Gould Sets Taylor Baseball Wins Mark in Sweep of Eagles
UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor extended its win streak to seven with 9-1 and 6-4 victories over Cincinnati Christian on Tuesday, moving 14th-year head coach, Kyle Gould, into the top spot on TU’s all-time wins list in the dugout.
Gould has guided the Trojans to 445 victories and just 261 defeats throughout his tenure with the Purple and Gold, surpassing TU Hall of Famer, Larry Winterholter, as the program’s winningest coach. Winterholter piled up 444 wins from 1980 through 2001 and coached Gould during his all-league playing career with Taylor.
With the two victories, Taylor also improved to 12-4 on the young season for the program’s best start since opening the 2010 campaign at 18-3.
The Trojans were in control throughout the doubleheader against the Eagles (2-8), piling up 15 runs on 20 hits and limiting Cincinnati Christian to one run over 13 innings before allowing a four-run rally in the final frame of the day.
Sam Wiese highlighted TU’s showing in the opener with the glove and at the plate, extending over the center field fence to take away a home run bid in the first inning and later homering in the fourth inning to open up a 6-0 advantage.
Wiese continued doing damage throughout the game, closing with three hits, four runs batted in, two runs scored and two steals, while coming up a triple shy of the cycle. Andrew Kennedy and Tanner Kolbe also had three-hit contests, with Kennedy doubling and scoring twice. Christian McGill delivered an RBI triple and Cody Tait collected two hits.
Luke Shively (2-0) tossed four shutout frames to record the win on the mound for Taylor, with Noah Huseman and Colin Pfotenhauer tossing the final three innings in their first collegiate showings.
Taylor continued to set the pace in the second contest, as Austin Mettica doubled off the wall to score Jared Adkins for a 1-0 lead and Kyle Kelsheimer came in on a squeeze bunt by Kolbe for a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
Kolbe collected a second RBI with a double in TU’s three-run fourth and Tanner Watson capped the rally with a two-out, two-run single to score Kolbe and Tait for a 6-0 cushion.
Watson posted TU’s only multi-hit game in the finale with two hits and three runs batted in, while Kolbe stayed hot with a hit, a run scored and the two RBI.
The Trojans used four hurlers in the game, with Brenden Bube, Trevor Booth, Justin Pettit and Rob Fox teaming to cover the seven innings. Bube tossed three scoreless frames in the start, before Booth earned the win by fanning four over two scoreless innings of relief for his first collegiate win.
Taylor (12-4) is scheduled to return to the diamond on March 2 and 3 in Columbia, Kentucky, with a single game against Lindsey Wilson on Friday and games against LWC and No. 22 Indiana Tech on Saturday.
The start times and locations of those games could change based on field conditions at Lindsey Wilson. Stay tuned to athletics.taylor.edu for any updates.
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