Late rallies give Trailblazers series win over Spoon River College

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team closed out a strong week of action at Jerry Blemker Field Sunday afternoon with the Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series finale doubleheader against Spoon River College.

The Trailblazers used a pair of late rallies to come away with the doubleheader sweep to pick up the series win over the Snappers winning game one 10-5 and taking game two of the day 13-9.

Vincennes got off to a slow start in game one of the day with Spoon River grabbing the early lead with a run in the first.

VU would get on the board in the bottom of the third after a leadoff double by sophomore Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.), followed by a walk by freshman Jevan Andrews (Hobart, Ind.) and an RBI single by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.).

The Trailblazers would grab their first lead of the day with an RBI double by freshman Carter Gricius (Scottsburg, Ind.) before Nate Montgomery scored on a balk to give the Blazers a 3-1 lead.

Spoon River would get a run back in the fifth to cut the deficit in half at 3-2, which the Trailblazers responded immediately with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth.

VU got the inning going with a single by sophomore Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) and an RBI single by sophomore Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.).

Spoon River answer back again in the sixth with a pair of runs to even the score at 4-4.

The Trailblazers came firing back in the bottom of the sixth with a monster six-run inning to completely shift the momentum of the game.

VU opened the inning with back-to-back walks by sophomore Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) and Jevan Andrews and Nate Montgomery being hit by pitch to load the bases.

The Trailblazers regained the lead with a big two RBI double by Carter Gricius, his second double of the game and third RBI of the game.

VU kept the inning going with a two RBI single by Yancey Edlin, his third time reaching base in the game.

Vincennes would close out the inning with back to back RBI singles by Corbin Napier and Bryce Gross to give the Blazers a commanding 10-4 lead heading to the seventh inning.

In the seventh Spoon River looked to get a rally going of their own but were only able to get one run in the inning as VU closed out the victory, taking game one of the day 10-5.

Sophomore JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) got the start in game one of the day, throwing four and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs, one earned on six hits and striking out one in the game.

Bowser then turned the game over to freshman Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) who closed out the final two and one-third innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out three.

"I think Bowser gave us a good opportunity to win the game," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "We didn't make some plays defensively behind him and then Ty Stultz came in and did a really nice job."

"Then we came through in the sixth inning," Barney added. "Sent 10 guys to the plate, three walks and four hits later we put up six runs to go ahead. The guys stepped up late."

The Trailblazers looked to keep the momentum going and close out the weekend strong in game two and wasted little time getting going at the plate.

VU opened the game with three runs in the first inning, started by freshman Evan Doran (Indianapolis, Ind.) reaching on an error, followed by a fielder's choice by Carter Gricius and a walk by Yancey Edlin to load the bases.

Corbin Napier prompted cleared the bases with a big two-out three-RBI double to give the Blazers an early 3-0 lead.

Spoon River responded back in the second inning with a big six run inning of their own to take a 6-3 lead over the Blazers.

Vincennes answered back in the third after Carter Gricius was hit by pitch to lead off the inning, followed by walks for Yancey Edlin and sophomore Noble Johnson (Terre Haute, Ind.).

Sophomore Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.) kept the inning going with a two-RBI double and an RBI single by Bryce Gross evened the score at 6-6.

Spoon River regained the lead with a pair of runs in the fourth and a run in fifth to take a 9-6 lead.

VU started the comeback in the sixth after Nate Montgomery reached with a double and later scored on a fielder's choice by Yancey Edlin to cut the deficit to two.

Vincennes completed the comeback in the eighth after getting a monster start to the inning with a leadoff triple by Corbin Napier, followed by a walk by Noble Johnson and a successful double steal to score Napier.

The Blazers would tie the game with an RBI single by Brody Fessel, giving him three RBIs in the game and reaching base four times on the day.

After a single by Bradyn Douglas, the Trailblazers would take the lead with a sacrifice fly by Evan Doran.

VU continued to add to their lead and add some insurance runs with an RBI single by Nate Montgomery and a two RBI single by Corbin Napier to close the big inning and give the Blazers a 13-9 lead.

Napier had a monster day at the plate for the Trailblazers, finishing the doubleheader with six hits and seven RBIs on the day.

"Corbin stepped up to the challenge," Barney added. "He struggled a little bit in game two yesterday and then in game one today he got in late and got two hits and two RBIs. So he was seeing it well today. Stayed on the pitches and drove the ball, a majority of his hits went middle-away and drove the ball into the gaps. Extremely proud of him. He stepped up and took leadership today and led us on the field."

The Trailblazers sent the Spoon River batters down in order in the top of the ninth, closing out the game with a big strikeout to come away with the 13-9 victory and finish the weekend with a 3-1 series victory over the Snappers.

Freshman Grayson Reichert (Shepherdsville, Ky.) got the start in game two for the Trailblazers, throwing one and one-third innings, allowing six runs, five earned on five hits.

The Trailblazers turned the game over to sophomore Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) who helped settle the Spoon River bats with three and two-thirds strong innings of relief, allowing three runs on three hits and striking out four.

Freshman Ryan Rayburn (Columbus, Ind.) had a very impressive closing to the game on the mound for the Blazers, throwing the final four innings without allowing a run, allowing only two hits and setting a new career-high with six strikeouts on the day.

"The guys carried it over to the second game today," Barney said. "We struggled early, Grayson had a tough outing today and the same thing with Burris but then Colton Okes settled in and threw 90 pitches for us, the most he's thrown all year and then Ryan Rayburn did a great job for us at the end shutting it down for us."

The Trailblazers close out the week strong, taking five out of six games this week at Jerry Blemker Field and will look to carry this momentum into next week as the Blazers prepare for the final week of the 2025 Spring regular season.

The Trailblazers will close out the regular season with a four-game conference series against Danville Area Community College.

The series will begin with the first two games Friday, May 2 at 2 p.m. eastern at Danville Area C.C. in Danville, Ill. before the series shifts to Jerry Blemker Field for the regular season finale Saturday, May 3 at 2 p.m. eastern.

"This is an opportunity to relax," Barney said. "We've done everything but solidify our spot in the Conference tournament. So now it's time to relax and play these last four against Danville and get ourselves ready to go moving into the postseason. And this week adds confidence coming away with wins and knowing we can come away with late wins."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

Spoon River – 100   012   1 – 5

VU (20-29, 8-19) – 003   016   x – 10

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Gricius 2, Gross. RBI – Gricius 3, Edlin 2, Napier 2, Montgomery, Gross. HBP – Montgomery.

GAME TWO

Spoon River – 060   210   000 – 9

VU (21-29, 9-19) – 303   001   06x – 13

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Fessel 2, Napier, Montgomery. 3B – Napier. RBI – Napier 5, Fessel 3, Doran, Montgomery, Edlin, Gross. HBP – Gricius, Montgomery. Sac Fly – Doran. Sac Bunt – Douglas. SB – Douglas, Napier, Johnson, Montgomery.