Trojans Complete Series Sweep, Move to 10-0

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – No. 9 Taylor built a five-run lead and held on for a 7-5 victory to finish the Florida trip with a series sweep over RV St. Thomas. The Trojans, who overcame an early deficit in all four games at Paul Demie Mainieri Field, stranded 15 runners on Saturday but extended their historic start to a perfect 10-0 on the season.

Brayden Manning (2 for 4, RBI, 2 BB), Jordan Malott (2 for 6, RBI) and Luke Sutter (2 for 6, 2 RBI) each produced a pair of base knocks, with 12 of the Trojans' 13 hits on the afternoon going for singles. Kaden Wu (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) recorded the lone extra-base hit with a leadoff double in the fifth.

Manning continued the scorching start to his senior campaign, finishing the series against St. Thomas going 9 for 17 (.529) with seven RBIs and the big three-run homer in Game 3 last night. Manning has hit safely in every game this season, raising his batting average to .478 with an outstanding 1.302 OPS. Additionally, he's notched multiple hits in four straight appearances, and in eight of the first 10 contests.

Making his collegiate debut, starting pitcher JT Tabor earned the win on the mound after tossing 5.1 innings. The freshman right-hander struck out a pair while allowing three runs on five hits and one walk. Junior Alec Hershberger picked up his first career save after a solid 3.2 innings with three strikeouts in his season debut.

Taylor trailed 2-0 after one inning when Daytan Biegel connected on a two-run homer, his first of two long balls on the day, to spark the St. Thomas dugout. But the Trojans, who outhit the Bobcats 13-9 in the contest, chipped away with two runs in the second, third and fourth frames.

WU got the scoring started for Taylor with an RBI single in the top of the second. Two batters later, Sutter produced the tying run on a two-out single to even the score at 2-2.

In the third, Quinn Kunkel drew a leadoff walk and Ben Kennedy followed with a base knock, with both Trojans coming around to score on Nate Simpson's one-out hit to left field.

Two more runs crossed in the fourth as Manning and Malott delivered back-to-back RBI singles to put Taylor in front 6-1. Fletcher Roemmich led off the inning with a hit and Sutter reached on a fielding error as both eventually scored. The lineup looped back around to the left-handed hitting Sutter in the fifth inning, where the junior produced the final Taylor run on his second RBI single of the day. 

St. Thomas got two back in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 7-4, as Hershberger took over on the hill after Tabor faced the first two batters and surrendered a leadoff double. The Bobcats used a one-out double and two-out single to push the pair of runs across. The Bobcats tried to make things interesting when Biegel (3 for 4) homered again to lead off the eighth, but Hershberger slammed the door by retiring six of the final seven batters, with one runner reaching on an error in the ninth. 

STU starter Jordan Naranjo took the defeat with three earned runs allowed on six hits in two innings. Frank Villela struck out five and kept the Trojan bats in check by surrendering just two hits over the final five innings.

No. 9 Taylor will launch a six-game homestand next week, beginning with a three-game series against Madonna on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 20-21. First pitch for Friday's home opener at Winterholter Field is scheduled for noon.