TU and IWU Close Series Split Two Games Apiece
UPLAND, Ind. – On a beautifully warm and sunny Saturday in Upland, the No. 24 Taylor University baseball team drew first blood against cross-county rival, Indiana Wesleyan (27-20, 20-12 CL), before the Wildcats scratched back to close the series at two wins apiece after game two.
The Taylor bats were loving the warm weather in game one, roping four extra-base hits, including two timely home runs to defeat IWU 11-1 in seven innings, enforcing the 10-run mercy rule.
Four different Trojans posted multiple RBI in the game-one routing of the Wildcats, highlighted by senior shortstop, Nick Rusche, whose sixth-inning grand slam gave him four for the game.
Conner Crawford, Ben Kalbaugh, and TJ Bass each added two RBI of their own, the last of whom now has a nation-leading 73 on the season thanks to his 18th home run of the campaign, which was hit in the third inning to make it a 3-0 game.
The great fun of game one was spread generously throughout the lineup, as nine different Trojans had the opportunity to cross home plate unscathed throughout the mercy-rule winner.
Though, starting pitcher, Kaleb Kolpien (3-1) perhaps had the most fun, as the Trojan run-support secured the third win of his freshman campaign. The first-year lefty was cool-calm-and-collected on the mound, as Kolpien allowed just one hit and one run through five innings of work, even while the Taylor offense was slow to get going.
Eight of the 11 Taylor runs were scored after Kolpien left the game, establishing a spacious cushion on which Trojan reliever, Matt Dutkowski, secured the win. Dutkowski completed the final two innings of the game, striking out three Wildcat batters and surrendering just one hit en route to TU’s 11-1 victory.
IWU put an end to the fun fairly quickly in game two, however, as the Wildcats scratched the game’s first nine runs into the scorebook, including three runs on two home runs in the first inning.
Six different Trojan pitchers were called upon to quiet the IWU bats, Luke Carlson and Michael Pinarski being the only two to prevent a Wildcat run.
Offensively, Taylor was slow to get rolling again in game two, posting just two hits before Pinarski put the first run on the board with a solo-shot in the fifth inning.
Taylor added three more runs in the sixth, thanks in large part to back-to-back home runs by Camden Knepp and Kalbaugh. The Trojan catcher finished the day with three hits and three runs-batted-in combined between the two games, yet the Trojan comeback-bid in game two fell short, ending in a 9-5 defeat.
No. 24 Taylor (32-16, 22-10 CL) is back in action next weekend, when the Trojans host Grace on Friday at 3:00 pm to kick off the last series of the season before the Crossroads League Tourney commences on Friday, May 6th.