Late Inning Heroics Send No. 18 Taylor to CLT Championship Game

CL Championships Central | Broadcast Highlights | Field Level Highlights

UPLAND, Ind. – An eighth-inning, two-run moonshot off the lefty bat of Sam Gladd tied Saturday evening's game at 8 apiece, and Ben Kennedy drove in the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly as No. 18 Taylor roared back to defeat Saint Francis by a 9-8 final score to secure its spot in the Crossroads League Tournament Championship.

Relying on their usual rotation of relievers for the day's second game, the Trojans called upon Wes Hunt, Gage Gongwer and Conner Miller to get through the initial six-plus innings.

Heading into the bottom of the sixth, however, TU found itself down 7-2 due to a tough fifth inning for the tournament hosts in which the Cougars plated four runs on four hits.

The comeback started there in the bottom of the sixth with a base hit, walk and then an RBI single by Mason David. Two batters later and still trailing by four, Brennan Frickel stepped to the plate with the bases full and smacked an opposite-field double to the corner that scored three and got the Trojans within one at 7-6.

Jack Ross inherited a runner at second base to start his relief appearance in the seventh inning, and USF soon responded with its own two-out, bases-loaded infield single to go up by two runs.

After a clutch, scoreless eighth inning from Ross, the Taylor offense was back in business with an opportunity to capitalize on an error that allowed David to reach to open the frame. Gladd answered the business call with a homer to the batter's eye, and the Trojans would not make another out until four hitters later on a go-ahead sacrifice fly from Kennedy.

Dalton Swinehart entered the ninth frame, and he delivered a bounce-back performance with two quick strikeouts and a groundout to lock up his fifth save of the season.

Ross (3-2) got the win as he worked around three hits without surrendering a run. Miller fulfilled his duty admirably by going 1.2 innings and allowing just one to score.

Frickel led TU's lineup with four RBIs, as the second baseman's two hits matched the multi-hit performances from David, Brayden Manning and Fletcher Roemmich.

With the thrilling comeback victory, 18th-ranked Taylor (40-14) achieved 40 wins for the fifth time in program history.

TU faces the winner of Monday afternoon's contest between sixth-seeded Marian (24-26) and third-seeded Saint Francis (36-16) on Monday evening, May 6, at 6 p.m. at Winterholter Field in the CLT Championship Game.