Game One Highlights Doubleheader Split with Goshen
UPLAND, Ind. – On a cold and windy April day in Upland, Indiana, a 12-1 game-one, run-rule victory highlighted what ended up being an unpredictable finish for the Taylor baseball team.
The Trojans entered today on the waves of a seven-game win-streak, which extended to eight after Friday's first game against Goshen (5-21, 2-14 CL) ended early with the fifth Trojan run-rule win of the season.
As no surprise to Taylor fans, the offense came early and often, when the Trojans posted a seven-spot on the board in the second inning of game one. Six-consecutive Taylor batters reached base to ignite the rally, five of which came in the form of a walk or hit-by-pitch. Kaleb Kolpien, then, knocked his league-leading 49th hit of the season to drive in two runs before Conner Crawford soon after brought him home for the inning's seventh and final run.
While enjoying the 7-0 lead, Taylor starting pitcher, Matt Dutkowski (5-0), cruised and tossed four-scoreless innings prior to allowing his only run of the day. Dutkowski went on to throw his first-career complete game, recording nine strikeouts en route to his fifth win of the season.
Even though Dutkowski did not need it, the Trojans added a series of insurance runs late in the game, including when TJ Bass blasted a three-run home run to dead-center in the sixth inning.
Bass now sits fourth in the Crossroads League with eight home runs, while pacing the league with 47 runs-batted-in.
Michael Pinarski, then, tallied the final two runs on the board in the seventh, securing the run-rule win for the Trojans when he capitalized on a series of free bases leading up to a two-run single through the left side of the infield.
Pinarski, Bass, and Kolpien led the way in the run-production category, while senior shortstop, Nick Rusche, went a perfect three-for-three at the dish, scoring two runs along the way in Taylor's 12-1 triumph.
Game two told a different story, though, resulting in a 3-2 loss as Goshen walked off in the bottom-half of the seventh.
As hot as Taylor's offense has been of late, the bats went cold in game two, managing just one hit in the game's first six innings.
Meanwhile, Goshen established a 2-0 lead, scoring first in the second inning before adding its second run in the fourth in the form of a two-out rally.
The Trojans cut the lead in half, though, thanks to a walk, wild pitch, and passed ball in the fifth inning, which sent Rusche, the league's leader in runs scored, around the bases unchallenged.
Taylor, then, evened the score at two in the top-half of the seventh, when Ben Kalbaugh struck a pinch-hit single to left that prefaced a clutch two-out, game-tying double by Bass.
Not long after, however, the score tipped decisively in favor of Goshen, as three-consecutive batters reached base with one out, ending the game with a walk-off, 3-2 Maple Leaf winner.
Taylor (22-10, 12-4 CL) and Goshen are slated to return to action at Winterholter Field on Saturday, April 2nd, with first pitch set for 10:00 am ET.