Winning Streak Ticks Up to Eight with Sweep of Lancers

UPLAND, Ind. – Playing as the road team on its own Winterholter Field, the No. 19 Taylor baseball team (13-4, 4-0 CL) extended its winning streak to eight games with another productive day at the plate, defeating Grace (3-8, 0-4) by scores of 9-6 and 11-2 Monday afternoon.

In game three of the series, Monday's opener, the Trojans manufactured a pair of runs in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead before Sam Gladd crushed, and admired, his solo home run in the third frame to hand TU a three-run cushion.

Wes Hunt (1-1) worked around a trio of errors through the first two frames, but another error in the third inning came back to bite TU when Grace scored four runs, two unearned, on a three-run homer and RBI single to grab a 4-3 advantage.

Kolpien provided an RBI groundout in the top of the fourth to bring about a 4-4 tie, and Hunt responded with scoreless fourth and fifth innings – ending his outing by stranding two Lancers in scoring position with a strikeout in the fifth.

The Trojans got the go-ahead run in the sixth inning on an opposite-field single from Kolpien, and a four-run eighth inning for the Purple and Grey broke the game open at 9-4.

Kolpien again went the other way with an RBI double in that eighth frame, while Gladd did the same with his two-run double and Luke Picchiotti added a double of his own to account for the five-run lead.

Two Lancer runs in the bottom of the eighth would not make a difference in the outcome, as Nathan Frady picked up his first save of the season following 2.2 innings of middle relief work from Dalton Swinehart, in which he recorded three strikeouts.

Hunt closed with six strikeouts and Frady had two to give the staff 11 punch outs in the opener.

Both Kolpien and Gladd racked up two hits and three RBIs in the 9-6 victory. Ben Kennedy also had two hits in the contest.

TU played a much cleaner ballgame in the nightcap, with Jake Boyer (2-0) providing a four-inning start that included five strikeouts and just one hit and a walk allowed. His nearly perfect outing was more than good enough for the Trojan offense to take a commanding lead, as the bats collected 14 hits en route to scoring 10 runs in the first four innings alone.

Kolpien opened the scoring with a pinch-hit, sacrifice fly in the second, though that was followed by an RBI single from Mason David and a bases-clearing double off the bat of Brayden Manning.

Rylee Singleton continued the onslaught with a solo homer in the third. A parade of run-scoring singles ensued from the likes of Chase Long, Picchiotti, Fletcher Roemmich and Kennedy over the next two innings that made it a 10-0 game, and the Trojans cruised to their sweep from there.

Nate Simpson, who earned the start in right field for the series finale, kept the lineup churning consistently with three hits, a walk and four runs scored.

Manning had a team-high three RBIs in the game. Additionally, his two-hit performance was matched by teammates David, Gladd, Singleton and Roemmich.

On the mound, Gage Gongwer, Lane Lewis and Conner Miller finished off the game, with Miller's scoreless appearance being highlighted by two strikeouts.

No. 19 Taylor stays at Winterholter Field for a series with Huntington (7-7, 2-2 CL) beginning on Friday at 1 p.m.