VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers returned to Jerry Blemker Field Tuesday night for a single game against Olney Central College and were able to score early and often to come away with a big 16-12 victory over the Blue Knights.

The Blazers got off to a quick start Tuesday night after Olney Central scored a pair in the first, VU answered back with six runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.

Eight of the first nine VU batters reached base safely and the Blazers were able to score on an RBI single by sophomore Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.), a walk pitch and back-to-back RBI singles by freshmen Reed Drabant (Columbia, Ill.) and Jaydon Bradbury (Terre Haute, Ind.).

Olney Central would get a run back in the third, which VU again answered back with another big inning in the bottom of the third.

VU got the first two runners on with leadoff walks by sophomore Bryton Griffy and Reed Drabant, followed by a fielder’s choice by Jaydon Bradbury and a big two-RBI double by freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.).

VU continued to add to their lead in the inning with an RBI single by sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.), a bases loaded hit by pitch by sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.) and a run scoring fielder’s choice put in play by sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) to give VU a commanding 11-3 lead.

The Blue Knights would come storming back in the fourth with a big nine-run inning to take a 12-11 lead.

VU would get the run back in the bottom of the fourth and even the score after Jaydon Bradbury reached on an error and scored on a fielder’s choice put in play by sophomore Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

VU would regain the lead in the seventh on a pinch hit RBI single by redshirt freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.) and an RBI single by freshman Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.). Fessel would come around to score on a throwing error to give VU a 15-12 lead.

The Trailblazers would add an insurance run in the eighth after Blake Heyerly hit a triple and was driven in on a pinch hit sacrifice fly by freshman Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.).

Sophomore Max Lines (Indianapolis, Ind.) was called on to close out the ninth and did so by striking out the side to give the Blazers the 16-12 victory.

Sophomore Jack Robinson got the start against Olney Central Tuesday, throwing three and one-third innings, allowing eight runs, six earned, on eight hits and striking out one.

Freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) continues to be a strong presence in the bullpen for Vincennes, throwing four and one-third innings of scoreless baseball, allowing three hits and striking out two.

Sophomore Max Lines was called on to pitch the ninth, allowing one hit and striking out three in his inning of work.

The Trailblazers head into the weekend on a bye week from Conference play but have filled their weekend with a tough single game against NJCAA Division I No. 17-ranked John A. Logan College.

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – The Vincennes University Golf team had another tough tournament this week at the 2024 Garn Championships hosted at the Keene Trace Golf Club Monday and Tuesday.

The Blazers battled through wind and rain to place 21st on a very challenging golf course, which hosts the PGA’s Barbasol Championship each July.

The first two rounds of this 54-hole tournament were scheduled to be played on Monday, but round two ultimately needed to be finished Tuesday morning due to darkness.

The Trailblazers were led by freshman Alex Nealis (Olney, Ill.) who had a team-best 82 in round one, an 88 in round two and finished strong with an 83 in round three to place 66th overall.

Freshman Andy Clark followed Nealis with a solid bounce back tournament, with a first round 94 followed by an 86 and an 85 in the final two rounds to finish 96th on the leaderboard.

The next VU scorer was freshman Trejan Morrison (Ferdinand, Ind.) who made his Spring season debut with a first round 105, followed by a 99 and a 97 in the final two rounds to place 107th overall.

The Vincennes finishers were rounded out by freshman Jackson Stone (Vincennes, Ind.) who shot a 97 in round one, a 106 in round two and a 109 in the final round to place 108th.

Sophomore Aaron Brink (Nashville, Ill.) began the tournament, with a first round 86 and a second round 88 before withdrawing from the tournament due to injury.

VU as a team shot a first round 359, 361 in round two and a final round team score of 376 to place 21st overall as a team.

“Just when I thought things were tough with having to play without my number one player, Preston, my number two hurt his wrist and had to withdraw after two holes Tuesday,” VU Hall of Fame Golf Coach Dennis Chattin said. “We were battered by really strong winds and rain throughout the day and had to finish with only four players, so we couldn’t throw out our high score.”

