomore Connor VanLannen cut the deficit to 8-5.

Heartland put the game away in the sixth after scoring six runs in the inning to come away with the 14-5 win over the Trailblazers.

Connor VanLannen got the start on the mound in game one throwing three and two-thirds innings, allowing eight runs on seven hits and striking out seven.

Freshman Caleb Moore (Wentzville, Mo.) entered out of the bullpen to throw two innings, allowing six runs, all unearned, on five hits.

Sophomore Colin Long (Evansville, Ind.) and Colton Evans were the only VU batters with a multi-hit game, with the pair each ending with a single, a triple and a run scored. Evans also ended his game with a pair of RBI’s.

“Our guys did a great job of battling in game one,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “We cut it to an 8-5 game after being down 8-2 and got ourselves back into the game. A couple of guys really stepped up and did a nice job in the middle part of the order, with big RBI hits from Colin Long and Colton Evans.”

VU looked to bounce back and end the weekend on a high-note in game two of the day and Vincennes again got out to a hot start, scoring in the first inning for the fourth-straight game.

Colin Long and Peyton Lane reached on errors and Lane would score on an RBI single by Colton Evans to give Vincennes the 2-0 lead.

The Hawks immediately responded on their home field, evening the score in the bottom of the first at 2-2.

Heartland took control of the game in the second, with three runs and six runs in the third.

The Hawks added another insurance run in the fourth as Vincennes was unable to get any baserunners in the fifth as Heartland came away with the 12-2 win over the Trailblazers.

Sophomore Braedon Nichols (Sullivan, Ind.) closed out the weekend with the start in game two, throwing two innings and allowing five runs on seven hits and struck out one.

Sophomore Luke Osborn (Perrysville, Ind.) was the first out of the pen in game two, throwing one inning, allowing six runs on four hits and striking out one.

Freshmen Jake Stuteville (Rockport, Ind.) and Eli Steimel (Sullivan, Ind.) combined to pitch in the fourth, with Stuteville allowing one run on one hit. Steimel retired the only batter he faced.

“It was one of those things today,” Barney said. “Heartland is a good club and the swung the bats well and they play really well at home. Especially on their artificial turf in their comfortable surroundings of their stadium.”

“We’ve got to do a better job on the mound,” Barney added. “Especially after innings that we score, coming out and shutting the door and we didn’t do that today. I thought Caleb Moore threw really well for us in game one. He should have had two shutout innings.”

EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Sophomore first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give No. 17 University of Southern Indiana Softball a 2-1, game-two victory and salvage a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader split with visiting McKendree University Saturday afternoon at the USI Softball Field.

McKendree (17-21, 9-13 GLVC) won the opener, 3-1, handing the Screaming Eagles their first home loss of the season, but USI’s win in the nightcap clinched a spot for the Eagles in the GLVC Tournament with two weeks to go in the regular season.

USI (32-10, 18-2 GLVC) had missed opportunities early in the opener as back-to-back strikeouts in the bottom of the first inning stranded runners at second and third.

The Bearcats, meanwhile, used GLVC batting average and home run leader Olivia Stansbury, a junior outfielder, to get its offense going. Shansbury had an RBI-single in the fifth and a two-run home run in the seventh to give McKendree a 3-0 lead.

USI struggled to get anything going offensively as the Eagles had 13 straight batters retired between the first and fifth innings and 17 of 18 before a lead-off single by senior designated player Katie Back (Indianapolis, Indiana) in the home half of the seventh gave the Eagles a glimmer of hope. A one-out single by junior pitcher/designated player Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana) two batters later gave USI runners at the corners.

Sophomore catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) hit a sacrifice fly to push across the first run and a two-out single by junior second baseman Rachel Martinez (Chicago, Illinois) in the next at bat had the game-tying run on base for Friday’s hero, senior third baseman Mary Bean (Schaumburg, Illinois)–Bean had a two-run home run in the seventh inning of USI’s 4-3 win over No. 5 University of Indianapolis Friday. After a lengthy at-bat, however, Bean grounded out on a 3-2 count to end the game and hand the Eagles their first loss at the USI Softball Field this season.

Goodin (7-2) was charged with the loss after giving up three runs off eight hits in 6 1/3 innings of work. She had seven strikeouts and two walks.

In game two, USI found itself playing catchup, once again, as Stansbury hit her 18th home run of the season over the left field fence in the top of the third inning.

The Eagles capitalized on an error in the bottom of the fourth inning as junior shortstop Jordan Rager (Fishers, Indiana) scored on an errand throw to tie the game at 1-1.

