Offense Sputters as Season Comes to a Close
UPLAND, Ind. – After knocking Columbia out of the Upland Bracket Opening Round earlier in the day, the No. 22 Taylor baseball team (41-18) was eliminated itself later Tuesday evening, falling to the five-seed Bryan (29-27) by a final score of 6-1.
Though Taylor matched Bryan’s seven team-hits, the Trojans went just 2-14 with runners on base and 0-5 with runners in scoring position, and thus could not quite grab a grip of the game’s momentum.
Meanwhile, the Lions gained momentum early in the game, scoring four runs in the second inning while knocking just two base hits. Free bases proved to be Taylor’s kryptonite while Bryan established its lead, as the Trojans surrendered five walks, a hit-by-pitch, and an error in the first two innings of the game.
Down 4-0 after two, the Trojan bats sputtered throughout the remainder of the game. A single run in the top of the sixth was all Taylor could muster against the Lion pitching staff, a run rewarded to Kaleb Kolpien who scored on a sac-fly struck to the outfield by Conner Crawford.
TJ Bass and Jacob Morris were the two Trojans to post multiple hits in the game, Bass finishing his junior season with 78 hits for the team’s second-most behind Kolpien’s 84. Though, the junior right fielder safely secured the team-lead with 23 home runs and 94 RBI, both of which established new single-season program-records.
Tuesday’s loss marked the end of the 2022 season for the No. 22 Taylor Trojans (41-18), a bittersweet close to a remarkable season, led by an even more remarkable group of senior student-athletes: Nick Rusche, Luke Shively, Carter Stump, Conner Crawford, Drake Gongwer, Noah Huseman Luke Carlson, Cy Stanley, Drew Kindy, Cole Schrock, and Chance Collingwood.