Gladd Homers Twice Though No. 19 Trojans Fall to No. 6 Westmont
LEWISTON, Idaho – Having won their first five games in NAIA postseason play, the No. 19 Taylor Trojans (42-16) tasted defeat for the first time on Monday, May 29, when the No. 6 Westmont Warriors (46-8) won in a winners’ bracket matchup, 15-9.
It was a game that unfolded in a series of significant offensive rallies, as Westmont ripped off eight runs in the first three innings before Taylor answered with nine runs of its own to work a one-run lead heading into the sixth inning.
Westmont had the final say, however, with the Warriors scoring the final seven runs of the game to close the book with a 15-9 win.
Entering competition on Monday, the Warrior pitching staff held the fourth-best team ERA in the nation with a mark of 3.59. Even so, a potent Taylor lineup managed to scratch nine runs into the scorebook, a feat Westmont opponents have only achieved three other times in 2023.
Freshman designated hitter, Sam Gladd, played a large role in TU’s offensive effort, hitting a home run in his third-straight World Series game. Though, Gladd did not stop with just one home run on Monday evening but calmly planted two balls over the outfield fence in right by the game’s end.
Gladd finished the night with a game-high four hits and five RBI, now boasting a total of four home runs and 10 RBI in his first three NAIA World Series performances.
Joining Gladd in the home run category was fifth-year senior, TJ Bass, who matched the Taylor program record for most hits in an individual career in a mighty way with a no-doubt-about-it home run to left center in the bottom of the fifth inning.
By the time Bass trotted past home plate, the Trojans trailed 8-6 after Westmont had gone up 8-0 just minutes earlier.
Gladd’s second home run of the night came just four at-bats after Bass hit his first, hauling in three of his five RBI to grant Taylor a 9-8 lead halfway through the game.
Taylor pitchers struggled to keep the Warriors at bay though, even while the Trojans outhit Westmont 14-11. Taylor’s kryptonite on Monday evening came in the form of free bases, of which the Trojan pitchers offered 11 throughout the nine-inning affair.
Nine walks and a pair of hit-by-pitches kept the bases populated for the Warrior lineup, a gift on which Westmont capitalized by going 7-16 at the plate with men on base.
Eight different Trojans put in work on the mound against Westmont, though Conner Miller was the lone pitcher to end his night without allowing a run. None of the eight completed more than two innings, likely in an effort to keep the bulk of Taylor’s arms fresh with a long way to go yet in the 2023 NAIA World Series.
No. 19 Taylor will return to action at Harris Field on Tuesday, May 30, with the time and opponent yet to be determined. No matter the opponent, Taylor head coach Kyle Gould is sure to have his team ready to compete in what will be his 1,000th-career game at the helm of the Taylor baseball program.