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UPLAND, Ind. - Taylor completed a regular season sweep on the diamond against Indiana Wesleyan for the seventh-straight year with 4-1 and 9-0 victories over the Wildcats at Winterholter Field on Thursday.
The Trojans have now won 27-straight regular season games against IWU since the end of the 2007 campaign and 29 of the last 31 games against the Wildcats overall.
Luke Hunter and Cody Bayle silenced the Indiana Wesleyan (16-30, 13-17 CL) bats throughout, holding the Wildcats scoreless over the final 13 innings of action in the twin bill.
Hunter (4-1) overcame a first-inning run from the visitors to put zeroes on the board over the next six innings for his second-straight complete-game win and third complete game of the season. The freshman needed only 79 pitches in the outing, allowed just six singles in the efficient performance and picked off two base runners.
Brian Moore got the Trojans on the board in the bottom half of the first with an RBI single that scored Austin York and the teams remained locked at 1-1 heading to the bottom of the fifth.
Jake West opened the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff single and was replaced by Nathan Shelton, who motored to third on an errant pick-off attempt and scored on a successful squeeze bunt by Brent Minta for a 2-1 lead.
TU tacked on a pair of insurance tallies in the sixth, as Danny Moorehead started the rally with a double and Moore beat out a bunt single. Moorehead later scored on another IWU error, before Moore came around on a ground out by Grant Hendershot.
Moore ended with two-of-six hits for Taylor and stole one base, while Moorehead notched the lone extra-base knock of the opener.
Taylor capped the sweep in convincing fashion with a 9-0 victory in a game-two rout that started with a six-run outburst by the Trojans in the first inning. Jordan Coffey delivered the big blow with a towering two-run home run for his sixth dinger in the past eight games.
TU added four unearned runs after Coffey's blast for the 6-0 first-inning lead and continued to capitalize on sloppy play in the field from the Wildcats. Taylor ended with seven unearned runs among its nine total runs scored in the contest.
York and Minta joined Coffey with two runs batted in and Hendershot scored twice. Taylor ripped five extra-base hits among seven knocks in the game and added four stolen bases in the victory.
The offense was plenty for Bayle (4-1), who cruised to his first career shutout by scattering four hits and needing only 91 pitches for the win. The sophomore did not allow an extra base-hit in the contest and lowered his earned-run average in Crossroads League play to 2.63.
Taylor (30-18, 22-8 CL) secured a sixth-straight season with at least 30 wins with the two victories and will look to increase the win total on Saturday with a doubleheader at Bethel (9-21, 11-32 CL), beginning at 1:00 pm.
