Gladd Garners Weekly Crossroads League Honor

CL Athletes of the Week April 1-7 | TU Honors Page

Jackson, Mich. – Sophomore slugger Sam Gladd of the No. 18 Taylor baseball team picked up his first career Crossroads League Player of the Week Award, as announced by the CL on Monday for the week of April 1-7.

In the Trojans' four-game sweep over Bethel on April 5 and 6, Gladd went 6-14 (.429 average) at the plate and had a team-best 10 runs batted in. The Columbia City, Ind., native homered, tripled and hit a sacrifice fly during the series, as well as scored five runs and walked three times.

Furthermore, Gladd's home run was a grand slam that capped an 11-run eighth inning for TU in game three of the series at Bethel. The big fly allowed Taylor to claim a run-rule, 14-4 victory in eight innings on Saturday.

Gladd's .500 on-base percentage during the week raised his season-long percentage to .494, tied with Camden Knepp for the highest on the team (minimum 50 at-bats).

The sophomore first baseman's on-base percentage is tied for fourth in the Crossroads League, while his six home runs and 31 RBIs rank tied-sixth and tied-ninth, respectively.

Gladd and the Trojans' lineup seek to do further damage when 18th-ranked TU (27-11, 20-4 CL) hosts Indiana Wesleyan (25-9, 19-5) on April 12 and 13. The winner of the four-game series will hold the tiebreaker between the teams in the Crossroads League standings and be on the inside track for the league's number one seed, which would entail an automatic bid to the 2024 NAIA Opening Round.