GALLATIN, Tenn. – Believe it or not, it’s baseball season at Vincennes University and the Trailblazers began their 2024 campaign Saturday afternoon in Gallatin, Tenn. with a single, nine-inning showdown with the Pioneers of Volunteer State Community College.

The Trailblazers offense got off to a slow start but got an immediate burst from sophomore Dylan Ecken (Louisville, Ky.) who came through with a three-run home run and a two-RBI double in his first two at bats for the Trailblazers.

VU would go on to hold the Pioneers at bay on the mound, with the VU pitching staff allowing only one hit and recording 16 strikeouts on the game as VU came away with the 7-2 season opener victory.

The Vincennes baseball season got off to a slow start with VU allowing the Pioneers to load the bases in the first inning by allowing two walks and a hit by pitch and later allowing VSCC to score two in the bottom of the first on a throwing error.

Volunteer State’s starting pitcher held the Trailblazers hitless through four innings, but when the game turned to the bullpen the Blazers jumped, with redshirt freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.) recording the first hit of the season on a leadoff single.

Sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) later reached on a fielder’s choice, followed by a single by sophomore Bryton Griffy (Louisville, Ill.) to set the stage for a two out, pinch hit three-run home run by sophomore Dylan Ecken to put the Blazers on top 3-2.

The Blazers would add to their lead in the seventh after another single by Jace Parnin, who reached base three times in the game, was followed up by a single by Bryton Griffy.

Dylan Ecken again came through for the Trailblazers, plating two on a two-RBI double, giving him five RBIs in two plate appearances.

Ecken would later score on a throwing error as the Blazers held a 6-2 lead after seven innings.

VU added another insurance run in the eighth after a leadoff walk by sophomore Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

Hinton would advance to second on an error on a pick off attempt and come around to score on an RBI single by Bryton Griffy, his third hit of the game.

The VU pitching staff had the Pioneer hitters guessing all game as freshman Kaleb Marrs (Terre Haute, Ind.) closed out the final three innings, picking up a save in his first collegiate outing.

Vincennes University used a good number of arms in Saturday’s game, with sophomore Josh McCormick (Indianapolis, Ind.), who threw an inning and two-thirds, allowing two runs, both unearned and striking out four.

Sophomore Logan Medsker (Marshall, Ill.) was the first out of the pen for VU Head Coach Chris Barney, with Medsker throwing two and one-third innings, allowing no hits and striking out six, including striking out the side in the bottom of the fourth to pick up the first winning decision of the season.

VU then turned to sophomore Max Lines (Indianapolis, Ind.) who allowed one hit in one inning of work.

Freshman Alex Wandersee (Centerville, Ind.) got the ball in the sixth inning, throwing a clean, one-two-three inning and striking out two in his collegiate debut.

Freshman Kaleb Marrs closed out the show, throwing three innings to pick up the save, facing 10 batters over his three innings of work and striking out four.

The Trailblazers will look to carry this early season momentum into their next set of games next weekend when the Blazers head back down to Tennessee to take on the Cougars of Cleveland State Community College Saturday, Feb. 10 and Sunday, Feb. 11.

The Blazers are scheduled to begin this three-game set in Cleveland, Tenn. Saturday, Feb. 10 with a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. eastern, with the two teams returning for game three Sunday Feb. 11 at 12 p.m. eastern.

Aces hang on for 63-62 win at Valparaiso

 

VALPARAISO, Ind. – Kenny Strawbridge Jr. led a balanced attack for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team as the Purple Aces outlasted Valparaiso for a 63-62 victory at The ARC.

Strawbridge recorded 14 points on an efficient 6-of-8 performance.  Yacine Toumi and Antonio Thomas recorded 10 points apiece.  Toumi converted 4 of his 5 attempts while Thomas drained a pair of clutch triples.  Josh Hughes finished with nine points while Ben Humrichous scored eight.  Tanner Cuff was the game’s top rebounder with eight.  Cooper Schwieger tallied a game-high 22 points while Isaiah Stafford posted 15.

“This was a gutsy win for us.  Valpo came into the game playing with a great deal of confidence.  They had some success early in the game but we made some defensive adjustments that helped in the second half,” UE head men’s basketball coach David Ragland exclaimed.  “Playing any game in our league is tough but playing on the road is even tougher.  I am proud of the guys for their response and sticking with it.”

Valparaiso had a quick start, scoring the first five points of the day before capping a 4-for-4 start from the field to take a 10-3 advantage.  Seven in a row from the Purple Aces tied the game just over three minutes in.  Antonio Thomas connected from downtown before Kenny Strawbridge Jr. tied it up with a pair of free throws.

Another triple by the Beacons, their third in four tries, put them back up 13-10.  Valpo continued to lead until UE rallied to tie the score at 18-18 before a layup by Ben Humrichous gave the Aces their first advantage of the game at 22-20 at the 6:57 mark.  Inside of three minutes remaining, Josh Hughes hit a turnaround jumper to match Evansville’s largest lead at 28-25.

