Trailblazers fall in road showdown at Rend Lake College

INA, Ill. – The Vincennes University baseball team returned to the field Wednesday evening for another tough road showdown with NJCAA Division I opponent Rend Lake College.

The Trailblazers were able to get an early lead but were unfortunately unable to hold onto this lead as the Warriors used a late comeback to pick up the 6-4 victory over the Blazers.

Vincennes got off to a slow start as Rend Lake was able to jump on the scoreboard first with a run in the second.

VU was able to respond in the third to take the first lead of the game after loading the bases with a walk by sophomore Canaan Miller (Indianapolis, Ind.), sophomore Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) being hit by pitch and a walk by freshman Jevan Andrews (Hobart, Ind.).

The Blazers got their first run of the game on an RBI single by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.), which was followed by another RBI single by sophomore Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) to give the Blazers the lead.

VU would add to their lead later in the inning when Jevan Andrews scored on a passed ball to put the Blazers on top 3-1.

Rend Lake was able to get a run back in the bottom of the third to cut the VU lead down to 3-2.

Vincennes would get their lead back to two in the sixth after a walk by sophomore Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) followed by an RBI single by Bradyn Douglas, his fourth of five times reaching base safely in the game, to put the Blazers on top 4-2.

Rend Lake would answer back in the bottom of the 6th with four runs in the inning as the Warriors regained the lead at 6-4.

The Blazers continued to battle down the stretch but were unable to push a run across in the later innings of the game as Rend Lake closed out the 6-4 victory over the Blazers.

The Trailblazers threw a flurry of arms on the mound Wednesday in preparation for another big Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series weekend, using seven pitchers in the game.

Sophomore JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) got the start for the Blazers and opened the game strong with a clean first inning with two strikeouts.

Sophomore Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) took over in the second, allowing one run on one hit in one inning of work.

Freshman Eastin Whaley (Kokomo, Ind.) continued to ride the momentum allowing one run on three hits and striking out three in two innings.

Freshmen Ryan Rayburn (Columbus, Ind.), Jacob Allen (Vincennes, Ind.) and Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) combined to throw the final three innings for the Trailblazers, throwing three shutout innings, allowing one hit as a group with Allen and Stultz collecting one strikeout each.

The Trailblazers will look to bounce back and get back in the win column as the Blazers head back into MWAC Conference play this weekend, heading to Springfield, Ill. to take on Lincoln Land Community College.

The four game weekend series is set to begin Saturday, April 12 at 1 p.m. eastern, with the final two games scheduled for Sunday, April 13 with first pitch also scheduled for 1 p.m. eastern.

VU will return home to Jerry Blemker Field Wednesday, April 16 when Vincennes plays host to Oakland City JV at 6 p.m. eastern.

BOX SCORE

VU (16-19, 6-10) – 003   001   000 – 4

Rend Lake – 011   004   00x – 6

VINCENNES HITTING

RBI – Douglas, Montgomery, Napier. HBP – Douglas 2, Napier 2. SB – Douglas 2, Gross, Miller, Andrews. Sac Bunt – Andrews.