Trailblazers drop MWAC doubleheader to Illinois Central

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team returned to Jerry Blemker Field Saturday afternoon to play the first two games of their four-game Mid-West Athletic Conference series with Illinois Central College.

The Blazers got off to a rocky start and fell in game one 7-3 before falling in game two to the Cougars 9-4.

The weekend conference series did not get off to a great start for the Blazers as Illinois Central opened game one of the day by scoring three runs in the first inning.

VU would get on the board in the second inning after sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.) got on with a double and came around to score on an RBI single by sophomore Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

The Cougars immediately got this run back in the third and added another run in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.

Vincennes would look to battle back in the bottom half of the fourth after freshman Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) reached on an error and was driven in on an RBI single by Blake Heyerly, his second hit of the day.

VU would continue to cut into the ICC lead in the fifth with a single by freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) and an RBI single by sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) to make it a 5-3 game.

This would be as close as the Blazers would get in game one however as the Cougars plated a run in the sixth and added an insurance run in the ninth to hold off VU and pick up the 7-3 game one victory.

Sophomore Josh McCormick (Indianapolis, Ind.) got the start in game one and was able to settle in after a tough first inning, throwing four innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and striking out five.

Sophomore Max Lines (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the first out of the pen for Vincennes, throwing two innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits and striking out two.

Freshman Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) came in to throw the final three innings in relief, allowing one run on two hits and striking out four.

"Starting pitching and everything else from that avenue just didn't get it done in game one," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "We need to get more out of our starter in that situation in a game where they made all of the plays, turned two or three double plays against us. Balls that we barreled up and hit really hard were caught. Things just didn't drop for us in game one and they had a couple of small hits that fell for them."

"Illinois Central did a good job and you've got to tip your cap to them," Barney added. "That was their number one arm and today he threw like a number one arm."

The Trailblazers looked to bounce back and come away with a split on the day in the seven-inning game two but quickly found themselves in a similar situation as game one with Illinois Central scoring a run in the first and two in the second to take an early 3-0 lead.

VU would get the offense going in a big way in the fourth, leading of the inning with the first six batters reaching base safely and plating four runs in the inning to take a 4-3 lead.

The bases were loaded after a leadoff single by sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) followed by back-to-back walks by sophomores Trevor Newman and Keegan Schlotterbeck (Centerville, Ind.).

Sophomore Jack Robinson drove in the first two runs of the inning with a big two RBI double, followed by Schlotterbeck scoring on a passed ball to even the score at 3-3.

Vincennes would take the lead when Robinson scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.), giving VU the 4-3 advantage.

Illinois Central would get a run back in the top of the fourth to even the game back up at 4-4 before the two teams traded zeros on the scoreboard before Illinois Central regained the lead in the seventh with a three-run home run.

The Cougars would go on to score two more runs in the seventh and close out the game in the bottom half of the inning to pick up the game two win over Vincennes 9-4.

Freshman Carson Allen (Louisville, Ky.) got the starting nod in game two for the Trailblazers, throwing six-plus innings, allowing seven runs, five earned runs on 12 hits and striking out four, while also not allowing a walk.

Freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) closed out the rest of the seventh inning, allowing one run on one hit and striking out one.

"Carson Allen did a great job," Barney said. "We didn't back him up very well. We had three or four errors and two of those allowed runs, otherwise he would have gotten out of a couple innings without giving up any runs. He battled. He competed and did a great job. Unfortunately we got him out of there one pitch too late after giving up a home run in the seventh. But he did a great job of battling all day."

"Offensively, we've got to come up with better, more timely hits," Barney added. "We've got to wear pitches and do things that are going to allow us to be successful and not just allow our hitters to get into mental funks. We didn't execute at all. Every move I tried to make backfired, from the two hit and runs, to the pitching moves, nothing worked out today for us. It's one of those situations where we've got to get better at everything."

"The good news from today is that Carson didn't walk anybody," Barney said. "Tip your cap to him and we've just got to do a better job of timely hitting."

The Trailblazers will again look to bounce back tomorrow, Sunday, March 17, when VU returns to Jerry Blemker Field to hopefully come away with a series split with Illinois Central.

First pitch for game one tomorrow is scheduled for 12 p.m. eastern.

"We've got to battle tomorrow," Barney said. "We've got to find a way to scratch at home and come up with some timely hits. Alex Wandersee is throwing game one. He's going to have to step up. He had a good outing last weekend at Lewis & Clark when he didn't know he was starting. This weekend he's had a week to prepare and get ready for it and we'll see how he responds to it. Offensively and defensively we've got to get better."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

Illinois Central – 301   101   001 – 7

VU (9-13, 3-2) – 010   110   000 – 3

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Heyerly. RBI – Robinson, Heyerly, Newman. SB – Douglas, Robinson.

GAME TWO

Illinois Central – 120   100   5 – 9

VU (9-14, 3-3) – 004   000   0 – 4

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Robinson. RBI – Robinson 2, Juarez. Sac Fly – Juarez.