Broadcast Highlights
UPLAND, Ind. – The RV Taylor baseball team (27-11, 20-4 CL) finished a four-game sweep of Bethel (13-23, 6-18 CL) throughout the day on Monday, taking game one by a score of 7-2 before a 4-0 win in game two.
Freshman shortstop, Ben Kennedy, had an all-around impressive day on the diamond, flexing his offensive muscle in game one before flashing the leather in the nightcap. Kennedy drove in four of TU's seven runs on two extra-base hits, including the second triple and home run of his freshman campaign.
The dynamic first-year performer from Evansville, Indiana, then led the Trojans with six assists on the defensive end in game two, three of which came in the seventh inning to secure Jack Ross's fifth save of the season, including a diving stop up the middle for the first out of the frame.
TJ Bass, meanwhile, offered the clutch hit in game two in the form of his league-leading 12th home run of the season. His latest long ball followed a trajectory toward the moon before landing just beyond the outfield fence near the left-field foul pole, bringing himself and Camden Knepp home to score to give TU a 3-0 lead in the third.
Outside of the home run balls struck by Kennedy and Bass, it was a fairly quiet day at the plate for an electric Trojan offense. The Trojan pitchers made sure it was a moot point, however, as five different pitchers combined to close their four-game series with Bethel having surrendered just three total runs.
Dalton Swinehart started on the mound for Taylor in game one, scattering seven hits throughout four innings of two-run work. Freshman lefty, Nick Crabtree (4-1), then took over in the fifth before completing three full innings of scoreless ball to secure his fourth win of the season.
Crabtree looked especially sharp on Thursday, allowing just two walks without surrendering a single hit in his three innings. The Muncie, Indiana, native meanwhile recorded a season-best five strikeouts.
Jared Crandall then closed the game with two innings of hitless work, securing three strikeouts of his own while preventing the Pilots from plating a run.
In game two, freshman game-four starter, Gabel Pentecost (4-4), picked up his fourth win of the season while traversing four-and-one-third innings of two-hit and no-run baseball. Pentecost tallied five punchouts in tandem with just two walks en route to his latest win.
TU's closer, Jack Ross, then entered the game with one Pilot on base in the fifth inning, before promptly retiring the last eight batters of the game. Ross allowed just two baserunners, balancing four groundouts with three flyouts to secure his fifth save of the season.
Sophomore standout, Kaleb Kolpien, recorded a hit in each game on Thursday, totaling three for the day as he maintained his grasp on the Crossroads League batting title with a season average of .414 at the dish. Kolpien is the lone player in the league to post a batting average over the .400 mark.
RV Taylor (27-11, 20-4 CL) will now prepare for a mammoth series with Grant-County rival, RV Indiana Wesleyan (26-11-1, 21-3 CL) set to begin on Friday, April 14, at 2:00 pm.
