UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor shut down the Mount Vernon Nazarene offense and notched a couple of big innings to complete the sweep of the Cougars on a rainy Friday night in Upland.
Mady Foy (8-5) was terrific in the opener, throwing a four-hit shutout without allowing a walk. The shutout is the first for the sophomore this season as she hammered the strike zone and induced a plethora of easy ground balls for the infield to gobble up.
Both teams struggled to get any traffic on the basepaths in the opener until Taylor broke out in the fifth inning. After an out, six consecutive Trojans reached base and forced the Cougars into a pitching change.
Delaney Barton began the onslaught with a hard-fought at-bat resulting in a single to center before a pair of walks loaded the bags for senior Aleyah Rastetter. Rastetter delivered the first blow with a rocketed line drive double to the right-center field wall plating two runs. MVNU then brought in a reliever and Livie Lehmann and Kaylee Larkin ripped singles to score three more runs for a comfortable 5-0 lead.
Foy downed the Cougars in the next two innings and Taylor (21-15, 13-9 CL) took a 5-0 win to begin the day.
The offense continued churning the nightcap, tallying nine runs in five innings to finish off MVNU (14-16, 7-11 CL) early and earn the sweep.
The Cougars had half of their hits in the top of the first and scored to take their first lead of the day at 1-0.
Taylor came back in the second, using back-to-back hit-by-pitches to load the bases. Emri Agre delivered an infield single to plate the tying run before Rastetter drove in the second on a fielder's choice to take the lead for good.
TU added three in the third, taking full advantage of a pair of miscues by the Cougar defense. Madisyn Standridge drove in the first run with a single to center and advanced to second on an error before scoring on another error, this time by the shortstop. Brooke Sanchez then delivered an RBI double down the left-field line to push the score to 5-1.
The offense continued to click as Larkin blasted her team-leading eleventh home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth to right field.
Mackenzie Noah (8-5) continued to shut down the Cougars and after a short rain delay in the bottom of the fifth, the Trojans quickly loaded the bases for Rastetter, who hit a bouncing ball to left field to score two and end the game in the fifth 9-1.
Rastetter tallied an impressive five RBI during the twin-billing while ten different Trojans crossed the plate.
Taylor continues Crossroads League play against cross-county rival No. 16 Indiana Wesleyan (29-7, 20-4 CL) on Saturday, April 13 on the road, with first pitch pushed back to 4:00 pm.
