Manning Mashes Viking Pitching in Opening Round Win
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UPLAND, Ind. – Brayden Manning finished a homer shy of the cycle and delivered the run-rule, walk-off double in a 13-3 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round victory for No. 9 Taylor (47-9) over RV Grand View (34-12) Monday afternoon at Winterholter Field.
The Trojans put up four crooked numbers throughout the day to emphatically erase an early 1-0 deficit, powered by the top four of the batting order’s collective 11-for-18, 10-RBI performance.
Leadoff man Mason David got Taylor’s offense going with a sharp single to left in the opening frame. When he came around to score on a two-run triple to left-center by Manning two batters later, the senior set TU’s single-season runs record with his 76th run of 2025, breaking a three-way tie with Matt Maple (2009) and Nick Rusche (2022).
In the first inning, Kaleb Kolpien and Luke Sutter also singled to make it four straight hits and three runs across just four batters into the game for Taylor.
Grand View led off the second inning with a home run, but Jake Boyer (8-2) settled in to pitch four innings with one earned run allowed as he exited the game with his team ahead, 3-2. Boyer struck out two and scattered four hits in his long-relief appearance.
The Trojans added on in a big way in the home half of the fourth and fifth frames, striking for eight more runs.
Ben Kennedy opened the fourth with a long homer to left field, before a pair of bunts by Fletcher Roemmich and Ryan Sommer set up the top of the order. David doubled and Manning singled to make it 6-2 through four innings.
Four singles beginning with Nate Simpson’s leadoff base hit in the fifth inning chased GV’s starter, Kaleb Krier (8-1), as Roemmich, David and Kolpien each came through with RBIs to help the Trojans to an 11-2 advantage.
The Vikings earned one run back in the sixth, but Manning put the game away early with his bases-loaded double down the right field line in the seventh inning.
Nathan Frady got the save, his team-leading fifth of the season, for working the final three innings in the 10-run win. The sophomore picked up one strikeout and allowed just one run.
The Trojans loaded up the hits column with 17 base knocks in 35 at-bats, with David, Kolpien, Manning, Sutter, Kennedy and Roemmich each notching multi-hit games.
No. 9 Taylor is back in action Tuesday at 4 p.m. to play RV Kansas Wesleyan (40-13) with a direct trip to the Opening Round Championship Game on the line.