Wildcats Prevail 6-3 over TU Softball in Well-Played Tournament Final
Huntington Box I IWU Box I Tournament Central I Bracket I Tournament Statistics I Photos
INDIANAPOLIS – Taylor softball battled cross-county rival Indiana Wesleyan until the last out in Friday's thrilling Crossroads League Tournament Final, but the Wildcats used a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to pull out a tightly contested 6-3 victory.
It was a back-and-forth nail biter from start to finish, with neither team able to gain much separation as numerous key plays were made with both the bats and the gloves.
The Trojans opened the scoring in the first after a Davis Carter RBI single was poked into left field to plate Anna Gunderson. The Wildcats then took the lead with two runs in the top of the third after a two-RBI single from Sam Hemming to right field.
It didn't take long for Taylor to respond, and in the bottom half of the frame Lauren Ehle got things started with a double to right-center field. Ashley Miller was next up for the Trojans, laying down a nifty bunt that got through the middle of the Indiana Wesleyan infield to score Ehle from second base for the equalizer.
Indiana Wesleyan threatened in the top of the fourth, but Taylor right fielder Erin Tice made two impressive, athletic grabs on well-hit balls. Tice's second catch was the final out of the inning, as the junior made a fully extended diving snag to likely keep Indiana Wesleyan from claiming a 4-2 lead.
The top half of the fifth inning once again ended on a great defensive play by Taylor, as Ehle made a diving catch on a line drive at third base before quickly rising to her feet to throw the Indiana Wesleyan baserunner out at first base.
Taylor's sparkling defensive efforts to keep the score knotted at 2-2 were paid off in the bottom half of the inning, as Ehle blasted her ninth home run of the season, a no-doubter to left center field to give the Trojans a one run advantage.
Indiana Wesleyan pinch hitter Abby White drove in the tying run in the sixth with a two-out double, and the teams headed to the seventh tied at 3-3.
That was when Kelsey Meyers provided the heroics for the Wildcats with the two-out, three-run home run, and Taylor entered the bottom of the seventh knowing it would need a big inning to perhaps push the championship to a winner-take-all second game.
After two Taylor bats were retired in the bottom half of the inning, Morgan Allison doubled to keep Taylor's comeback hopes alive. Jessica Britt proceeded to walk after a great at-bat, bringing the tying run in Tice to the plate. Pitcher Haley Nixon however earned the pop up to first base foul territory, sending the Indiana Wesleyan contingent into uproar as the Wildcats went unblemished to earn the tournament title and the automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament.
Earlier in the day Taylor earned a 10-4 result against Huntington to advance to the championship game with Indiana Wesleyan. The Trojans scored eight combined runs over the final three innings of play in the convincing win, as the top four hitters in the batting order in Alex Lovelace, Gunderson, Ehle and Miller each totaled two RBI. Hannah Klebesadel was the winning pitcher against the Foresters, throwing all seven innings in the quality start to improve to 14-3 in her senior season for the Trojans.
The No. 3 seed Taylor displayed its toughness and grit to put itself in the tournament final against Indiana Wesleyan, rattling off four consecutive victories over Mount Vernon Nazarene, Bethel, Grace and Huntington, respectively, after falling 5-3 to Saint Francis in the opener on Wednesday.
Gunderson, Klebesadel and Miller each were named to the All-Tournament Team for the second consecutive season, and Lovelace joined the trio to represent the four Trojans honored with the distinction.
Taylor received votes in the most recent NAIA Top-25 poll and still may hold an outside chance of obtaining an at-large bid into the NAIA National Tournament's 40 team field. Those 40 teams will be announced on May 7 at 5:00 p.m., followed by a video selection show announcing the pairings and brackets at 7 p.m.
If indeed the hard-fought loss to Indiana Wesleyan is the final game of the 2015 season for Taylor however, the Trojans conclude the campaign with a record of 36-16 overall while finishing in a tie for second place alongside Indiana Wesleyan in the regular season Crossroads League standings.
The Taylor softball program over the last two seasons has seen a rise to new heights under head coach Brad Bowser. The Trojans have posted a winning percentage of 0.703 in that time frame with a mark of 78-33 overall, 49-17 in regular season Crossroads League action. Friday marked the second consecutive appearance for Taylor softball in the Crossroads League Tournament Championship, after winning it on Gudakunst Field in 2014 before going on to the program's first ever NAIA National Tournament victory against Georgetown (Ky.).
Senior pitcher Hannah Klebesadel and Sabrina Alaniz will both be graduating in 2015, each having made significant contributions to the program both on and off the field during their four years. The team is set to return twelve players and all of its position players from its current roster to go along with the incoming class of freshmen for the 2016 season.
