Trojans Mount Monumental Comeback in Game Two to Win Series
INDIANAPOLIS – The Taylor University baseball team won its first Crossroads League series of the season, splitting a day-two doubleheader against Marian (9-9, 1-3) en route to taking the weekend series three games to one.
Taylor mounted a monumental comeback in game two to claim the series, morphing a 9-1 deficit into a 12-10 win, after having lost to Marian earlier in the day by a striking score of 20-10.
In what was a wild second game of the day, senior shortstop, Nick Rusche, led things off with sharp two-bagger to right, and then came around to score thanks to some Taylor small-ball and a Marian error. The Knights answered in the bottom of the first with nine runs, however, while sending 15 guys to the plate, 10 of whom recorded hits.
Taylor hung its head high, though, posting five runs of its own in the top-half of the third inning to make it a 9-6 game.
TJ Bass got the ball rolling by drawing a walk, which was followed by Kaleb Kolpien reaching base on a Marian error. First baseman, Kade Vander Molen, then, knocked a single through the left side, bringing Bass home. Kolpien soon scored on a wild pitch, after which Jacob Morris drew a walk to put two Trojans on base for senior, Conner Crawford, who capped the third-inning rally with a three-run homer to left.
Crawford finished the day with seven runs-batted-in, ballooning his season-total to 22, which is now good enough for a share of third place in the league.
Marian added a run in the fourth to make it a 10-6 game, though Taylor would eventually score six-unanswered runs to steal the game and claim the series.
Pivotal for Taylor along the way in its comeback was senior, Drake Gongwer (1-2), who came on in relief with two outs in the first inning, subsequently completing the game with six-and-one-third innings of one-run work. Gongwer allowed just five hits throughout his outing, meanwhile retiring a career-high 11 Knights via the strikeout.
In support of Gongwer’s remarkable relief outing, Taylor took the lead in the sixth inning, when the Trojans put a five-spot on the board.
Vander Molen got the train moving this time by knocking a single to left, after which Morris reached on an error to set up another big at-bat for Crawford. Taylor’s right fielder settled for a double this time around, bringing both Vander Molen and Morris around to score.
Then, with two outs, a trio of Trojans smacked three hits-in-a-row, first Michael Pinarski with a single, followed by a Rusche double and culminating with a triple by Camden Knepp, all with the effect of working a 12-10 Trojan lead.
From that point on, Gongwer took care of the rest, posting two final zeroes on the board as Taylor flipped a 9-1 deficit into a 12-10 win.
In game one, Taylor was the team to work an early lead, up 6-0 heading into the bottom of the third, when Marian posted an eight-spot on the board. That was the start of a stretch of play throughout which Marian outscored Taylor 20-4, en route to Taylor’s only loss of the series.
In what was an altogether forgettable game for the Trojan pitching staff, sophomore, Jack Ross, was the lone man to prevent the Knights from scoring, as he posted a zero in the run column throughout one-and-a-third innings of work.
On the offensive end, catcher, Ben Kalbaugh, and freshman third baseman, Mason David, each recorded two hits, while together driving in three of Taylor’s 10 runs. Kalbaugh’s two runs-batted-in came on a seventh-inning home run to left, his first of the season.
Junior, TJ Bass, also blasted a home run in game one, a solo shot to left-center in the fourth, which increased his season-total to six and bumped his league-leading RBI-total to 32.
Meanwhile, Conner Crawford, contributed an additional two RBI toward the Trojan offense output, a primer for his five-RBI effort in game two.
Nonetheless, the offense could not quite keep pace with Marian in game one, as the Knights ended the game early with a 20-10 victory.
By the end of the day, Kaleb Kolpien had increased his league-leading hit total to 33, while Rusche set his league-leading runs-scored total to 24.
Taylor (12-7, 3-1) and its explosive offense is set to host its first game of the 2022 season on Tuesday, March 8th, when the Trojans welcome Defiance College (1-0) to Winterholter Field for a 3:00 pm first-pitch.
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