VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes University baseball sophomore Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) announced last week his plans to continue his athletic and academic career next season at NAIA Brescia University in Owensboro, Ky.

“Obviously the scholarships Brescia was able to give me was a big factor in committing,” Gross said. “But compared to other schools I was talking to, it just seemed like the right fit for me. Their new Head Coach is building a culture there and has a mentality that I love and it showed this season as they won over 20 games for the first time in about a decade.”

Gross has served this season as the Trailblazers’ everyday shortstop as well as a reliable late innings relief pitcher out of the bullpen.

Gross has played in 56 games so far in the Spring 2025 season, recording 36 hits and driving in 28 runs at the plate, including four home runs and 11 doubles.

Gross has a two season 0.335 on-base percentage in 88 games with the Blazers.

Gross has also been a key late innings contributor on the mound, throwing 11 and one-third innings this season and recording 11 strikeouts in 13 appearances.

In his two seasons at Vincennes Gross has 28 total appearances and thrown 32 total innings, including 32 strikeouts.

Gross was also a standout in the classroom at Vincennes University, earning Academic All-Conference and Academic All-American honors last season and earning the President’s Male Academic Excellence Award at the 2025 Willie Awards.

Gross has helped the Blazers to a 27-32 record this season, including helping the Blazers secure their first Region Championship since moving to Region 24 in 2016 and first District Championship appearance since 2014.

“My favorite experience while being at VU was actually our very first weekend this spring at Cleveland State,” Gross said. “After a tough year last season for our team, starting off the year playing that level of baseball was a great sign of a good season coming for us. I also hit my first collegiate home run in my very first at bat there, which I will never forget.”

Gross will be joining a Bearcats squad coming off of a 23-19 season in 2015, including an 11-13 record in River States Conference play under Head Coach Casey Hamilton.

Gross and the Trailblazers will continue their postseason run this weekend when the Blazers head to the Central District Championships hosted by East Central College in Union, Mo. May 15 through May 17.

“I couldn’t thank my coaches here at VU enough for the work they have put in to better me within the sport of baseball,” Gross added. “The coaching staff here held me to a certain level of work ethic that reflected in every aspect of life. One of those areas was in the classroom, which ultimately allowed me to have the grades to get more scholarship money from potential schools. Through a great staff and environment, the jump to a four-year school will be much easier because of my time at Vincennes.”

The Vincennes University Athletic Department would like to congratulate Bryce Gross on his commitment to continuing his education at Brescia University and wishes him good luck as he continues his baseball career next season.

 National search for new coach to begin immediately

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville Director of Athletics Dr. Kenneth “Ziggy” Siegfried announced a change of leadership of the Purple Aces softball program as the contract of head coach Mat Mundell will not be renewed.

“I want to thank Coach Mundell for his dedication to the University of Evansville and our student-athletes,” Siegfried stated.  “This decision did not come easy as Coach Mundell represented our program and university with a great deal of class and integrity for his entire 11-year tenure.”

“However, following a complete evaluation of our program, I determined that a leadership change was necessary for our softball program to take the next step forward,” Siegfried added.

A national search for the next head softball coach will begin immediately.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams closed out the 2025 Outdoor regular season this past weekend at the 2025 Sycamore Open hosted by Indiana State University in Terre Haute.

VU was looking to get one more good opportunity to add a few more NJCAA National qualifiers for this weekend’s NJCAA Outdoor National Championships.

The Vincennes Men’s sprint crew was led by sophomore Zion Pruitt (Avon, Ind.) who placed second in the 400 meter hurdles with a final time of 54.81 seconds.

The sprint results continued with freshman Karmiel Williams (Jasper, Ind.) taking fourth in the 100 meter dash at 10.98 seconds and 10th in the 200 meters with a time of 22.37 seconds.

Freshman Devin Wilson (Indianapolis, Ind.) joined Williams in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, with Wilson posting times of 11.13 seconds and 22.91 seconds respectively to place sixth and 12th overall.

Freshman Marshawn Bradley (Dyer, Ind.) rounded out the Trailblazers in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.51 seconds to place seventh and freshman Aaden Mapp (Indianapolis, Ind.) placed 14th in the 200 meters with a time of 24.34 seconds.

The Trailblazers then put on a show in the 400 meters, with freshmen Isaiah Ervin (French Lick, Ind.), ArTezz Butler-Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Kelvin Kipsang (Kapsabet, Kenya) placed one-two-three in their heat, with Ervin placing eighth overall with a time of 50.07 seconds, Butler-Sanders taking ninth at 50.94 seconds and Kipsang placing 10th at 51.15 seconds.

Kipsang also competed in the 800 meters and placed fifth with a time of 1:58.46, while freshman Dakoda Greci (Danville, Ind.) taking 10th in the 800 meters with a time of 2:05.63.

Sophomore Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.) led the Trailblazers in the 1500 meters, winning his heat and placing fifth overall with a time of 3:59.01.

Sophomores Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) and Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.) followed Spence with Hostetler taking 15th in the 1500 at 4:19.18 and Whitehead placing 16th with a final time of 4:20.80.

The VU Men’s Track results on the day were rounded out by the distance team in the 5000 meters led by freshman Lane Connaway (Carmi, Ill.) who placed 12th overall at 16:03.04 and freshman Jeremy Mendez (Velpen, Ind.) taking 15th overall at 16:33.15.

VU was led in the field events by freshman Tremayne Brown (Anderson, Ind.) who picked up the event win in the high jump after clearing a height of 2.05 meters.

Freshman Chase Guthrie (Indianapolis, Ind.) placed third in the triple jump with a distance of 13.23 meters, while freshman Bryce Peak (Brownstown, ind.) placed seventh in the javelin with a best throw of 42.93 meters.

Freshman Cayden Gasser (Delphi, Ind.) had another busy day for the Trailblazers, taking eighth in the javelin with a throw of 36.15 meters and 14th in the shot put and hammer throw with a best throw of 11.25 meters in the shot put and 30.91 meters in the hammer.

The VU Women’s team was led on the day by sophomore Jasmyn Self (Casey, Ill.) who placed seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 2:29.66, followed by freshman Allie Black (Lynn, Ind.) who placed 11th with a time of 2:43.79.

Sophomore Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) and Alexis Hale (Evansville, Ind.) took home eighth and ninth respectively in the 1500 meters, with Fuller crossing the line with a time of 5:12.61 and Hale posting a time of 5:18.04.

Freshman Braylee McKinnon (Linton, Ind.) closed out the Trailblazer results on the weekend by taking 11th in the javelin with a throw of 22.30 meters and 13th in the discus with a best throw of 22.33 meters.

Members of the Trailblazer Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams will now look to carry this momentum into the 2025 NJCAA Division I Outdoor National Championships hosted by Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kan.

The three day event will begin Thursday, May 15 and run through Saturday, May 17.