Frickel’s Walk-Off Winner Offers Bright Spot in Split with Marian

Frickel’s Walk-Off Winner Offers Bright Spot in Split with Marian

UPLAND, Ind. – After a disappointing loss in game one, No. 21 Taylor whipped up some late-night magic to topple Marian in game two in walk-off fashion by a final score of 9-8. Five-straight hits with two outs in the bottom of the seventh did the trick for the Trojans, stealing a much-needed win after losing miserably in game one by a score of 16-6.

Freshman infielder, Brennan Frickel, offered the game-winning hit in front of a rowdy Winterholter Field crowd, driving home pinch runner, Drew Loy, on a sharp line drive to left center. Frickel’s knock was just the climax of a fivefold flurry of hits, first sparked by a double from cleanup man, Kade Vander Molen, while down three runs with just one out remaining.

Mason David then brought Vander Molen and leadoff man, Camden Knepp, around to score with a knock of his own, before freshman, Sam Gladd, tied the score with his third RBI of the game.

Catcher, Ben Kalbaugh, then took his stand at the plate and placed a seeing-eye single up the middle, which planted Gladd just 90 feet away from victory. With the stage finally set, Frickel entered the game as a pinch hitter and wasted no time before ending the game on the first pitch he had seen all day.

Gabel Pentecost (6-4) picked up the win for Taylor in game two, even while fighting through a tough-luck top of the seventh in which he allowed three runs, though just one was earned.

Matt Dutkowski did much of the work on the mound, however, traversing five innings of three-run baseball. His day ended with the game even at three, after having scattered six hits alongside six strikeouts.

Given the day’s preceding events, however, the particularly significant number in Dutkowski’s stat line was zero walks. As a counter narrative from game one, four Trojan pitchers combined for eight walks and two hit-by-pitches, ten free bases on which the Marian lineup capitalized with six home runs in its run-rule victory.

Along the way, Marian outhit Taylor 13-7 with TJ Bass being the lone Trojan to record multiple hits, one of which serving as his 13th home run of the season. Vander Molen struck a home run himself in game one, his 12th of the season, which placed him alongside Bass among the league’s top-five home run hitters.

Even so, the Knights totaled six long balls on their side, consistently punishing the Trojans for surrendering free bases. Along with the 10 freebies in the form of walks and hit-by-pitches, the TU defense coughed up two errors as well, adding insult to injury with four unearned runs.

The game-one loss marked the first time in 2023 that Taylor has lost via the run rule, which made the game-two walk-off winner all the more significant.

While TU and Marian duked it out in Upland, Indiana Wesleyan (27-16-1, 22-8) and Huntington (29-12, 21-7 CL) commenced a four-game series in Huntington. IWU and HU finished their day-one doubleheader with a split, holding the Trojan lead of first place at three games.

No. 21 Taylor (32-12, 25-5 CL) will look to carry its momentum from Thursday’s walk-off winner to this Saturday, April 22, when the Trojans and Knights (16-24, 10-18 CL) close their series in Upland with first pitch set for 1:00 pm.