June 3, 2026

Taylor Ranks No. 2 in NAIA Postseason Poll to Cap 56-Win Season

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The most successful season in Taylor baseball history earned a fitting place in the final standings. Following a national runner-up finish, the Trojans closed the book on the 2026 campaign ranked No. 2 in the GoRout NAIA Baseball Top 25 Postseason Poll. The ranking caps a season in which TU finished 56-7, a school record for wins that also led all NAIA teams this season.

The postseason ranking extends a run of sustained excellence that has become the program's identity. TU has now appeared in 22 consecutive polls dating to the 2023 season and has been ranked inside the top 10 in each of the last nine releases. The Trojans have produced five straight 40-win seasons and four consecutive 30-win seasons in conference play, compiling an overall Crossroads League record of 125-19 (.868) over that span. They have not dropped a CL series in five years — a streak of 46 consecutive.

Offensively, the 2026 squad was the most dominant in the country. The Trojans led the nation in runs (690), runs per game (11.3) and on-base percentage (.471) while ranking second in the NAIA in hits (716), fourth in both batting average (.350) and slugging percentage (.588), and sixth in home runs (105). On the mound, TU recorded the third-most strikeouts (538) among NAIA leaders and the fifth-best strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate (10.05).

TU opened the year ranked ninth in the NAIA Preseason Poll and climbed to a program-record No. 1 ranking. The Trojans started 11-0 for the first time in program history, authored their best 25-game (22-3) and 30-game (27-3) starts on record, and matched the program's longest win streak at 24. By season's end, TU had won more regular-season games (45) than any team in program history, established program records for wins (56) and winning percentage (.889), and claimed more Crossroads League victories (33) than any Trojan club before it.

The schedule offered no shortage of competition against ranked opponents. The Trojans defeated No. 4 Lewis-Clark State, No. 10 Doane, No. 15 Arizona Christian, No. 18 Mid-America Christian, No. 19 William Carey, No. 22 Huntington and No. 23 Marian along the way. They swept a doubleheader at No. 24 Huntington, beat No. 24 Marian three times, swept a four-game series at RV St. Thomas and downed RV Indiana Tech twice.

That body of work translated to hardware. TU won its fourth-straight regular-season Crossroads League championship and its third-straight CL Tournament title. The Trojans hosted the NAIA Opening Round for the fifth consecutive year and captured their second Opening Round championship in the past four seasons.

The postseason carried TU to the NAIA World Series for the third time in program history, where the Trojans won four games before finishing as the NAIA national runner-up — the deepest run the program has ever made and the conclusion of a season that rewrote the record book.