Trojans Win Series with Day-Two Sweep of RV Olivet Nazarene
ATHENS, Tenn. – On day two of Taylor's weekend series with RV Olivet Nazarene (4-8), hosted at Tennessee Wesleyan, the Trojan bats propelled Taylor toward two wins while racking in 20 total runs on the day.
In game one, Taylor scored 10 or more runs for the fourth time this season, plating 11 en route to a 10-run mercy-rule win in eight innings. The Trojans tallied nine of their 11 runs in the final three innings, while scattering 12 hits throughout the game. Including the additional 10 hits posted in game two, Taylor has now knocked 10 or more hits in a game eight times this season, games in which the Trojans are 7-1.
Taylor first got on the board in the second inning, thanks to an RBI-single by senior, Conner Crawford. The Trojans tacked another run on the board in the fourth, when Kaleb Kolpien scored on a wild pitch, who, by the way, recorded five hits throughout the day to give him 27 in just 15 games this season.
Even more, by the end of the day, the freshman completed his ninth multi-hit game of his young career.
Game one blew open in the sixth inning, though, when Jacob Morris hit his first home run of the season, a three-run blast to left-center to make it a 5-1 ballgame.
Trojan runs continued to pile on throughout the remainder of the game, including two in the seventh, when Camden Knepp struck a two-run single, and four in the eighth, when Knepp drove in two more runs and Kolpien was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to walk-off with Taylor's second 10-run mercy-rule win of the season.
Knepp finished the game with a career-high four runs-batted-in, while Kolpien led the way in the hit-category by going 3-4 from the dish.
While the bats were worthy of praise, the Trojan pitching staff put forth its second strong showing in as many games. This time Manchester-transfer, Michael Pinarski (1-2), got the nod for his first start in a Trojan uniform. Pinarski threw six innings of solid pitching, accumulating five strikeouts to just three hits and one run en route to his first win of the season.
Drake Gongwer, then, came on in relief to finish the game with two hitless innings of work. Gongwer looked primed to complete the ninth and record his first save of the year, but the Trojan offense robbed him of the chance as the bats ended the game on their terms with an 11-1 win in eight innings.
Game two began in an unfortunate manner, as the Tigers plated three runs in the first inning, but the offense would respond yet again with two explosive bursts of runs in the third and fifth innings to work a 9-5 victory.
While down 4-0, after Olivet Nazarene added another run in the top half of the inning, the Trojan-half of the third was ignited by a leadoff walk drawn by Mason David. Nick Rusche, then, smacked a double, and Knepp was hit by a pitch to load the bases for junior catcher, TJ Bass. The Greenwood, Indiana, native surely did not miss the opportunity at hand, blasting a grand slam to tie the game at four.
Freshman reliever, Jared Crandall (1-0), held the Tiger offense at bay, traversing two and two-thirds innings of work after starter, Matt Dutkowski exited the game with one out in the third.
Upon Crandall setting the Tigers down in the fifth, the Trojan bats unleashed for their second burst of run-production, posting an additional five runs on the board to make it a 9-4 ballgame.
This time Bass started the rally with an innocent-looking single. Drew Loy, then, came on as a courtesy runner for Bass and reached second on a passed ball, before Kolpien drove him in with an RBI-single. Kade Vander Molen kept the train moving with a walk, after which Morris loaded the bases with a bunt single. With each base occupied, Crawford stepped into the box and promptly drove in two more with a two-run single. A Rusche sac-fly and a Knepp RBI-double accounted for the fourth and fifth runs of the inning, as the Trojans looked eager to sweep the Tigers on day two of the weekend series.
Such a sweep would soon take place, thanks to the bullpen duo, Luke Carlson and Conner Miller. Carlson did most of the leg work, completing one and two-thirds innings of work while recording three strikeouts. But the seventh and final inning confronted the lefty with a dash of trouble, allowing one to score as the tying run thereafter came to the plate with the bases loaded.
At that point, the freshman, Miller, took control of the game and recorded his first-career save with a single pitch that got the Tiger batter to ground out to short. Trojans win 9-5.
Rusche , Bass, and Kolpien each knocked multiple hits in game two, the senior shortstop leading the way with three while Bass drove in a team-high four runs, which increases his league-leading RBI-total for the season to 26.
Taylor (9-6) will return to Indiana in preparation for Crossroads League play, which begins on Friday, March 4th, when the Trojans take on Marian (8-5) in Indianapolis at 1:00 pm.