VINCENNES Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team closed out another busy weekend of NJCAA baseball at Jerry Blemker Field Sunday afternoon, falling to Morton College from Cicero, Ill. 13-4.

The VU pitching staff allowed six walks in the game and hit an additional five batters Sunday, which the Panthers pounced on with the help of some timely two out hitting.

Morton College got the scoring going early, breaking the game open in the second with five runs before adding another run in the fourth to increase their lead to 6-0.

Vincennes would get on the board in a big way in the bottom half of the fourth, with freshman Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) leading off the inning with a solo home run, his first collegiate home run to cut the deficit to 6-1.

Morton then responded with a pair of runs in the sixth and five more insurance runs in the seventh to take a 13-1 lead heading into the final half inning.

The Trailblazer bats looked to come alive in the bottom of the seventh and try to pull off a miracle comeback.

The VU offense was jump started by a pinch hit leadoff double by freshman Noble Johnson (Terre Haute, Ind.) followed by a single by freshman Logan Edwards (Corydon, ind.).

The pair were then driven in on a two-RBI triple by freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, ind.), who later scored on an RBI single by redshirt freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.) to cut the Morton lead down to 13-4.

This would be as close as the Blazers would get unfortunately, as the Panthers closed out the victory to end a busy weekend of baseball at Jerry Blemker Field.

“Bradyn’s swinging it well,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “Hopefully Holden’s getting back to his old form that he had last year. Corbin Napier has shown that he has some juice in his bat with a nice home run today by him.”

“Some guys stepped up in situations but it’s easy to play when you’re down a ton of runs,” Barney added. “It’s more what do you do when the horses are not out of the barn yet and it’s 0-0 or a close game in that situation. So we’ve got to be better right from the get go.”

Sophomore Max Lines (Indianapolis, Ind.) got the start on the mound for the Blazers, throwing an inning and two-thirds, allowing five runs on four hits and striking out four.

Freshman Noah Dearmitt (Franklin, Ind.) was the first out of the pen for VU, throwing two and one-third innings, allowing one run on four hits and striking out three.

Sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) took a turn on the mound, allowing two runs on one hit and striking out two in an inning and two-thirds of work.

Freshman Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) and sophomore Keegan Schlotterbeck (Centerville, Ind.) then combined to get the final four outs, each recording one strikeout.

NEW ORLEANS, La. –  The University of Evansville baseball team exploded for 18 runs on 21 hits on Sunday, including five home runs, as the visiting Purple Aces posted an 18-4 mercy-rule victory over the homestanding University of New Orleans Privateers at Maestri Field in New Orleans.

“For us to win on ‘getaway day’ was important today, after yesterday’s tough loss,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “We had a great overall effort offensively today, and I thought that we did a good job of handing the ball off to each other on the mound:  Kevin Reed getting us through four, and then what we got out of Shane Harris was pretty special today.  And, to be able to get Jace Kressin and Ethan Bell out there was important for us as well.

“Big turnaround here on Wednesday, with us going to Vanderbilt.  We still have some things that we are working on, so Wednesday will be a big test for us.”

After scoring only two runs through 10 innings on Saturday, Evansville scored three runs through its first 10 batters on Sunday to grab an early 3-0 lead.  Senior shortstop Simon Scherry produced a two-out RBI single in the first inning to begin the scoring, and freshman catcher Kaleb Wilkey bounced an RBI ground out before graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger drove an RBI single to right field to give UE a 3-0 cushion.

UNO would answer back with a four-run second inning thanks to a pair of home runs, but UE would respond with two home runs of its own in the third inning to set the tone for the day.  Senior first baseman Kip Fougerousse launched a solo home run to tie the game at 4-4 in the third inning, before junior outfielder Harrison Taubert added a solo shot two batters later to give UE a lead it would never lose.

Evansville broke things open in the fifth inning, plating seven runs in the frame to push the lead to 12-4, highlighted by an RBI single by junior outfielder Ty Rumsey and a 400-foot grand slam to left field by graduate third baseman Brent Widder.

Junior second baseman Cal McGinnis added a solo home run to right field in the seventh inning to push the lead to 13-4.  UE would then score five more runs in the eighth inning to invoke the mercy rule.  Shallenberger launched an opposite-field solo home run to begin the scoring, before freshman infielder Brodie Peart came through with a pinch-hit two-run double for his first collegiate hit.  A sacrifice fly by Taubert and an RBI double on the infield by Rumsey that landing between three infielders in front of the mound capped the scoring.

