Andrew Nevins | Echo
Taylor baseball brought its record to 19-5 with a doubleheader sweep of Oakland City on Saturday, March 10 at Winterholter Field.
A cold day on the diamond did not faze the Trojans, as the team knew it had a job to do and banded together to add two more wins to its resume.
The pair of wins increased the Trojan's winning streak to seven, with the average margin of victory during their surge coming in at nearly five runs per game.
Taylor led from the opening pitch of game one, hitting their way to a dominant 11-3 victory. Senior catcher and outfielder Tanner Watson led the charge with three knocks and two RBI. Senior utility player Jared Adkins also contributed with a double and three stolen bases.
The Trojans did not start out quite as hot in the second game of the day. The scoreboard read zeroes for both teams through the second inning. The slump ended soon, as Taylor scored eight runs in the final four innings to come away with the 8-2 win.
According to Adkins, the biggest play was a triple by junior outfielder Wyatt Whitman that helped break the game open and swing the momentum in Taylor's favor.
Adkins said the pitching was one of the team's keys to success Saturday.
"The pitchers controlled the strike zone, they worked quick, and were able to get ahead with a first pitch strike, and really controlled the game from the mound," Adkins said.
Taylor found contributions from all over the roster, as a total of nine different batters connected with the ball throughout the day.
Despite success, the team knows it has not played its best baseball yet, and that it needs to peak toward the end of the season in order to make a run in the tournament.
Head coach Kyle Gould has laid out two early season goals for his team to achieve: a win over a ranked opponent, and a come-from-behind, close win. A win over No. 10 Keiser and multiple one-run victories have the team prepared for anything conference play throws at them.
Yesterday the Trojans extended their winning streak to eight games as they easily handled Defiance and collected a 11-1 victory to bring their record to 20-5.
Taylor's season continues today as it opens conference play at Marian at 4 p.m.
"Photograph by Brad Timmerman"
