Trojans All Square With No. 21 Cougars
April 25, 2009
On the final day of regular season competition in the Mid-Central College Conference, Taylor faced off against the #21 ranked Spring Arbor Cougars (28-9, 20-4). Taylor (30-16, 16-8) earned a split in the two-game series after falling 12-6 in game one, but bounced back to score four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win game two by the final of 7-6.
In game one Spring Arbor pounced on TU pitching in the first inning, going up 3-0 early. Taylor responded in the bottom of the first with a bang. Matt Maple and Michael Kraynak took advantage of the wind blowing out and hit back-to-back home runs. That drew the Trojans to within one at 3-2, but that was as close as Taylor would get. Spring Arbor increased their lead to 9-2 in the fourth. Taking advantage of seven Taylor walks, and linking several hits together, Spring Arbor took game one 12-6.
Leading the way for the Taylor bats were Kraynak, Maple and Emery. Kraynak ended with two home runs and Maple and Emery added a four bagger to the team's totals. Each team ended with 10 hits in the game. The Trojans who had multiple hits were Kraynak, Paul Passiales, and Emery. Ryne Otis recorded a hit to extend his hit streak to 21 games.
Needing to salvage a split with the MCC regular season champion Cougars to place in the top three, Taylor came out fighting in game two. Caleb Stertzer started game two and pitched four and two-thirds innings. Only getting into trouble in the fifth inning Stertzer had scattered SAU hits with minimal damage. Spring Arbor again linked hits together to score five in the inning.
With Taylor's back against the wall, the Cougars brought in their top save man to close the game. Taylor linked together hits of their own and relying on their seniors to come up big on their final game in Upland, made a furious comeback. An Otis infield single and an error by SAU allowed for the beginning of the rally. With two outs, senior Braden Dissinger stepped to the plate and came up huge as he laced a single into left field to score the tying run. With Michael Nasser at second and Dissinger at first, Passiales came up ready to finish the game in regulation. Passiales singled to right and Nasser looked to score from second, but the speedy freshman was met at the plate by a quality throw from Spring Arbor. Nasser made an incredible diving slide to elude the tag and Taylor walked away with the victory.
The thrilling game saw TU's offense pound out 11 hits, including four in the final inning. Again Taylor's bats spread the fun around, with eight different batters recording a hit. Otis gained a hit in the seventh to push his streak to 22 games. Passiales, Taylor Kinzer and Dissinger each pounded out two hits on the day, none bigger than the final two by a pair of senior catchers. It was a fitting finale for the five seniors who have made an impressive impact on the Taylor baseball program.
With the win Taylor moves to 16-8 in conference as they finish in a tie with Huntington for third place in the final conference standings. Because of Huntington's head-to-head advantage over the Trojans, Taylor earns the fourth seed in postseason play.
The Trojans will now host No. 9 seed Goshen College in a play-in series beginning Monday, April 27 at noon. The best of three series will feature two nine-inning games on Monday followed by a third game on Tuesday if necessary. The winner of the series will advance to the six-team, double elimination MCC Tournament which begins next Saturday, May 2.