2023 NAIA Baseball World Series Preview

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LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 19 Taylor (40-15) baseball team is set to take on MidAmerican Nazarene (34-26) on Friday, May 26, at 11:35 am ET in the 2023 NAIA Baseball World Series, hosted by Lewis-State College in Lewiston, Idaho.

Friday's contest will mark Taylor's first World Series appearance in over 50 years. TU Hall-of-Famer, Denny Ladd, last led the Trojans to the NAIA World Series in 1969, when Ladd both earned the win on the mound and hit a home run at the plate in Taylor's first and only win on the World Series stage.

Taylor will look to repeat Ladd's historic performance on Friday when the Trojans square up with MidAmerican Nazarene, who dethroned No. 2 LSU Shreveport in the Shreveport bracket of the NAIA Baseball Opening Rounds.

The Pioneers ripped off four wins in four days throughout the opening rounds to reach the NAIA Baseball World Series for the second time in as many seasons.

Two of their four wins came against No. 2 LSU Shreveport, including a 7-6 championship victory in which the Pioneers plated two runs in the top of the ninth inning to upset one of the nation's premier teams.

As a team, MidAmerican Nazarene has maintained a .286 batting average throughout its 60 games thus far in 2023, including 62 team home runs and 116 doubles. Meanwhile, as a staff the Pioneers have posted a 5.57 team ERA while accumulating 457 strikeouts in 442.2 innings pitched.

The Pioneer pitching staff is headed by senior Zach Trevino, who boasts a 9-2 record throughout 16 starts. Trevino has tallied 102.0 innings in 2023 while surrendering just 98 hits in tandem with 98 strikeouts along the way to a 3.97 ERA.

Trevino and the Pioneer pitchers will have their hands full with the Taylor lineup, however, which has outperformed MidAmerican Nazarene in nearly every offensive category in 2023. The Trojans currently hold a .306 team batting average, including a program-best 85 home runs alongside the nation's fifth-most walks with 305.

The potent Trojan offense has built up a .426 team on-base percentage and a .517 slugging percentage, both of which outpace the Pioneer lineup by over 40 percentage points. Taylor has scored 489 total runs at a clip of 8.9 runs per game in its 55 games prior to this weekend's competition, currently just two runs away from setting a new program record for most team runs scored in a single season.

Sophomore outfielder Kaleb Kolpien has energized much of the TU offensive attack in 2023. Kolpien enters World Series action with 93 hits on the season, just two away from establishing a new program record for most hits in a single season.

The Trojan pitching staff has put together a strong performance as well throughout 2023, as evidenced by a team ERA of 4.70 and a total of 467 strikeouts in 440.2 innings of work. Junior Matt Dutkowski has led the way with a 7-2 record in 11 starts, all the while maintaining a 3.35 ERA while allowing just 59 hits in 75.1 total innings on the mound.

Fellow junior Jack Ross has played a pivotal role out of the pen as well, tallying eight saves alongside a perfect 6-0 record and a 2.89 ERA in 46.2 innings. Ross enters World Series action just one save away from establishing a new TU program record for most saves in a single season.

Taylor will look to these key contributors to orchestrate a first-round win over MidAmerican Nazarene on Friday with No. 3 Georgia Gwinnett (50-6) waiting in stow to take on the winner Saturday afternoon.

Georgia Gwinnett has scored the nation's most runs as a team in 2023, boasting a total of 672 runs scored in 56 games for a remarkable mark of 12.0 runs per game. The Grizzlies have tallied 709 total hits to craft the nation's leading team batting average of .383, which stands 25 percentage points higher than any other team in the NAIA.

Meanwhile, Georgia Gwinnett has also compiled the nation's third-best team ERA on the mound with a mark of 3.27 in 451.2 combined innings of work.

Two of the Grizzlies' key players are junior outfield Ajay Sczepkowski and sophomore ace Cameron Repetti. While Sczepkowski has posted a .417 batting average alongside 30 home runs and 97 runs-batted-in, Repetti has tallied a perfect 12-0 record on the mound with a 3.50 ERA and 89 strikeouts in tandem with just 16 walks.

Nonetheless, the present focus for No. 19 Taylor is on MidAmerican Nazarene and Friday morning's matchup slated for 11:35 am ET. Stay tuned to TaylorTrojans.com for access to live coverage links to watch all the action from home.

Seeds for the 2023 Avista NAIA Baseball World Series:

#1 No. 1 Southeastern (Fla.)
#2 No. 3 Georgia Gwinnett
#3 No. 6 Westmont (Cal.)
#4 No. 8 William Carey (Miss.)
#5 No. 5 Bellevue (Neb.)
#6 No. 6 Cumberlands (Ky.)
#7 No. 19 Taylor
#8 RV Indiana Wesleyan
#9 RV Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)
#10 MidAmerican Nazarene (Kan.)