McKendree’s defensive miscue would prove costly as freshman pitcher Josie Newman settled in for a dominate effort in the pitcher’s circle.

Newman (11-3), who got the win, allowed just three hits and struck out 15 batters in eight innings. The home run in the third inning was the last hit she allowed as she retired 17 of the next 20 batters she faced, eight of which were via the strikeout.

The chances of USI winning the game in the eighth looked bleak as the Eagles were down to their last strike when Fair connected on her seventh home run of the season. Fair crushed the ball over the right field fence on an 0-2 count, giving USI its 10th walk-off win of the year and its fourth in extra innings.

USI returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Maryville University in a GLVC doubleheader at the USI Softball Field. The Eagles host Missouri University of Science & Technology for Senior Day the following day to wrap up their regular-season home schedule.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball tied a single-game program record with four home run in the series finale and earned a series split with Truman State University Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI lost the continued game from Friday, 11-10, but bounced back to win the series finale, 16-4.
 
The Screaming Eagles are 15-20 overall and 4-8 in the GLVC, while Truman State is 15-22, 5-7 GLVC.   
 
Continued Game 2 from Friday:
The Eagles rallied with nine runs in the sixth and loaded the bases in the seventh before falling short, 11-10, in the seven inning contest.
 
The Bulldogs were in total control in the Friday portion of the game. Truman built an 11-1 lead through 5.2 innings before the game was halted due to rain. USI’s lone run during Friday’s portion of the game came in the bottom of the third when junior leftfielder Evan Kahre (Evanville, Indiana) scored on a sacrifice fly by junior catcher Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana).
 
In the sunlight of Saturday, the offense came to life in the bottom of the sixth and gave the Eagles a chance. USI freshman designated hitter Cordell Coburn (Evansville, Indiana) lead off the frame with a blast to center as 12 Eagles came to the plate to cut the deficit to 11-10. The home run was Coburn’s fourth of the season.
 
In addition to Coburn’s shot, the nine-run frame was highlight by a pair of two-run rockets by junior first baseman/leftfielder Gavin McLarty (Buckner, Kentucky) and sophomore rightfielder Trent Robinson (Louisville, Kentucky). McLarty hit his third blast of the season to right center, while Robinson’s third of the year went to dead center field.
 
USI tried to complete the comeback in the bottom of the final frame, loading the bases with two outs before McNew struck out to end the game.
 
Series Finale:
USI tied a single-game program record with four home runs and blasted its way to a series split with Truman, 16-4. The Eagles hit four home runs in a game for the sixth time in program history (USI did this twice last season).
 
The USI offensive explosion started with a five-run first inning that was highlighted by back-to-back home runs. Sophomore rightfielder Trent Robinson hit USI’s first home run of the game, a three-run blast, and was followed immediately by a solo shot off the bat of junior third baseman Daniel Lopez (Dominican Republic). The blast was Robinson’s fourth of the year and Lopez’s first.
 
Increased the lead to 7-0 with a pair of runs in the second and to 12-2 with another five-run frame in the third.
 
USI freshman designated hitter Cordell Coburn blasted the Eagles’ third home run to put USI up 13-4, while junior catcher Lucas McNew crushed the record-tying fourth home run of game, a three-run shot, to close out the 16-4 win. Coburn finished the day with five home runs this season, while McNew has a team-best seven in 2022.
 
USI junior right-hander Garrett Welch (New Castle, Indiana) picked up the win, going 5.1 innings of work. Welch (2-3) allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk, while striking out a career-best eight strikeouts.
 

Evansville, In.: The Thunderbolts battled the higher-seeded Huntsville Havoc to the franchise’s first playoff overtime action, but fell 3-2 to Huntsville at Swonder Ice Arena on Saturday, concluding the Thunderbolts’ 5^th season.  Season tickets for the 2022-23 season are on sale now, call (812)422-BOLT (2658) for more details or to renew.

Cameron Cook opened the scoring for the Thunderbolts at 18:18 of the first period from TJ Dockery to take a 1-0 lead.  Late in the second period, Derek Osik extended the lead to 2-0, assisted by Cory Dunn at 16:27.  Late penalties to Matthew Hobbs put the Havoc on the power play going into the third period, and Rob Darrar scored 40 seconds into the period to cut Evansville’s lead to 2-1.  Later at 9:22, Nolan Kaiser tied the game up 2-2, and the game required overtime. In the first overtime period and on the power play, Bair Gendunov scored at 15:34 to win it for Huntsville 3-2, and the series 2-0.

Cook and Osik scored one goal each, and Chris Janzen made 27 saves on 30 shots.