Flock’s three home runs and VanLannen’s shutout lead Blazers to sweep of Spoon River

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers closed out their spring 2021 regular season at Jerry Blemker Field with a double-header sweep of Spoon River. Winning game one 9-0 and game two 11-3 in seven innings.

The Blazers got on the board first in game one when Colin Long ripped a triple down the right field line, scoring Landen Freestone. Long would later score on a single by Max Flock.

Vincennes would again score two runs in the third on a trio of doubles by Peyton Lane, Trent Weiss and Landen Freestone, giving VU a 4-0 lead.

VU added three more runs in the fourth and two in the sixth on a two-run home run by Flock.

Connor VanLannen closed out the shutout win in the seventh, giving the Blazers the 9-0 game one win.

VanLannen threw seven innings, giving up four hits and striking out four, as Vincennes closed out their third-straight shutout of Spoon River.

"Connor's got the job done his last three or four starts, he's been really good for us," VU baseball coach Chris Barney said. "Hopefully he can maintain that and get himself ready to go and be ready for us either Thursday or Friday at the tournament. He's been throwing his fastball and breaking ball for strikes and getting ahead of hitters and those are the things that are going to allow him to be successful."

The Snappers ended their scoreless streak early in game two, scoring in the top of the first take a 1-0 lead.

VU answered back when Flock got a solo home run to lead off the second inning.

The Blazers would take the lead when a Grant Maas double drove in Colin Long. Maas later scored a single by Ryan Bartley to give VU a 3-1 lead.

Vincennes expanded their lead in the fifth when the Blazers batted around, plating five runs, including a two-run home run by Flock, his third of the day, giving VU an 8-1 advantage.

Spoon River answered back with two runs in the sixth.

VU led off the seventh with a Sam Steimel walk and Isaac Lane getting hit by a pitch. A single by Brody Ruggles loaded the bases for Peyton Lane. Lane came through for the blue and gold, clearing the bases with a three-run double.

The runs gave the Blazers the 11-3 run rule victory in game two.

Braedon Nichols got the start on the mound in game two, throwing six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out seven.

Bailey Elliott came in in relief in the seventh, giving up one hit and punching out two.

Max Flock finished his day at the plate with five hits, including three home runs and a double, a walk and six runs batted in in his seven plate appearances on the day.

"Our guys came out and played well. They played really good defense and our pitching, starting with VanLannen in the first game and Nichols giving us six good innings in the second did really good," Barney said. "We had some clutch hitting, Max Flock had a great day with three home runs and a lot of guys stepped up and did a good job swinging the bats. Hopefully we can carry that through, with a little momentum heading into the tournament."

"We did what we were supposed to against Spoon River and hopefully our guys feel good about themselves moving forward from here and put ourselves in a position to go into the tournament on a little bit of a roll."

The game one win earned the Blazers a spot in the Mid-West Athletic Conference tournament. The MWAC tournament will be held at the Corn Crib in Normal, Ill., starting Thursday March 20 and running through Sunday March 23.

"We've just got to stay healthy," Barney added. "We've got to continue to get good starting pitching and continue to play good defense. Our pitching has to step up. We've got to get quality starts out of guys and hopefully helped them out by getting a lead with our offense. If we can do that, then we'll feel good about ourselves."

Spoon River 0 0 0   0 0 0   0 – 0 4 0

VU (22-29)  0 2 2   3 0 2   x – 9 13 0

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Peyton Lane, Trent Weiss, Landen Freestone, Max Flock. 3B – Peyton Lane, Colin Long. HR – Max Flock. RBI – Peyton Lane, Trent Weiss, Landen Freestone, Colin Long, Max Flock 3, Nolan Clark, Ryne Wheeler.

Spoon River 1 0 0   0 0 2   0 – 3 7 1

VU (23-29) 0 3 0   0 5 0   3 – 11 15 0

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Peyton Lane, Grant Maas. HR – Max Flock 2. RBI – Brody Ruggles, Peyton Lane 3, Max Flock 3, Grant Maas 2, Ryan Bartley, Derek Foncannon. SB – Trent Weiss 2, Gage Manuel.