MOUNT VERNON, Ohio. – Despite leading in the sixth inning or later in both contests of a doubleheader against Mount Vernon Nazarene, the Trojans ended the day without a victory in a pair of heart-breaking defeats.
Kaylee Larkin continued her sensational sophomore campaign with three hits in five at-bats on Friday. Larkin also drew two walks and drove in a pair of runs for the Trojans, who struggled at the plate in a pair of one-run losses.
Taylor's offense struggled in the opener and saw a brief lead disappear in a tough 4-3 loss.
The Cougars scored a run in the second and third innings to take a 2-0 advantage that seemed destined to be enough with the Trojans' struggles at the plate.
Despite failing to deliver a hit through the first five innings, the Trojans had gotten a baserunner in scoring position in three innings but were unable to get them home on any occasion.
Livie Lehmann broke up the no-hitter with a double and quickly scored when Larkin ripped a single through the left side to cut the deficit in half. The Trojans scored the tying run on an error by the shortstop on a hot hit by Delaynee McCreary, who scooted to second on the throw to the plate. McCreary's namesake, Delaney Barton, then came to the plate and knocked a single to give TU its first advantage of the game at 3-2.
The Cougars immediately responded in the bottom of the sixth with two runs after the TU defense made two errors in the inning.
The nightcap was another low-scoring affair, with Taylor (9-9, 1-3 CL) falling 3-2 after leading going into the bottom of the seventh.
Mackenzie Noah was mowing down the Cougars through six innings, allowing just two hits and two walks and retiring nine straight batters at one point as she showed her potential inside the circle.
The Taylor offense could not capitalize on the terrific outing from Noah until the fifth inning. With two outs and two on, Larkin ripped an RBI single, and TU put up another run on the next pitch when Aleyah Rastetter scored on a wild pitch for a 1 2-0 advantage.
MVNU (9-7, 2-2 CL) scored twice to tie the game before two outs were recorded in the final frame. Then, a clutch two-out single drove in the winning run to send the Trojans packing with a pair of losses.
Taylor stays on the road to play Bethel (5-13, 1-3 CL) in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 16, with the first pitch of the opener scheduled for 1:00 pm.