Five late points by Cooper Schwieger highlighted a 7-2 run by Valparaiso to end the half.  Schwieger’s 16 points in the opening stanza saw VU hold a 32-30 edge at halftime.

Toumi and Humrichous took over on both ends of the floor to open the second half.  Each recorded a block in the opening minute while Toumi posted the first four UE points of the period before two Humrichous free throws gave the Aces a 36-32 advantage.  The Beacons countered to retake a 40-38 lead at the 15:23 mark before Evansville jumped back in front.

Josh Hughes knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in an 8-0 run that gave Evansville a 46-40 edge, the largest lead either team had enjoyed to that point.  Five in a row by the Beacons got them within one, but UE fended off the challenge to go back up by three on a Tanner Cuff bucket.  Inside of six minutes remaining, Valpo drained its seventh triple of the afternoon to knot the game at 54-54.

With 3:07 on the clock, Thomas connected on his second 3-pointer of the afternoon to put eh Aces back up by three.  The Beacons answered with 1:30 remaining with a game-tying triple.  Toumi connected on a short jumper in the next possession before hauling in a defensive board that gave the ball back to UE with 44 ticks left.  A missed triple by the Aces put the ball back in the Beacon’s hands for the final 12 seconds.  With tie winding down, the Beacons headed to the line to shoot two free throws.  After making the first, the second one came up short as UE clinched its first MVC road win in two years.

Evansville shot 46.2% in the contest while holding the Beacons to 41.3%.  On the boards, UE finished with a 36-29 advantage.  Saturday’s win was the first conference road win for the Aces since a 65-56 victory over Indiana State on Feb. 8, 2022.  It was Coach Ragland’s first MVC road triumph and clinched his first season sweep over a league opponent.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball rallied, but lost a tough one to Tennessee State University, 79-74, Saturday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee. The Screaming Eagles fall to 6-17 overall and 3-7 in OVC play, while the Tigers are 13-10 overall, 6-4 OVC.
 
The Eagles started fast, building a 10-5 advantage after sophomore guard AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) got the game’s first points on a thunderous slam. USI and TSU would trade buckets until 6:35 remaining in the half when the Eagles reached a six-point lead, 27-21, on a three-point bomb by junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois).
 
USI matched the six-point advantage, 31-25, with 3:50 left in the opening 20 minutes on a bucket by sophomore guard Ryan Hall (Kettering, Ohio). The lead would reach six points on last time, 37-31, before USI, which led the first half on the glass, 23-9, settled for the 38-36 lead at the intermission. Junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) was the only player in double-digits by halftime with 13 points.
 
The lead would swing back and forth through the opening minutes of the second half until TSU build a seven-point advantage, 53-46, with 13:16 left. TSU extended the lead to as many as 10, 65-55, when USI made a run at the Tigers.
 
The Eagles rallied to close to within one, 74-73, with 2:18 on the clock due to an 18-9 run, led by Mielke, who had back-to-back-to-back three-point bombs. TSU would finish out the game with a 5-1 spurt, hitting five-of-six from the stripe, to end the 79-74 decision.
 
In the scoring column for the Eagles, Hernandez led the USI scorers with a game-high 23 points. The 23-points was Hernandez’s 10^th-straight game in double-digits, six with 20-or-more points.
 
Mielke followed with 14 points, including four three-point field goals, while Smith rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.
 

Evansville, In.:  Despite heavily outshooting the Ice Bears 45-23 on home ice, Knoxville goaltender Zane Steeves stole the game for Knoxville, as the Thunderbolts were held to a single goal in a 2-1 loss on Friday night at Ford Center.   The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Saturday, February 3^rd against the Knoxville Ice Bears, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.

A late first period power play allowed Rex Moe to give the Ice Bears a 1-0 lead at 14:32 of the first period, before Dawson McKinney doubled the lead to 2-0 at 4:04 of the second period.  It was all Evansville the rest of the way, and they finally got on the scoreboard in the opening moments of the third period as Myles Abbate scored on the power play from Grayson Valente and Vadim Vasjonkin to pull Evansville to within 2-1.  Evansville appeared to score again just over a minute later, but the goal was waived off due to a high stick redirection, a call that was confirmed following video review.  The Thunderbolts outshot the Ice Bears 21-6 in the third period, but somehow could not find the tying goal.

Abbate finished with Evansville’s goal, while Brendahn Brawley finished with 21 saves on 23 shots faced in his Thunderbolts debut.  The Thunderbolts and Ice Beats meet for the final time this season on Saturday, February 3^rd at Ford Center.

Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for this 2023-24 season.  Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are also on sale.  Call 812-422-BOLT or visit our all-new website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.