VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team is not taking any time off this week while the rest of the University is on Spring Break.
The VU baseball club is slated to play six games in six days this week starting with Tuesday night’s 17-7 win over Oakland City JV at Jerry Blemker Field.
The day did not get off to a great start for the Blue and Gold with Oakland City jump on the scoreboard in the top of the first with a pair of runs.
VU would get their first run on the board in the third inning after a leadoff walk by sophomore Will Egger (Terre Haute, Ind.) was followed by a double by freshman Keegan Schlotterbeck (Centerville, Ind.) and a sacrifice fly by sophomore Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.).
The Blazers would then grab their first lead of the game in the fourth after a leadoff double by freshman Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.) and sophomore Kobe Bartlett (Rockport, Ind.) reaching on a dropped third strike.
Whitehead would score on a ground out later in the inning and Bartlett would give the Blazers the lead on a delayed double steal.
Vincennes would extend their lead with three more runs in the fifth after a lead off single by Schlotterbeck, who would score on an RBI single by Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.).
Sophomore Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.), who walked earlier in the inning, came around to score on an RBI single by Kobe Bartlett and Evans crossed the plate on another delayed double steal to give the Blazers a 6-2 lead.
VU add more in the sixth on an RBI single by Schlotterbeck, his third of four hits on the day and an RBI single by Ethan Burdette.
The Trailblazers would completely put the game away with a huge inning in the seventh after sending 11 batters to the plate VU finished off the inning with seven runs and found themselves in possession of a 15-2 lead.
VU would get an RBI single by Kobe Bartlett, a run driven in on a walk by freshman Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.), a two-RBI single by Keegan Schlotterbeck, giving him three RBI’s on the day, a two-RBI double by freshman Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and an RBI triple by sophomore Nick Kapostasy (Cincinnati, Ohio) one of his two hits in the inning.
Oakland City would get a couple of those runs back in the eighth but VU would respond with two more runs in the bottom of the eighth.
The Mighty Oaks would not go away easily however, putting up three runs in the ninth before VU would close out the 17-7 victory with a pair of strikeouts.
Freshman Aaron Fenn (Fort Wayne, Ind.) got the start on the mound for the Trailblazers and really settled into a rhythm after a tough first inning. Fenn would throw four innings, allowing two runs on five hits and strike out four. Fenn retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced Tuesday night.
Sophomore Jake Stuteville (Rockport, Ind.) took over on the mound out of the bullpen and had another good outing, throwing four innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out seven, giving him a team-leading 20 punchouts on the mound this season.
Freshman Max Lines (Indianapolis, Ind.) got his first action on the mound this season, pitching the ninth inning, allowing three runs on one hit and striking out three.
The Trailblazers will look to carry this momentum on to their next game when VU travels to Gallatin, Tenn. Wednesday, March 8 when Vincennes takes on Volunteer State Community College. First pitch Wednesday is set for 3 p.m. eastern.
BOX SCORE
Oakland City – 200   000  023 – 7
VU (6-10) – 001   232  72x – 17
VINCENNES HITTING
2B – Parnin, Schlotterbeck, Whitehead. 3B – Kapostasy. RBI – Burdette 2, Parnin 2, Kapostasy, Evans, Bartlett 2, Long, Heyerly, Brown, Schlotterbeck 3. HBP – Breneman, Egger, Trinkle. SF – Burdette. SB -Schlotterbeck 2, Evans, Egger, Trinkle, Whitehead, Bartlett.
-30-
The VU Baseball team improves to 6-10 on the season.
