UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor lost a heartbreaking extra-inning contest before dropping the nightcap against cross-county rival No. 18 Indiana Wesleyan (12-2, 4-0 CL) on Friday at Gudakunst Field.
Jayci Kitchen had a trio of hits in the opener, including an RBI double, while Livie Lehmann had three hits and two for extra-bases as the junior continues to pace the Crossroads League in a litany of offensive categories.
Taylor lost a heartbreaker in the opener, falling 11-8 in nine innings, after delivering a seven-run comeback against No. 18 Indiana Wesleyan in a battle of two of the Crossroads League bests.
The Wildcats grabbed a big early lead with six runs in the third despite producing just one hit in the frame and followed that with two runs in the fourth on a home run.
Taylor settled in, and Emri Agre scored the Trojans' first run after tripling to begin the third. An inning later, Brooke Sanchez sent the ball flying out to left field for a two-run home run for the junior.
The comeback continued in the bottom of the sixth as hope was starting to fade. The Trojans had two outs and a runner on first when Kitchen and Grace Mullins hit back-to-back doubles, followed by a single from Madisyn Standridge to cut the deficit to a pair. Lehmann stepped up to the dish and delivered a line drive home run to left field to tie the game and send a pack Gudakunst Field crowd into a frenzy.
The squads struggled to produce anything, and the game went into extra innings until Indiana Wesleyan plated three runs in the ninth to take home a hard-fought victory.
The Wildcats kept their hot bats into the second game, scoring three in the first and never looking back on the way to a 9-0 win in six innings.
Taylor's offense muster just five hits in the second game, with Mullins and Isa Davis each delivering a pinch-hit knock and Lehmann hitting a double in the first for the lone extra-base hit of the game for the high-octane bats of TU.
Taylor (11-5, 2-2 CL) has the rest of the weekend off before a home doubleheader against Spring Arbor (9-6, 1-3 CL) on Monday at 3:00 kicks off a week of eight games in six days.
