VU falls to John Wood to begin weekend series

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team returned home to begin their Mid-West Athletic Conference weekend series with John Wood Community College Saturday afternoon.

The Trailblazers came up on the wrong side of an 8-0 score in game one before dropping game two of the day 14-4 to John Wood.

Vincennes had to play from behind early in game one, with John Wood breaking onto the scoreboard with a run in the second and two runs in the third to take an early 3-0 lead.

The Blazers would get runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings, including doubles by sophomore Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.), freshman Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) and sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.).

VU was unable to get a run across out of these hits however, as John Wood extended the lead by scoring a run in the fifth, sixth and seventh to take a 6-0 lead, before adding on two more in the eighth to take an eight-run lead.

The Trailblazers continued to battle, getting a runner on base in every inning, getting seven hits, including five doubles but were held off the scoreboard as John Wood closed out the 8-0 victory in game one of the day.

Freshman Carson Allen (Louisville, Ky.) got the start in game one, throwing five plus innings, allowing five runs, three earned, on nine hits and striking out three.

Freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) was the first out of the pen for VU, throwing two and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs on three hits and striking out two.

Sophomore Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) came in to get the final out of the eighth inning, retiring the only batter he faced on just two pitches.

"Game one is pretty simple," VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. "We had runners in scoring position in seven out of the eight innings and didn't come up with a big hit. That's the bottom line and that's how you lose games."

VU looked to bounce back in game two but John Wood clearly had other plans as the visiting Blazers opened up game two of the day with a big nine run first inning.

The scoring would slow down in the next few innings, with John Wood tacking on runs in the second and third to increase their lead to 11-0.

Vincennes would get on the scoreboard for the first time in the third inning on an RBI double by Jack Robinson, after freshman Jaydon Bradbury (Terre Haute, Ind.) led off the inning with a walk and sophomore Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.) reached on an error.

Whitehead would come in to score on a ground out put in play by sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.) and Robinson would score the third run of the inning on a successful double steal.

John Wood would get all three runs back in the next half inning before VU scored again in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Carter Whitehead. Whitehead reached base in all three of his plate appearances in game two, with a single and a double.

Vincennes held John Wood scoreless in the fifth and looked to extend the game in the bottom half after a leadoff single by freshman Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.).

Unfortunately Vincennes was unable to get a run across to extend the game as John Wood closed out game two of the day by the final score of 14-4.

Freshman Kaleb Marrs (Terre Haute, Ind.) had a tough outing in game two, allowing nine runs on eight hits in one-third of an inning, while striking out one.

Freshman Alex Wandersee (Centerville, Ind.) was called out of the pen and threw four and two-thirds solid innings of relief, allowing five runs, two earned, on six hits and setting a new career-high by striking out seven.

"It's the first time all year that Kaleb Marrs just didn't have it on the mound and picked the wrong day not to have it," Barney added. "The bright spot in game two was Alex Wandersee coming back and giving us four and two-thirds innings and throwing really well and giving us a chance."

The Trailblazers will look to come away with a series split in the final two games of this conference showdown Sunday, April 28 at Jerry Blemker Field. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. eastern.

"We've got to find a way to compete, pick up big hits and minimize the big innings," Barney said. "Come up with big hits with runners in scoring position. We played pretty decent defense today and we have to find a way to keep them off the scoreboard a little better."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

John Wood – 012   011   12 – 8

VU (13-35, 5-20) – 000    000   00 – 0

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Gross 2, Whitehead, Robinson, Newman.

GAME TWO

John Wood – 911   30 – 14

VU (13-36, 5-21) – 003   10 – 4

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Whitehead, Robinson. RBI – Whitehead, Robinson, Heyerly. HBP – Napier, Schlotterbeck. SB – Robinson, Hinton.