RV Trojans Sweep MVNU as Bats Stay Hot

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio. – The RV Taylor baseball team was back in action on Wednesday, when the Trojans traveled east to play Mount Vernon Nazarene on the way toward two more Crossroads League victories.

Taylor rode the waves of an eight-run second inning to win game one by a final score of 10-7, before unleashing an offensive explosion in a game two that ended with a 14-2 TU winner.

Ben Kalbaugh and Brayden Manning each posted four-combined hits throughout the doubleheader, with Manning boasting two home runs and a total of six runs-batted-in. Manning now owns a share of the league-lead with seven home runs on the season, which has helped bolster a season-total of 27 RBI.

TJ Bass, meanwhile, owns the team-lead with 31 RBI throughout TU's 28 games thus far in 2023, four of which came on Wednesday against Mount Vernon Nazarene.

After Manning scorched a three-run home run early in the second inning of game one, Bass soon followed with a three-run blast of his own that completed the Trojan eight-run burst.

Alec Holcomb (4-1) started on the mound for Taylor in game one, traversing five innings of work while scattering nine hits and three runs en route to his fourth win of the season.

Mount Vernon Nazarene prevented the Trojans from enjoying an easy win in game one, however, as the Cougars answered TU's eight-run second with six-unanswered runs to make it an 8-7 game heading into the ninth inning.

By that point in the game, Jared Crandall had come on in relief, calmly closing the final two innings of play while allowing just one unearned run to earn his second save of the season.

Matt Dutkowski (2-2), then, took over in game two and completed six innings of three-hit work while matching a career-best with nine strikeouts. The Trojan starter enjoyed a spacious cushion along the way, thanks to an unrelenting TU lineup that posted 14 runs-or-more for the seventh time this season.

Four different Trojans recorded multiple hits throughout the 14-run effort, while Kalbaugh and Manning each posted a team-best three hits apiece. Kalbaugh led the Trojans with three RBI in game two, while Manning, Camden Knepp and Kaleb Kolpien each added two RBI themselves.

A five-run third inning and a six-run fifth proved to be pivotal frames for the Trojans, as they secured their fifth win in-a-row. In the third, the first five Trojans each reached based safely, three of which came in the form of a single. Sam Gladd, then, pinch hit for his freshman teammate, Ben Kennedy, and recorded a single of his own to bring Manning home to score.

Manning went on to lead off the fifth inning with his second home run of the day, before Kalbaugh singled and a trio of Trojans reached base via a walk or hit-by-pitch. Kaleb Kolpien then roped a two-run single in preparation for an RBI base knock from Bass to make it a 13-1 game.

Kolpien eventually scored on a Cougar wild pitch, plating the Trojans' 14th-and-final run of the game. Dutkowski exited the game after completing the sixth inning, after which freshman lefty, Nick Crabtree, took the bump and navigated three walks en route to a scoreless seventh inning of work.

All in all, Taylor outscored MVNU 24-9 by day's end. The Trojan lineup has posted 10-or-more runs in four-straight games and 13 of its 28 total games in 2023. As a team, Taylor has scored the seventh-most runs in the entire NAIA with a mark of 277. The next highest team total among Crossroads League teams is Indiana Wesleyan, who has plated 203 runs in its 24 games played.

RV Taylor (19-9, 12-2 CL) and MVNU (9-9, 6-6 CL) are currently slated to finish their series on Saturday, March 25, back in Mount Vernon, Ohio, with first pitch scheduled for 12:00 pm.