NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – Sophomore right-hander Taylor Kopplin (Westport, Ind.) fired a complete-game, four-hitter replete with three strikeouts to lead Manchester University to a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory Saturday, April 23.

Thrilling a large crowd under sunny skies at Gratz Field, Kopplin was in control from the beginning, retiring the first 10 Transylvania University hitters he faced and not being touched for a run until the eighth inning. His fifth victory of the season was aided by a Spartans' offense that tallied single runs in the first, second, third and fourth frames in route to the 4-1 decision. MU's nine-hit total was led by two-safety games from junior first baseman Tailur Szarenski (Bluffton, Ind.), senior shortstop Sean Knepper (Bremen, Ind.) and freshman right fielder Tyler LaFollette (Warsaw, Ind.), while freshman third baseman Hunter Lane (Nappanee, Ind.) homered.

TU (15-16 overall, 11-8 HCAC) dashed the home side's hopes of a weekend sweep. In the final tilt, the Pioneers broke open a 3-3 tie through three with a six-run fourth inning outburst which was part of an 11-score roll over the last four frames. The Spartans (18-14 overall, 12-7 overall), despite the 14-3 loss, still remained in second place on the league standings, a game ahead of third-place Earlham College.

Manchester University's current four-game home stand concludes Tuesday, April 26. A mid-week series with Defiance College of Ohio concludes with a 4:15 p.m. first pitch.

NOTES: Junior center fielder Chad Schultz (Fair Oaks, Ind.) turned in a big afternoon at the plate with five hits during the twinbill. The effort was topped by a four-for-four, two-double, two-RBI finish in game two. His day increased a personal hit streak to six which has seen his batting average rise 23 points (.308-.331) … Szarenski closed out a big week at the dish, too. Even though he was held hitless in Saturday's finale, the junior averaged .533 in the span with two RBIs and a double … Kopplin and fellow sophomore right-hander Brandon Eck (Fort Wayne, Ind.) turned in the squad's first set of back-to-back complete games this season.