VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Baseball team returned to Jerry Blemker Field Tuesday morning looking to bounce back from their home opener Monday afternoon with doubleheader action against Morton College and a rematch against NJCAA Division III No. 15 Joliet Junior College.
The Blazers were able to open up fast starts in both games and ride the early momentum to a 5-2 victory over Morton College and an 8-4 victory over Joliet to complete the doubleheader sweep.
Vincennes opened the day Tuesday morning with a showdown against Morton College.
VU opened the scoring on the day in the second inning after a lead off walk by freshman Jarret Phillips (Jeffersonville, Ind.), who advanced on a stolen base and came around to score on a groundout put in play by sophomore Noble Johnson (Terre Haute, Ind.).
Vincennes continued to add in the second after a single by freshman Carter Gricius (Scottsburg, Ind.) was followed by a big two-run home run by sophomore Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.), his second of the season, to put the Blazers on top early 3-0.
Morton would get a run back and final crack the scoreboard in the fourth, before VU answered back in the fifth on back-to-back singles by freshman Jevan Andrews (Hobart, Ind.) and an RBI single by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.).
The two teams would trade runs in the sixth, where Vincennes took advantage of a leadoff single by Noble Johnson, who was driven in on a bases loaded walk by Nate Montgomery, giving him two RBIs on the day and his third time reaching base in four plate appearances.
The Trailblazers pitching would hold in the seventh after Morton looked ready to strike with the bases loaded with only one out but were unable to push the runs across and extend the game as Vincennes closed out the 5-2 victory over the Panthers.
Sophomore JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) got the start on the mound for the Trailblazers, throwing five strong innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits and striking out eight while picking up his first winning decision of the season.
Freshman Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) was the first out of the pen for the Trailblazers, throwing one and one-third innings, allowing one run on two hits and striking out two.
Sophomore Bryce Gross stepped in in the seventh and closed out the game for the Blazers striking out two in two-thirds of an inning to pick up the save.
“It was a great job by JD Bowser stepping up,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “It was a good bounce back win for us after a tough night last night. We actually swung the bats okay in the first game and did a pretty good job defensively.”
“Bowser pitched well,” Barney added. “Ty Stultz got us a couple of key outs and then we turned around and had Bryce Gross close it out. Multiple guys stepped up with multiple RBIs, so game one was pretty good.”
VU looked to keep this momentum going in the evening portion of Tuesday’s doubleheader, getting a chance at revenge against NJCAA Division III No. 15-ranked Joliet Junior College.
Vincennes again struck early, getting on the scoreboard in the second inning after sophomore Damon Kay (Spencer, Ind.) began the inning with a hit by pitch.
Freshman Jarret Phillips followed that with a walk and the two advanced around the bases by taking advantage of a passed ball and a wild pitch, plating Kay to give the Blazers an early 1-0 lead.
Noble Johnson was able to get on base later in the inning with another walk, stealing second and then coming around to score on a two-RBI broken bat single by sophomore Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.) to put the Blazers on top 3-0 early.
Vincennes would get another run in the third inning, scoring after loading the bases by Nate Montgomery being hit by pitch and Damon Kay and Jarret Phillips drawing walks.
Montgomery would score on a groundout put in play by sophomore Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) to increase the Trailblazer lead to 4-0.
Joliet would respond in the fourth inning with a pair of runs and later cut the deficit to one with a run in the sixth to cut the VU lead down to 4-3.
Vincennes looked to answer back and pick up a few insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth and got the inning started right with a lead off single by Yancey Edlin.
Edlin’s walk was followed by a walk by Brody Fessel and the pair moved up 90 feet on a successful sacrifice bunt by freshman Jakob Hoyer (Georgetown, Ind.).
Edlin would then come in to score on a passed ball as Fessel moved to third and sophomore Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) kept the inning going with a two-out walk.
Jevan Andrews legged out an infield RBI single and Douglas would come around to score on a passed ball.
VU closed out the inning with a double steal which allowed Andrews to score from third before Nate Montgomery was tagged out in a run down, giving the Blazers a commanding 8-3 lead going into the seventh.
Joliet would look for a big late comeback in the seventh inning and were able to plate one run in the inning but were unable to get more as Vincennes closed out game two of the day 8-4, completing the doubleheader sweep.
Freshman Eastin Whaley (Kokomo, Ind.) got the start on the mound for Vincennes in game two, throwing three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three to pick up the winning decision.
Freshman Wyatt Burris (Farmland, Ind.) entered in the fourth, allowing two runs on three hits in one and one-third innings while striking out two.
Sophomore Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) pitched the final two and two-thirds innings of relief, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and striking out four while picking up the save.
