April 30, 2025

TU Enters CL Tournament at No. 9 in Final NAIA Coaches’ Poll

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Taylor matched the program's highest mark in the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25, coming in at No. 9 in the final poll of the season, released Wednesday.

The No. 9 rating has only been achieved once before for TU, in the preseason poll before the 2024 season. It's the first time in program history Taylor has earned a single-digit ranking in-season, and Wednesday's poll marked the 14th consecutive appearance for the Trojans inside the Top 25, which is among the 10 longest active streaks in the nation.

The Trojans finished the 2025 regular season at 41-8 overall and 32-4 in the Crossroads League. Only five teams in the NAIA reached at least 40 wins during the regular season, as TU set program records for the most regular season and conference wins.

Taylor is on pace to set a bevy of single-season program records at the plate this season with an offense that ranks ninth in the country with 496 runs scored.

The lineup for head coach Kyle Gould features the top four hitters in batting average in the Crossroads League, with .427 hitter Kaleb Kolpien leading a pack that includes Mason David, Luke Sutter and Brayden Manning all hitting in the high .300s. TU also has four of the top-five RBI leaders in the league (Kolpien, Manning, David and Sam Gladd) and three of the top-five power bats (Gladd, Kolpien and David) at 12 or more home runs.

Add to that group Luke Picchiotti with his eight homers, team-best 46 walks and .500 on-base percentage, and the Trojans have compiled the fifth best on-base percentage and 17th best slugging percentage in the NAIA this season.

As good as the bats have been, the pitching staff has been even more dominant among the national ranks.

Taylor's staff-wide 3.61 ERA is fourth in the nation, fueled by the NAIA's second-best WHIP of 1.13 and third-best strikeout rate of 10.99 strikeouts per nine innings.

TU ace Gabel Pentecost leads the CL with 11 wins and 105 strikeouts while boasting the league's second lowest ERA among qualified pitchers at 2.73. Fellow starting pitcher Brody Fine also rates among the top five in ERA and strikeouts, while Conner Miller is tied-fourth in wins and Jake Boyer and Dalton Swinehart are tied-fourth in saves with four apiece.

The Trojans have gotten strong contributions even outside their headlining arms, however, with Nathan Frady, Wes Hunt, Gage Gongwer and Lane Lewis all boasting ERAs under 4.30.

Taylor's next test comes at the Crossroads League Tournament hosted by Indiana Wesleyan, where it opens play as the top seed for a third consecutive season.

No. 9 TU's quest for back-to-back tournament titles begins Thursday at 2:30 p.m., when it faces sixth-seeded Huntington. An updated tournament bracket can be found at the CL Championships Central page throughout the week.