Austin Kight | Echo
Due to freezing weather conditions at home, the Taylor University baseball team (4-7) traveled south to Campbellsville, Ky., dropping two of three games to Indiana Tech (4-4-1) over the weekend. The Trojans struggled to heat up offensively, resulting in a 7-2 defeat Friday, but managed to build momentum heading into Saturday, splitting a pair of games with the Warriors in the final two games of the series.
It continued to prove a slow start to the season for the Trojans, losing seven of their last nine outings and dropping three games below the .500 mark.
"We have to play the game better if we hope to accomplish our goals of winning the Crossroads League and advancing to the NAIA National Tournament this year," head coach Kyle Gould said. "We will have seven more opportunity in non-league games to develop the depth of our pitching staff, begin executing offensively at a higher level and tighten things up defensively."
In the series opener Friday, the Warriors jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the second inning after an RBI single from shortstop Alex McKinstry put the team up 1-0.
Two innings later the Trojans responded, tying the game at 1-1 after a hard-hit ball off the bat of senior Austin York brought senior Jordan Coffey around to score with two outs in the top of the fourth.
The Warriors offense continued to put the ball in play, piling on six more runs over the last five innings, resulting in a 7-2 loss to start the series.
Senior Caleb Miller (1-1) took the mound for the Trojans, allowing one earned run off five hits. Miller was charged his first loss off the season after being pulled in the fourth.
"I think our pitchers did a great job this weekend," York said. "They kept us in each game and gave us a chance to win. Offensively we were much better this weekend, but we just left too many runners on base."
On Saturday, the Trojans found themselves down by one heading into the sixth until a late game rally. A RBI single from Coffey followed by two outs helped propel the team to a 7-4 victory.
The Trojans worked the count at the plate, drawing eight walks while manufacturing seven runs off only four hits.
Ace Josh DeGraaf (2-1) received a no decision on the mound after five innings of work, giving up three runs off nine hits.
In the final game of the series, the Trojans saw a decrease in run production, scoring only one run off five hits, while leaving nine runners stranded.
Trojan senior Eric Kartman (0-3) gave his team a strong performance on the hill, holding the Warriors to only three runs in 6.2 innings of work.
"Even though I did not have my best stuff, I competed all the way through the game," Kartman said. "I was able to stay ahead in counts with hitters, which allowed me to go deep in the ballgame."
Tomorrow, the Trojans will head to New Albany, Ind. in a chance to even up the series against Indiana Tech. at 1:30 p.m. before taking on Indiana Southeast (8-7) with first pitch set for 4:30 p.m.
Photography by Timothy P. Riethmiller
