Gladd Goes Deep Twice as TU Earns Series Split

HUNTINGTON, Ind. – The 18th-ranked Taylor baseball team won the series finale at Huntington (18-13, 13-7 CL) on Saturday evening 8-5 to earn the series split and remain unbeaten in Crossroads League series on the season.

After falling by a matching score of 8-5 in Saturday's rain-delayed opener, Sam Gladd got the nightcap started on the right foot by launching a two-run home run in the first frame. Gladd's homer marked his second of the doubleheader and gave him the season-long team lead with five long balls.

Still ahead 2-0, the Trojans kept the line moving in the top of the third inning, with Mason David and Brayden Manning driving in runs to make it 4-0. Manning tallied another RBI on a groundout in the fifth inning to provide TU a five-run advantage.

Senior Alec Holcomb (5-2) started game four and put together another excellent outing, shutting out the Foresters through four frames. HU knocked a two-run double in the fifth inning, but David Platt came in and preserved Holcomb's winning line of just five hits and two runs in 4.2 innings of work. The senior's five wins are the most on the staff.

Taylor saw more activity on the basepaths from Huntington in the sixth frame, but reliever Gage Gongwer got a huge final out of the inning with two runners in scoring position to keep TU in front, 5-3.

The Trojans took advantage of control issues from HU's pitcher in the top of the seventh to plate three more runs, and, despite allowing a two-run homer, Gongwer finished off the game with a strikeout to complete the save and salvage the series split.

Much like the second game, Taylor started strong in game one with run-scoring singles from David and Manning in the opening inning.

The Foresters answered, however, with two runs of their own to tie the game.

That tie would be broken in a big way in the third frame when Gladd and Manning launched solo homers to put TU back ahead, 4-2. The lead did not last long, though, as HU hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to tie it at 4 apiece.

Huntington plated one in the fifth and three more in the seventh inning to gain an 8-4 advantage, with Taylor only able to counter once with an RBI-double from Ben Kennedy in the eighth frame.

Offensively, Manning and David combined for six runs batted in across the doubleheader. Gladd was the star of the day, though, with his two homers, four walks drawn, three runs scored and three RBIs throughout the doubleheader.

No. 18 TU (23-11, 16-4 CL) completes its road trip with a series at Bethel (9-21, 4-16) starting on Friday, April 5, at 1 p.m. Friday's games will be played at Championship Park in Kokomo, Ind., before the series shifts to Mishawaka on Saturday.