Trojans Run to Four-Game Sweep of IUSB
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UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor stole 13 bases during Monday’s home doubleheader with IU South Bend, using its display of speed to secure 3-2 and 8-5 victories and complete a four-game sweep of the Titans.
TU had plenty of opportunities to run, as the Trojans hammered out 25 hits over the two contests. Four of those knocks came in the first inning of the opener, as TU struck for two quick runs and maintained the lead until IUSB (0-7) tied the score in the fifth.
Jared Adkins opened the sixth inning by hitting a line drive into the trees beyond the center field wall for a 3-2 lead and Taylor made the lead hold for the win.
TU also got extra-base hits with doubles from Tanner Watson and Nathan Targgart in the game and had multi-hit games from Watson and Sam Wiese.
The Taylor bullpen turned in a dominant showing, with Drake Gongwer, Rob Fox and Mitch Ubelhor combining to allow one run on two hits over the final five frames and striking out six. Ubelhor (2-0) fanned three of the six batters he faced, retiring all six over the final two innings to record his second win of the season.
The Titans claimed their lone lead of the four-game series on a pair of two-out hits in the first inning of the nightcap. The 1-0 lead would not last long, as TU plated single tallies in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings, before erupting for four in the seventh.
The Trojans used a little two-out magic of their own to push the runs across, getting two-out knocks from Josh Lane, Targgart and Wyatt Whitman to open a 4-1 advantage, before Andrew Kennedy’s three-run double blew open a 7-1 lead in the seventh.
Whitman went 3-4 with three runs batted in, while Targgart and Lane also collected three hits. Tanner Kolbe and Sam Wiese each had two hits and Wiese scored two runs. Kyle Kelsheimer led TU on the base paths with three steals, followed by two from Adkins and Whitman and one each from Lane, Wiese and Jonathan Foster.
Clay Riggins (2-0) recovered from a slow first inning to breeze through six strong frames of three-hit, one-run ball. Riggins notched four strikeouts and only walked one batter to earn the win.
Kole Barkhaus recorded his first collegiate save with his best outing for the Trojans. The freshman held IUSB scoreless through his first two innings, before giving up four runs during the Titans’ ninth-inning rally.
Taylor (10-4) will be right back in action on Tuesday, with a 1:00 pm doubleheader against Cincinnati Christian (2-6) at Winterholter Field. Both games are slated for seven innings and will be streamed live and in HD on the Trojan Sports Network.
TU head coach, Kyle Gould, will enter the twinbill with 443 career victories in the Taylor dugout, just one win shy of matching TU Hall of Famer, Larry Winterholter, for the most in program history.