Trailblazers have a big day at the plate to close out weekend over Ancilla

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball offense is beginning to round into form this weekend after scoring 19 totals runs in two games Saturday at Jerry Blemker Field, VU returned to the field Sunday evening to score 13 more runs in a 13-4 win over Ancilla College.

The Trailblazers picked up right where they left off yesterday with freshman starting pitcher Gavin Craggs (Taylorville, Ill.) throwing a clean three-up, three-out top of the first.

VU then got things going at the plate with sophomore Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.) beating out an infield hit to lead off the first. Burdette would later score on a passed ball.

Sophomores Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) and Colin Long (Evansville, Ind.) followed with a walk by Evans and Long reaching on an error.

Freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.) brought home Evans with an RBI single and sophomore Dale Coy drove in Long with an RBI double to give VU a 3-0 lead after the first inning.

Ancilla would answer back with a pair of runs in the second, which Vincennes would get back in the third when VU executed a delayed double-steal to score Dale Coy, freshman Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.) got an RBI single and Ethan Burdette picked up an RBI double to score four runs in the inning and take a 7-2 lead.

Vincennes would continue to add to their lead in the fourth in a big way with a leadoff triple by Colin Long and a two-run home run by Holden Clifton.

The Chargers would get those two runs back in the fifth before VU answered back in the bottom half of the inning with a two-RBI double by sophomore Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.), a sacrifice fly by Holden Clifton, giving him four RBIs on the day, and an RBI double by freshman Brandon Juarez (Evansville, In.).

VU would close the game out strong on the mound as Vincennes finished off their third win of the season by the final score of 13-4.

“Our offense is what we think is going to be one of the strengths in our club,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “Ethan Burdette had three hits and an RBI double, then some timely hitting with Elliott. Clifton comes through with four RBIs and Dale Coy gets a big RBI double in the first inning to put us up 3-0.”

“Brandon Juarez did a great job of coming in and getting an RBI late in the game,” Barney added. “It was just some really good hitting. Some guys really stepped up and I’m excited for that, especially our one through seven hitters, they all had pretty good days.”

Gavin Craggs got things going for VU on the mound and held his own, allowing four runs, in four-plus innings, allowing two hits and striking out five.

Freshman Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) picked two innings of relief, allowing only one hit and striking out three.

Sophomore Eli Steimel (Sullivan, Ind.) retired the only batter he faced on just four pitches before freshman Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) came in to close out the seventh inning, striking out one.

“Gavin Craggs was a tale of different innings today,” Barney said. “If throws like he did in the first and third innings he’s really good. In the second he was able to work himself out of a little bit of a jam and struggled in the fifth and obviously couldn’t finish it out. But he kept us in the game and gave us a chance to play.”

“Then Jace Parnin comes in in relief and picks up the win,” Barney added. “He did a great job for his two innings. Then Steimel comes in before Pinson and Pinson records his first collegiate outs to get the last two outs of the game. It was a good day for us on the mound there.”

The Trailblazers will be on the road to start next week when VU travels to Mt. Carmel, Ill. to face-off against NJCAA Division I No. 8-ranked Wabash Valley Tuesday, Feb. 21. First pitch Tuesday is set for 2 p.m. eastern.

“We played four games this week and hopefully we’ve gained some experience from that,” Barney said. “Hopefully we’ve gained a little bit of confidence that we can play. We are going to have to play really well at Wabash Valley. They are a good club. They are coming off of a three-game series and we’ve played four games this weekend. We are just going to have to be ready to get after it.”

“I feel good about where we stand with our pitching,” Barney added. “Josh McCormick will start on Tuesday and we’ve got Logan Medsker right behind him to help get us ready for a mid-week game, plus our regular bullpen. It should be an interesting game over there on Tuesday.”