“Scores were really up this year in the tournament because of the winds yesterday and both wind and rain today,” Chattin added. “I always like to point out a highlight but can only say that we had some guys who battled through the conditions. Hopefully after some time off before our next tournament we can get healthy again.”

The Trailblazers will look to bounce back and hopefully continue to improve, along with some better weather, in their next tournament, when VU heads to Hulman Links in Terre Haute for the Battle of the Woods tournament Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The visiting SIUE baseball team erupted for 10 runs in the final three innings on Tuesday night to secure a 14-6 victory over the University of Evansville Purple Aces at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

The Cougars scored two unearned runs in the seventh inning to grab a one-run lead, before scoring three runs in the eighth inning and five more in the ninth inning to blow things open.  Outfielder Lucas Spence led the way for SIUE, going 4-for-6 with a triple, four runs scored and four RBI.  All four RBI, three of his hits and three of his runs came in the final three innings of the game.

SIUE struck first in the third inning on a solo home run by second baseman Mack Mitchell and the first run of the game by Spence, who singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

The score would remain 2-0 in favor of SIUE until the fourth inning, when UE graduate designated hitter Chase Hug launched a three-run home run to right field to give UE a 3-2 lead.

The Cougars would tie the game at 3-3 in the fifth inning, before UE opened up a 5-3 lead with two runs in the bottom half of the frame.  Graduate third baseman Brent Widder roped his second double of the game to score the inning’s first run, before junior outfielder Harrison Taubert came through with an RBI ground out to give UE a 5-3 lead.

SIUE scored a run in the sixth inning to trim the UE lead to 5-4, before taking the lead with two unearned runs in the seventh inning.  Spence started the rally with a one-out single.  Then, after a strikeout and a hit-by-pitch put runners on first and second, Spence raced home on a fielding error to tie the game and a throwing error put two men in scoring position with two outs.   Then, a controversial balk call on a 3-2 count brought in the go-ahead run for SIUE and gave the Cougars a 6-5 lead.  Spence then broke things open in the eighth inning with a two-run triple as SIUE went on to win.

Spence and first baseman Ryan Niedzwiedz both had four hits and four RBI each to lead SIUE.  Hug drove in three runs for UE, while Widder and senior first baseman Kip Fougerousse had two hits each.  For Widder, it came in his 200th career collegiate game.

With the victory, SIUE improves to 8-17 overall.  Evansville, meanwhile, falls to 9-15 overall with the loss.  Evansville will return to action next on Thursday night, as the Purple Aces will host Southern Illinois in a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series.  First-pitch is set for 6 p.m. and Thursday’s game can be heard live on 107.1 FM-WJPS and seen live on ESPN+.

MUNCIE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball lost the opening contest of a four-game road swing at Ball State University, 12-5, Tuesday afternoon in Muncie, Indiana. USI is 11-13 overall, while BSU goes to 14-12.
 
The Cardinals took the lead early, scoring in each of the first five frames. BSU had a 4-0 lead after the first inning and sealed its win with two more in the second for the 6-0 advantage.
 
After BSU scored another run in the third, the Screaming Eagles got onto the scoreboard with a pair of tallies in the top of the fourth to narrow the gap to 7-2. Senior designated hitter Jack Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indiana) produced the first two USI runs with one swing of the bat, hitting a two-run blast to right center. The homer was his team-high fourth of the season.
 
BSU re-extended its lead and pushed the run differential to 12-2 after scoring three more in the bottom of the fourth and two more in the fifth.
 
The Eagles would get the final two runs of the game scoring once in the sixth and two more in the eighth. USI freshman leftfielder Ethan Rothschild (Evansville, Indiana) pushed the Eagles’ tally across in the sixth with a RBI-single to center, while junior centerfielder Terrick Thompson-Allen (Sioux City, Iowa) and senior catcher Tyler Kapust (Sellersburg, Indiana) hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth to finish the scoring in the 12-5 game.
 
USI senior right-hander Trent Robinson (Louisville, Kentucky) took the loss for the Eagles. Robinson (0-2) allowed four runs on four hits and two walks in 1.2 innings of work.