Taylor Uses Late Rallies to Finish Season Sweep of Saint Francis
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Taylor faced a pair of late deficits on Saturday at Saint Francis but rallied for two key wins, extending its win streak to eight-straight victories and moving to within a single game in the loss column for the top spot in the Crossroads League standings.
The Trojans erased 2-1 USF lead in the opener, after Sam Wiese opened the top of the sixth with a triple and later scored on a double off the bat of Josh Lane. TU pushed ahead with five runs on three hit batters and three hits in the seventh. Wyatt Whitman and Andrew Kennedy closed the game-winning rally with run-scoring hits for a 7-2 lead.
Jordan Crabb (5-5) allowed two runs in the seventh but finished the 7-4 victory for his first complete game of the season. The senior earned the win by allowing only two earned runs over seven innings of work.
Austin Mettica and Lane each had two hits in the first game, while Kennedy drove in two and Wiese scored twice.
The second contest followed a similar pattern with TU facing a 10-7 deficit as the contest entered the sixth inning. Taylor struck for single tallies in the sixth and seventh to close to within 10-9 and erupted for 11 runs in the top of the eighth to take a 20-10 victory in a run-ruled, eight-inning affair.
The first 12 batters of the eighth inning reached safely for Taylor, as the Trojans struck for 11 runs on five hits in the extended rally. Jared Adkins opened the inning with a solo blast to tie the score at 10-10 before Wiese was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for the go-ahead run and Whitman followed with a grand slam to open a 15-10 lead.
Logan Rodgers worked the final three innings of the 20-10 win to earn the victory on the bump. Rodgers improved to 7-1 on the year by limiting the Cougars (11-34, 4-16 CL) to a single hit and no runs over the final three frames, while fanning three batters.
Nathan Targgart collected five of Taylor’s 19 hits in the nightcap, ending the game with a double and five RBI, while Whitman went 3-5 with a home run, a double and five RBI of his own. Adkins went 2-3 with a homer, a steal, three runs scored and three runs driven in and Kennedy also homered and crossed the plate three times. Tanner Watson doubled twice, scored three times and knocked in two, with Wiese going 2-4 with a double, two runs and two RBI.
Taylor (27-14, 16-4 CL) will return to action with a home non-league doubleheader Monday against Aquinas (17-20, 9-14 WHAC) at 2:00 pm. TU will resume league play on Wednesday with a single game at Goshen (20-21, 9-11 CL) at 3:00 pm.