Vander Molen Powers Extra-Inning Win over RV Point Park

Vander Molen Walk-Off Grand Slam

WALESKA, Ga. – Senior first baseman, Kade Vander Molen, powered the No. 24 Taylor baseball team (3-5) to a 6-2 win over RV Point Park (0-1) in 10 innings of baseball on Friday afternoon. En route to the win, Vander Molen blasted two home runs, driving in all six of TU's runs, including a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the tenth.

Vander Molen now leads the Trojans with 10 runs-batted-in on the season, while also sharing the team lead with two home runs alongside sophomore, Kaleb Kolpien.

Kolpien, meanwhile, notched a pair of hits and scored two runs against Point Park, extending his hit streak to seven games, the most recent six of which have included two hits or more. TU's sophomore sensation has posted a hit in all but one of Taylor's games in 2023, while scoring a run in six of the eight.

Even so, it was Point Park who scored first on Friday afternoon, benefiting from a TU defensive error and aggressive base running to plate an unearned run in the third. Trojan starter, Alec Holcomb, was impressive in his third outing of the season, allowing just the one unearned run in five innings of work. Holcomb recorded strikeouts at a pace of one per inning, totaling five while scattering four base hits.

The TU starter exited the game after the fifth with Taylor leading by a score of 2-1 thanks to Vander Molen's first home run of the game, which came in the fourth inning after Kolpien led off with a single to right field.

Between the fifth and ninth innings, however, the Trojan bats posted just one hit while unable to build on its early lead. All the while, Matt Dutkowski appeared in relief for the Trojans and managed to escape a scary sixth inning en route to a solid outing of his own.

Point Park placed runners on second and third with nobody out in the sixth, before Dutkowski managed a key strikeout followed by back-to-back flyouts to maintain the one-run Taylor lead.

Dutkowski went on to hold the lead until the ninth inning, when a leadoff double set the tying-run in scoring position with nobody out. At that point in the game, Holcomb and Dutkowski had limited the Pioneers to an 0-8 mark with runners in scoring position. Unfortunately, that quickly changed as a second Pioneer double of the inning tied the game at two and placed the go-ahead run at third. Dutkowski finished the frame without further damage, which soon set the stage for Taylor's first extra-inning game of the 2023 campaign.

After going one-two-three in the bottom of the ninth, Taylor sent Jack Ross (1-0) out to the mound to pitch the tenth. Ross retired the first two Pioneer batters before walking the third, though TJ Bass promptly ended the frame by canning a would-be-base-stealer at second.

In the bottom half of the tenth, back-to-back-to-back singles by Mason David, Bass, and Kolpien introduced Vander Molen back to the dish with the bases loaded and one out. Though one would have done the trick, Vander Molen brought everyone home to score with a grand slam, resulting in pandemonium at the plate and Taylor's second win in a row.

No. 24 Taylor (3-5) is back in action at the Southeast Rumble for two games tomorrow, Saturday, February 18, beginning with No. 18 IU-Southeast (0-5) at 10:00 am followed by a matchup with RV William Carey (4-1) at 4:00 pm.