No. 19 Taylor Slugs its Way within One Win of the NAIA World Series
UPLAND, Ind. – The No. 19 Taylor baseball moved within one win of its first NAIA Opening Round title in program history on Tuesday afternoon, when the Trojans slugged their way past RV Point Park (38-16) by a final score of 12-10.
It was a tense game that kept the TU faithful gathered at Winterholter Field on the edge of their seats for much of the day, especially after the Phoenix went up 4-0 at the end of one inning of play.
All four runs came with two outs as four free bases surrendered by the TU starter were multiplied by a three-run blast and an RBI double down the third-base line. Though Point Park’s two-out rally quieted the crowd for a stretch of time, the Trojan lineup had ample amount of fight left in the tank.
Three-straight hits to start the third inning, two of which came from freshmen Sam Gladd and Ben Kennedy, put two runs on the board in the TU column, cutting the Phoenix lead in half. Point Park punched back with two runs in the bottom half of the frame, however, on its second home run in just three innings of play.
Home runs have consistently played a pivotal role in Point Park’s postseason run, as the Phoenix have posted two or more long balls in each of their last five games. By day’s end on Tuesday, the Point Park lineup had sent four balls over the outfield fence in Upland, though it proved not enough for a resilient Taylor offense.
The Trojan comeback took root in the fifth inning when Kade Vander Molen provided Taylor a home run of its own, a two-out, two-run shot that cleared the left-center field fence by a good 20 yards to make it a 6-4 ballgame.
Taylor would even the score at six apiece by the end of the frame, as the Trojans put three hits in tandem with an untimely Phoenix error to plate two more runs before a third out was recorded.
Point Park played a yard card for a third time in the bottom half of the fifth, however, translating the 6-6 tie into a one-run edge. Even so, that lead would prove to be the final Phoenix advantage of the day as the Trojans slapped five more runs onto the board in the top of the sixth inning.
The six-run flurry of offense came in form of three walks, a hit-by-pitch, and an error all while Taylor struck just one hit in the frame. The Trojan lineup drew eight walks against Point Park pitchers on Tuesday, along with three hit-by-pitches to match 11 free bases with 11 base knocks en route to its 12-run effort.
Leadoff man Camden Knepp led the charge in this way with three walks, resulting in a pair of runs scored. Knepp now sits second in the nation with his program-record setting total of 56 walks on the season, which has helped bolster a .521 on-base percentage.
Sophomore second baseman Mason David led the Trojans with three hits against the Phoenix while Vander Molen paced Taylor with three RBI.
As the Trojan lineup was working its postseason magic, TU pitchers Alec Holcomb and Gabel Pentecost were calming the Point Park bats.
Holcomb entered the game in relief with two outs in the first inning after the Phoenix had already plated four runs. After ending the first inning with three-straight strikes, Holcomb (6-2) went on to complete four-and-two-thirds inning of work in pursuit of his sixth win of the season. Even while allowing three home runs, the Trojan righty covered significant ground while carving space for the TU offense to mount its comeback.
And once they did, Pentecost was lights-out. The freshman native of Fremont, Indiana, put forth perhaps the most impressive performance of his young collegiate career, traversing three-and-two-thirds innings while allowing just one unearned run.
Pentecost earned his second save of the season while tallying four strikeouts without surrendering a walk and scattering just three hits. Even more, the freshman hurler wore a sharply hit line drive off the backside of his body before retaking the mound and firing a 90-mph warm-up pitch down the middle of the plate.
That warm-up pitch served as a warning to the Phoenix lineup that Pentecost would not be defeated, no matter the adversity thrown his way. The warning quickly morphed into reality as the Trojans defeated RV Point Park by a final score of 12-10 before yet another capacity crowd at Winterholter Field.
With its latest win, No. 19 Taylor is one win away from its first NAIA Opening Round title in program history and just its second trip to the NAIA Baseball World Series.
The Trojans (39-15) are set to play tomorrow evening, May 17, at 6:00 pm against the team that makes its way out of the loser’s bracket. RV Point Park will play at 2:30 against the winner of Tuesday evening’s matchup between No. 4 Tennessee Wesleyan and RV Cumberland.