TROJANS AND COUGARS EXPERIENCE DJ VU

For the second time in two days Taylor University and the University of St. Francis faced off in a battle for second place in the Mid-Central College Conference.

On Wednesday, Taylor (29-15, 15-7) took one of two on the road, dropping an extra inning contest in the finale. Thursday, as St. Francis traveled to Upland, the Trojans again took game one. Following form, the Cougars (29-17, 16-6) used a come from behind rally to win game two late.

Taylor set the tone early in game one, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning, and added two more big innings on their way to a 10-0 run-rule contest in five innings. The Trojans pounded out 15 hits, including a Taylor Kinzer three-run home run. Once again, every batter in the Trojan lineup recorded a hit, with five players recording multiple hits.

In addition to Kinzer's home run, his team-leading fifth of the season, Cassidy Emery, Ryne Otis, Nate Hillery, Taylor Wilde, and Matt Maple connected multiple times. Otis, who leads the team with a .451 batting average, increased his hit streak to 19 games after the first game. Emery was 3-for-3 and Wilde went 2-for-2.

Taylor Kinzer also pitched a shutout on the mound to complete his stellar performance. His defensive mates backed him up as well. Taylor turned a double play and came up with multiple big plays to shutout the Cougars. Kinzer struck out as many batters, three, as he allowed hits. The sophomore moves to 5-0 on the year, winning each of his last five starts.

The game one win for Taylor meant that game two would decide who would slide into second place in the MCC with one series remaining on the schedule. In true Dj vu fashion the game was close and intense throughout, much like Wednesday's second game. St. Francis took the lead 1-0 off of pitcher Travis Tomaszewski. The sophomore pitcher scattered seven Cougar hits with little damage all afternoon.

Tomaszewski pitched a solid five innings only allowing the single run. He struck out five Cougar batters in an impressive combination of defense in pitching. Taylor scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth, and junior Michael Kraynak came on to close the game.

St. Francis again would not go quietly and fought back with a couple of tough at bats, drawing walks and making the close plays. A costly error allowed for a run to score and a sacrifice fly off of Caleb Stertzer allowed the Cougars to take the 6-5 lead.

Taylor fought back as well, getting two hits and having runners at first and second in the bottom of the seventh. Kraynak came up in a position he was comfortable with, as his clutch hitting has produced multiple victories throughout his career. He battled to a full count, but for a second time in the season, the Trojans got called out on strikes while threatening to end a home series.

The five-run fifth inning for the TU offense was highlighted by small ball. As batters bunted their way on base, stole available bases and continued to make contact for singles to drive in runners. Nine batters came to the plate in the inning as five hits were translated into five runs.

Nate Hillery and Taylor Wilde continued to swing the bat well, adding another 2-for-3 performance to each of their stat sheets. Kraynak went 2-for-4 and Otis added a hit to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. The last time the freshman first baseman was held hitless was against Berry College during spring break over a month ago.

With the loss Taylor drops to 15-7 in the conference, moving them into fourth place. Huntington (14-6) sits above them in third place, with scores not reported as of press time.

Approaching the 30 win plateau, the Trojans can make some waves going into the conference tournament by beating league leader Spring Arbor (27-8, 19-3), who visits Upland on Saturday to close out the regular season. The top three teams in the final regular season standings get a first round bye in the MCC tournament.