Rumsey led UE’s 21-hit attack by going 4-for-5.  Both Shallenberger and Taubert finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, while Widder went 3-for-5 with the grand slam, three runs scored and four RBI.  Eight of the nine UE starters produced hits on the day, with eight of the nine starters also driving in runs.

On the mound, senior reliever Shane Harris (1-1) earned the victory with two perfect innings of relief work.  Graduate reliever Jace Kressin and redshirt sophomore hurler Ethan Bell also worked perfect innings each while combining to strike out five men.

With the victory, Evansville moves to 4-3 on the season.  The Purple Aces will now travel to Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday night for a showdown with #6 Vanderbilt.  First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday’s game can be seen live on the SE

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball senior catcher Tyler Kapust (Sellersburg, Indiana) and freshman right-hander Grant Parson (Owensboro, Kentucky) propelled the Screaming Eagles to a 3-1 victory over Eastern Michigan University Sunday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI is 2-5 to start the season, while EMU also is 2-5.
 
For the first time in the series, USI got on the scoreboard first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second off a two-run single by Kapust. Freshman leftfielder Cameron Boyd (Villa Hills, Kentucky) started the rally by reaching on an error and was followed by junior first baseman Thomas Emerich (Ava, Missouri), who was hit by a pitch, before scoring on Kapust’s two-out, two-run single.
 
After EMU cut the USI advantage to 2-1 in the top of the sixth, USI got the run back in the bottom half to go back up by two, 3-1. Sophomore shortstop Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second before stealing third and scoring on a throwing error.
 
On the mound, Parson picked up his first collegiate win in his second start of the year for USI. Parson (1-0) allowed one run on four hits and two walks, while striking out seven in six innings of work.
 
USI freshman right-hander Clayton Weisheit (Ferdinand, Indiana) held the EMU Eagles in check for the final 2.2 frames to post his first collegiate save. Weisheit allowed one hit and struck out three for the save.

Aces look to rebound on Wednesday

 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men’s basketball team held a 26-24 halftime lead, but an 11-0 run by Southern Illinois in the second half keyed a 65-53 win on Sunday at the Ford Center.

Ben Humrichous led the Purple Aces with 11 points and 7 rebounds while Antonio Thomas recorded 10 points on a 4-for-5 shooting effort.  Tanner Cuff scored nine points.  Troy D’Amico led SIU with 17 points.

Yacine Toumi found Antonio Thomas cutting to the basket for the first score of the game.  UE hit its first three shots to take a 6-3 lead before five in a row from SIU saw them take their first lead at 8-6.  Converting five shots in a row, the Salukis opened a 14-8 edge before Chuck Bailey III ended the stretch with a mid-range jumper.

After missing five in a row, the Salukis went on a drought, missing nine in a row as they did not record a field goal for over eight minutes.  Evansville made its way back as Cam Haffner drained a 3-pointer to get UE within one at 14-13.  At the 6:58 mark, Toumi put the Aces back in front at 17-15.

SIU regained a 24-21 edge inside the 3-minute mark before Evansville reeled off the final five tallies to take a 26-24 lead into the break.  Antonio Thomas has the final five points for UE as they rallied back in front.

Back-and-forth action continued in the second half.  Southern Illinois took a 29-28 edge in the first minute while Ben Humrichous countered with a 3-point play to put his team in front at 30-29.  A turning point came with the score tied at 35-35 inside of 16 minutes remaining.  SIU posted 11 in a row to take their largest advantage of the day.

Inside of the 12-minute mark, Humrichous ended the SIU run to get back within single digits.  Tanner Cuff and Bailey each scored as part of an 11-2 run that made it a 48-46 game.  Southern Illinois retook control as they pushed the lead back to double figures at 60-50 inside the final minutes.  Gage Bobe hit a 3-pointer two minutes remaining to get his team within seven, but SIU was able to fend off the challenge to finish with the 65-53 win.

Hitting 21 out of 51 attempts, SIU shot 41.2% while holding the Aces to 37.5%.  The Salukis also finished with a 34-32 rebounding advantage.

Tuesday night will mark Senior Night for UE as they host Indiana State in a 7 p.m. game.