Trailblazers drop MWAC doubleheader at No. 17 Heartland CC to close out weekend

NORMAL, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers fell Saturday afternoon in the final two games of their Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) road doubleheader at No. 17 Heartland CC.

Vincennes began the day strong at the Corn Crib with lead-off hitter freshman Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.) reaching base on an error to begin game one.

Burdette would come around to score on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Peyton Lane (New Paris, Ohio) to give Vincennes a 1-0 early lead.

The Trailblazers added to their lead in the second on back-to-back doubles by freshman Will Egger (Terre Haute, Ind.) and Ethan Burdette as VU held a 2-0 lead.

Heartland got on the scoreboard in the second inning and took the lead with three runs in the third.

The Hawks built on this lead with four runs in the fourth, before Vincennes answered back with a two-RBI triple by freshman Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) and an RBI single by sophomore Connor VanLannen cut the deficit to 8-5.

Heartland put the game away in the sixth after scoring six runs in the inning to come away with the 14-5 win over the Trailblazers.

Connor VanLannen got the start on the mound in game one throwing three and two-thirds innings, allowing eight runs on seven hits and striking out seven.

Freshman Caleb Moore (Wentzville, Mo.) entered out of the bullpen to throw two innings, allowing six runs, all unearned, on five hits.

Sophomore Colin Long (Evansville, Ind.) and Colton Evans were the only VU batters with a multi-hit game, with the pair each ending with a single, a triple and a run scored. Evans also ended his game with a pair of RBI’s.

“Our guys did a great job of battling in game one,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “We cut it to an 8-5 game after being down 8-2 and got ourselves back into the game. A couple of guys really stepped up and did a nice job in the middle part of the order, with big RBI hits from Colin Long and Colton Evans.”

VU looked to bounce back and end the weekend on a high-note in game two of the day and Vincennes again got out to a hot start, scoring in the first inning for the fourth-straight game.

Colin Long and Peyton Lane reached on errors and Lane would score on an RBI single by Colton Evans to give Vincennes the 2-0 lead.

The Hawks immediately responded on their home field, evening the score in the bottom of the first at 2-2.

Heartland took control of the game in the second, with three runs and six runs in the third.

The Hawks added another insurance run in the fourth as Vincennes was unable to get any baserunners in the fifth as Heartland came away with the 12-2 win over the Trailblazers.

Sophomore Braedon Nichols (Sullivan, Ind.) closed out the weekend with the start in game two, throwing two innings and allowing five runs on seven hits and struck out one.

Sophomore Luke Osborn (Perrysville, Ind.) was the first out of the pen in game two, throwing one inning, allowing six runs on four hits and striking out one.

Freshmen Jake Stuteville (Rockport, Ind.) and Eli Steimel (Sullivan, Ind.) combined to pitch in the fourth, with Stuteville allowing one run on one hit. Steimel retired the only batter he faced.

“It was one of those things today,” Barney said. “Heartland is a good club and the swung the bats well and they play really well at home. Especially on their artificial turf in their comfortable surroundings of their stadium.”

“We’ve got to do a better job on the mound,” Barney added. “Especially after innings that we score, coming out and shutting the door and we didn’t do that today. I thought Caleb Moore threw really well for us in game one. He should have had two shutout innings.”