Trojans Fall Flat After Agonizing Loss
HUNTINGTON, Ind. – Taylor (17-16, 14-8 CL) dropped two league games against a resurgent Huntington team on Saturday.
After another heartbreaker for TU in game one, the Foresters (12-21, 10-12) ran away in game two to ensure the sweep.
In a tight game one, the Trojans took the lead in the third, after capitalizing on a critical error with two outs in the inning. Harley Mason started the inning with a free pass, before two quick outs seemed to snuff out any opportunity to score. Ashton Whitman reached on an error by the first baseman, before Caitlyn Grim made them pay with a double to left center field to plate both runners and give Taylor a 2-0 advantage.
TU added to its tally in the fourth with a two-out rally. Jersey Tannehill started the rally with a single, before Mason drew her second walk of the game. Emma West ripped her second base knock of the day to plate Tannehill and chase the Foresters starter from the game.
The Foresters' scored two in the sixth and another in the seventh to take the Trojans first game to extra-innings for a second day in a row.
The Trojans' took advantage of a runner starting at second to begin the inning in the top of the tenth, scoring two runs to take a 5-3 lead. Grim started as the runner on second and scored after singles by Aleyah Rastetter and Meg Stanley. With two outs, Kristin Mihalic lined a single to plate Rastetter to make the score 5-3.
Taylor could not hold the lead, as Huntington rallied for three in the bottom of the inning to steal the first game.
Maddi Evans (8-7) pitched the entire game, racking up a season-high 13 strikeouts, while taking the loss.
After trailing by four early in game two, Taylor battled back to cut the lead to one before Huntington responded in the fourth to put the game away.
The Trojans scored twice in the second to cut the lead in half. Rastetter singled to right, followed by Alexi Clay reaching base on a hit-by-pitch. After one out, Tannehill laced a double to left center to plate both Rastetter and Clay.
TU got another run in the third, as Grim reached on a knock up the middle to start the frame. Grim, after advancing to second on a groundout, scored on another single up the middle by Clay to put the score at 4-3.
Huntington scored three more runs in the third, before exploding for five in the fourth to put the game to bed.
Taylor evaded the run-rule in the top of the fifth by having two more Trojans cross the plate, highlighted by doubles from Evans and Rastetter.
The Foresters scored in the bottom of the eighth to end the game early with a final score of 13-5.
The Trojans return to action on Monday at Gudakunst Field to take on Goshen (18-20, 8-16 CL) in the first of two-straight doubleheaders against the Maple Leafs. First pitch on Monday will come at 4:00 pm.