By Austin Kight
It was a trying weekend for the Trojans, dropping three out of four games to Bryan College (Tenn.), splitting games Friday night then losing both games on Saturday.
Bryan (10-4) displayed its offensive power over the four-game series, outscoring Taylor 40-12.
"Bryan is a good team, and we had some defensive breakdowns that gave them extra outs," said head coach Kyle Gould. "They took advantage of nearly every mistake that we made the whole weekend. Our pitchers also need to do a better job of changing speeds and keeping their hitters a little more off-balanced."
At the plate for the Trojans, senior Derek Kinzer, junior Austin York and freshman Grant Hendershot led the offense.
Gould believes as the teams gets deeper into the season, the bats will pick up.
"Guys will get going and give us a more complete lineup top to bottom," Gould said.
The first game of the series was frustrating for the Trojans, who were trailing 6-2 after three innings. Taylor responded in the fourth with four runs, tying the game at six, but they could not hold the momentum as Bryan drove in 12 runs in two innings to pick up an 18-6 win over the Trojans.
Senior Ryan Baker (0-2) took the mound for the Trojans in the first game and was charged with the loss after giving up six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings.
"One thing I had going for me was my fastball, I was able to locate it which is very important as a pitcher," Baker said. "The problem was I didn't have my off speed pitches working. Bryan did a good job of attacking my change-up and driving (the ball) in good counts."
In the second game, Taylor claimed their only victory of the series Friday, defeating Bryan 6-2 in the nightcap.
After a solo home run blast in the first inning off the bat of Bryan's Grant Zawadzki, the Trojans saw a surge in defense, keeping Bryan scoreless until the seventh.Senior Jordan Coffey and York did damage against Bryan, both going 2-for-3 at the plate, including a solo home run by Coffey.
Sophomore Josh DeGraaf dominated on the mound for Taylor in his first outing of the season, striking out seven and only allowing one run off five hits in five innings.
"The biggest strength I had was the defense behind me," DeGraaf said. "They made almost every critical play. Even when I missed a spot, they picked me up."
DeGraaf understands the team is still young and knows the team will continue to improve game-by-game.
"I believe in our team," DeGraaf said. "We haven't hit our stride yet, but when we do, we will be hard to beat. We have great team chemistry, and we all want to play our best every time we step onto the diamond."
On Saturday, things did not improve for Taylor, who dropped both games to Bryan. Once again, Taylor struggled at the plate with only four hits off Bryan's Tristan Speak, who threw a complete game and picked up a 9-1 win.
The fourth game came as a heartbreaker for the Trojans, who lost the final game 7-3. Kinzer took the mound, allowing three runs off six hits in 3 1/3 innings.
The Trojans' offence got going in the third and fourth innings. They scored three runs that put them within one run of Bryan going into fifth. Bryan responded in the sixth with three runs to claim a 7-3 victory.
"We just need to continue to focus on throwing strikes, making routine plays and producing quality at-bats," Gould said. "I have no doubt that we will get more consistent with those things."
The Trojans' game against Judson is cancelled this weekend due to cold weather. The team will resume play 3:30 p.m. on March 6 at home against Defiance College.
