Trailblazers pick up pair of Conference wins to close out four-game set at Spoon River

CANTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team finished their four-game road Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series at Spoon River Monday.

The day began by finishing the final two innings of game two yesterday, which was suspended due to darkness. Vincennes finished off the 18-10 win.

Vincennes also won game three of the series 10-7 after riding a big first inning.

Host Spoon River finished off the series with a walk-off win in game four, winning 12-11 over the Trailblazers.

Game two of the series began Sunday afternoon and Vincennes took the early lead after scoring three runs in the second on RBI doubles by freshmen Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.) and Will Egger (Terre Haute, Ind.).

Spoon River looked to take full control of the game in the bottom half of the inning, scoring eight runs to take an 8-3 lead.

The Trailblazers began their comeback the next inning as Kaden Elliott hit another RBI double and was immediately followed by a two-RBI single by sophomore Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.), cutting the deficit to two runs.

Vincennes took the lead in the fourth after freshman Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) hit a three-run home run, which began a seven-run inning for the Blazers as VU took a 13-8 lead.

After the two teams traded runs in the fifth, the game was suspended due to darkness, to be resumed Monday morning.

Vincennes picked up where they left off Monday morning, with sophomore Peyton Lane (New Paris, Ohio) hitting an RBI double and Kaden Elliott hitting an RBI single as VU took a 17-9 lead.

VU would add another run in the seventh with sophomore Connor VanLannen (Clinton, Ind.) driving in Colton Evans, as Evans scored his fifth run of the game.

Vincennes came away with the 18-10 win to take the 2 – 0 series lead.

Sophomore Kestler Harbuck (Brooksville, Fla.) got the start in game two and surrendered eight runs on eight hits in 1.2 innings. Harbuck did record four strikeouts in the game as well.

Freshman Kobe Bartlett (Rockport, Ind.) was first out of the bullpen, throwing 3.1 innings and allowing one run on four hits while striking out one.

Sophomore Braedon Nichols (Sullivan, Ind.) took the mound when the game resumed Monday and threw the final two innings. Nichols allowed one run on three hits.

"Colton and Kaden got it done all day," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "Those two were really consistent in all three of the games today. It was a long day, we started around noon and the games didn't end until just before eight, so that's eight hours on the field not counting the two hours of prep work before getting to the field."

Vincennes continued this momentum into game three of the series as the Trailblazers opened the game by scoring seven runs in the top of the first.

The Trailblazers got RBI singles by Connor VanLannen and Dale Coy, followed by a two RBI single by Mahkai Pelzer (Douglasville, Ga.) and an RBI double by Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.).

Spoon River battled back to seven the score in the third inning after scoring two runs in the first, three in the second and two in the third inning.

VU broke the tie in the fifth with another two RBI single by Mahkai Pelzer, giving the Blazers a 10-7 lead over the host Snappers.

The Vincennes bullpen closed out the game and held on to the three-run lead by the Trailblazers, giving VU the win and a 3 – 0 series lead.

Freshman Jake Stuteville (Rockport, Ind.) got the start in game three, allowing five runs on five hits in 1.2 innings, while striking out one.

Freshman Konner Thyen (Huntingburg, Ind.) and sophomore Luke Osborn (Perrysville, Ind.) finished out the game from the pen, combining to throw 4.2 innings, allowing no runs and three hits which the pair each striking out one batter.

"Konner Thyen came in in a tough situation and gave us two-plus innings," Barney said. "He did a really great job. He commanded the zone and worked ahead of hitters and forced them to put the ball in play."

"Then Luke Osborn comes in and pitches the final two innings for his third save of the year and second save of the weekend. So credit to them and credit to Luke for coming in and doing it on back-to-back days," Barney added. "The same goes for Braedon Nichols coming in in game two and giving us two innings to close out that game this morning."

Vincennes again took the early lead in game four, scoring two runs in the first on a two RBI single by Dale Coy.

Spoon River took the lead with one run in the first, two in the second, three in the third and four runs in the fourth to take a 10-3 lead over the Blazers.

Vincennes began their comeback in the sixth, with another two RBI single by Dale Coy, which started a four-run inning to cut the deficit to three runs.

VU used a two RBI double by Peyton Lane in the seventh to get within a run of Spoon River.

The Snappers added a run in the eighth before Colton Evans hit an RBI double and later scored on a fielder's choice to tie the game in the ninth.

With the Trailblazers looking to send the game into extra innings, the Spoon River batters continued to be patient at the plate, coming away with three walks in the inning, including the game-winning walk as the Snappers came away with the 12-11 win over VU.

Freshman Dawson Blaylock (Eaton, Ohio) got the start in game four and threw 1.2 innings, allowing three runs on three hits.

Freshman Caleb Moore (Wentzville, Mo.) had a good game out of the pen, throwing 3.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out one.

"Caleb has been really, really good and he's probably going to get more innings because of it," Barney said. "He's done really well and is starting to build some confidence as a freshman walk-on. He's a big-bodied lefty that throws the ball in there and throws strikes and he gave our fielders a chance to make some plays behind him and didn't give up a lot of free bases."

"Our guys did a really good job of battling all weekend," Barney said. "Battling a lot of different things with being on the road in a new environment against a team that had some energy and are better than what they were last year at this point. My hat is off to Spoon River, they battled all weekend too and were able to squeak out the last win of the weekend. But overall, it was a good weekend for us to go 3-1 on the road."

"Hats off to our hitters," Barney added. "They did it all day long and when you put up the numbers we did this weekend, you probably should come out of there with four wins, but we just didn't pitch well enough or play defensively well enough in the last game to make up the difference."

The Trailblazers will return to Jerry Blemker Field this week when VU hosts NJCAA Division I No. 3-ranked Wabash Valley College Wednesday, March 23. First pitch for this game is set for 3 p.m. eastern.

VU will then play host to MWAC Conference opponent NJCAA Division II No. 14 Lincoln Land Saturday, March 26 and Sunday March 27. First pitch Saturday is set for 1 p.m. eastern.

"That's just great competition," Barney said of this upcoming week of games. "We will host Wabash Valley and then host Lincoln Land in a four-game series. Lincoln Land is coming off a four-game sweep John Wood, so they are feeling pretty good about themselves as they opened up their Conference play as well this weekend."

GAME TWO

VU (9-9, 2-0) – 033   713   1 – 18

Spoon River – 080    010   1 – 10

VINCENNES HITTING

2B - VanLannen 2, Elliott 2, Egger, Lane. HR – Evans. RBI – Burdette, Long 2, Lane, Evans 3, VanLannen, Elliott 4, Coy 2, Egger. Sac Fly – Burdette, Elliott. SB – Evans 2, Long, Sizemore.

GAME THREE

VU (10-9, 3-0) – 700   030   0 – 10

Spoon River – 232   000   0 – 7

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Burdette. RBI – Burdette, VanLannen, Coy, Pelzer 4. SB – Burdette, Pelzer.

GAME FOUR

VU (10-10, 3-1) – 200   104   202 – 11

Spoon River – 123   400   011 – 12

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Evans 2, Bartlett, Burdette, Lane. RBI – VanLannen, Lane 3, Evans, Coy 4, Roth. SB – Burdette.