No. 9 Taylor Mounts, Completes Epic Comeback to Win Series

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – After falling 16-6 in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Saint Francis, things looked bleak for the No. 9 Taylor baseball team as it faced a 9-2 deficit through three innings of the nightcap. A seven-run fourth inning changed everything for the Trojans though, and TU battled to emerge victorious in game two and win the first Crossroads League series of the season, three games to one.

Down 6-0 with one inning gone by in the second game, back-to-back extra base hits from Fletcher Roemmich and Ben Kennedy preceded a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jacob Caruso to draw the score to 6-2.

A three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning from USF (10-6, 1-3 CL) temporarily put a damper on Taylor's hopes of earning a series win, but the best was yet to come in a momentum-changing fourth frame.

Trailing by seven runs, TU came back to tie the game at 9-9 with productive plate appearances from up and down the batting order. Aided by the Cougars' control issues throughout the inning, it was Roemmich, Mason David and Brayden Manning coming through with clutch hits to help even the score.

Jack Ross, who had four strikeouts on the day, capitalized on the momentum with his second straight shutdown inning to bring about a new ballgame entering the fifth inning. Gage Gongwer and winning pitcher Dalton Swinehart (1-2) tag-teamed for a scoreless fifth frame, and Roemmich completed his three-hit day at the plate with an RBI single in the top of the sixth that gave the Trojans a 10-9 lead.

The Cougars answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Kaleb Kolpien delivered the eventual game-winning, RBI double to the left-center field gap in the top of the seventh. TU plated another run in the inning, and Wes Hunt shut the door with a hitless, scoreless frame to pick up his first career save and complete the comeback victory.

Roemmich's three hits and a walk kept the Taylor lineup churning throughout game two, while David and Manning joined the sophomore with multi-hit games. David and Caruso led TU with a pair of runs batted in apiece. Kolpien reached base four times and scored twice in the win.

Saturday's first game started similarly to the second, with the Cougars striking first and taking a huge lead through three innings, 12-0. The Trojans threatened a comeback in game one as well by scoring six runs in the fourth through sixth frames, but USF plated three men in the bottom of the sixth inning to earn the run-rule victory.

David was the lone TU player to collect two hits in both games, while Kennedy matched David's game one stat line with two hits and an RBI. Camden Knepp also drove in his 100th career run in the game. All six Trojan pitchers from game one notched at least one strikeout, with junior Conner Miller recording a scoreless relief appearance.

Though ninth-ranked Taylor (10-8, 3-1 CL) saw its seven-game winning streak snapped, it looks to build on a new one beginning Friday, March 8, with a road series at Spring Arbor (5-7, 1-1). First pitch of game one on Friday is scheduled for 1 p.m.