Patton and Kennedy Fire One-Hitter as Trojans Open with Split
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The 2018 season got underway for Taylor on the diamond on Saturday with a doubleheader at Florida Memorial. The Trojans took the opener, 5-0, behind a one-hit shutout and were blanked, 2-0, in the second contest.
Matt Patton and Andrew Kennedy stole the show in the opener, combining to hold the Lions to one hit and one walk over the seven-inning contest. The duo fanned nine batters, as Patton picked up five strikeouts over four frames to record the win, and Kennedy struck out four over the final three innings for the save.
Taylor capitalized on four Florida Memorial (1-1) errors, scoring a pair of unearned runs in the second and adding another unearned tally in the fourth. Christian McGill delivered a pinch-hit single to push the spread to 5-0 in the sixth, as TU closed with five runs on eight hits in the contest.
Sam Wiese collected three of those hits and scored twice, while Wyatt Whitman had two singles to go with a walk, two runs scored and two stolen bases. Jared Adkins and Kyle Kelsheimer also swiped a bag and Josh Lane walked twice and drove in one run.
The second game featured more dominant pitching, as this time it was Taylor’s turn to be one-hit in a shutout contest. Nathan Targgart picked up TU’s only hit of the game, with Adkins walking twice and McGill and Andrew Kennedy also working walks.
The Trojan hurlers limited the hosts to two hits but a pair of walks followed by a knock in the sixth inning led to the only two runs of the game.
Tucker Waddups sparkled in his Taylor debut on the hill, fanning six batters over three hitless frames, before Kole Barkaus racked up four strikeouts in 2.1 innings of relief and Rob Fox collected the final two outs.
Taylor (1-1) will continue its stay in the Sunshine State with a single game at No. 10 Keiser (0-0) on Tuesday at 2:00 pm.