Shutout Victory Extends No. 21 Taylor’s Winning Streak to 10 Games

UPLAND, Ind. – The 21st-ranked Taylor baseball team swept its second consecutive Crossroads League series as it took games three and four on Saturday against Mount Vernon Nazarene (14-12, 10-6 CL) by scores of 7-4 and 4-0. With the sweep, the Trojans extend their winning streak to 10 games and remain perfect on the season at Winterholter Field with a record of 14-0.

Dominant pitching was once again the main storyline for TU, as it held the opponent to four or fewer runs scored for the 16th time in its past 20 games. Game two's starter, senior Alec Holcomb, headlined the strong pitching performances on Saturday with six shutout innings.

Facing Matt Dutkowski in game one, the Cougars got on the board first in the opening frame with a two-out, RBI-single, but the Trojans answered by drawing three walks to manufacture a run in the second inning.

MVNU picked up another run in the third frame before Taylor really got to the Cougars' starter in the bottom of the third. Kaleb Kolpien and Mason David got on the basepaths to open the inning, and runs were brought home on a double by Brayden Manning and on a pair of singles from Sam Gladd and Jacob Caruso.

Leading 5-2, right-hander Gage Gongwer took over on the mound for TU and pitched two effective innings to improve his win-loss record to 3-0.

The Trojans plated one run apiece in the fourth and fifth innings thanks to productive at-bats from up and down the batting order to bring the score to 7-4 through five innings.

David Platt and Jack Ross combined to pitch three dominant, shutout innings out of the bullpen, and Dalton Swinehart brought home the victory with a quick, 11-pitch save, his team-leading fourth of the season.

Kolpien, David, Gladd and Caruso all had multi-hit games in the doubleheader's opener, with the latter two both driving in multiple runs. 

Gladd continued his excellent day at the plate with a two-out, RBI-single in the first inning of the second game. Luke Picchiotti then overpowered the wind blowing in with a solo home run to right field to begin the second frame. Camden Knepp later singled home Luke Sutter to provide the Trojans an early 3-0 lead. Knepp's single was one of three hits the senior accumulated in the nightcap.

After dancing around a couple of hits allowed in the first inning, Holcomb (4-2) and his defense recorded an out in 14 straight at-bats through the middle innings. The senior closed his six shutout innings tallying seven strikeouts against just three hits and one walk given up.

Caruso drove in his third run of the day with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to make it 4-0, and reliever Jake Boyer completed the shutout victory by picking up a trio of strikeouts in the seventh frame.

No. 21 TU (21-9, 14-2 CL) looks to stay atop the Crossroads League standings when it begins an eight-game road trip on March 28. First pitch of the four-game series at Huntington (14-11, 9-5) on Thursday is set for 3 p.m.