Walk-Off Winners Continue Trojans’ Success in One-Run Games
UPLAND, Ind. – Walk-off winners in both contests on Friday sealed a sweep for Taylor against Calumet (7-17, 2-0 CCAC) in a pair of slugfests.
One-run contests have become ordinary for Taylor, playing in nine games with the slimmest margin of victory and coming away victorious in an impressive seven.
Grace Mullins played the hero in the opener after the Crimson Wave tied the game in the top of the seventh with a pinch-hit three-run home run. Mullins stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out and smacked a 3-1 pitch to the center field wall for the first walk-off winner of the day.
The opener had a couple of twists and turns, with Taylor falling behind in the top of the first but never trailing after a two-run home run from Livie Lehmann in the bottom of the frame.
Calumet had a golden opportunity to put runs on the board in the second, with the bases loaded and nobody out. Cullen followed with a strikeout and a popout to the outfield grass behind second turned into a double play as Bella Browning threw out a runner trying to score at the plate.
Emri Agre continued her terrific form with a single in the third that turned into two runs as a pair of miscues by the right fielder allowed the freshman to round the bases. Lehmann added another RBI on a single up the middle an inning later as TU built its biggest lead of the game at 6-1.
The Crimson Wave got back into the game by capitalizing on a couple of defensive miscues to score four runs in the fifth and trim the deficit to one.
The standout junior Lehmann added another long ball for a pair of insurance runs in the sixth, as she drove in five in the opener and scored twice.
Madisyn Standridge notched the other walk-off hit as the junior tallied four hits in the nightcap. The score was knotted at 13 in the eighth, and Standridge drove a single to left field to drive in Madison Raley and cap a long but unforgettable night for the Trojans.
Standridge began the game with a solo home run in the first, and the Crimson Wave responded with two runs in the second to take the lead.
Taylor regained the lead with a six-run third highlighted by a solo shot from Kaylee Larkin and Hannah Lickey delivering one of her team-high five hits to drive in a run. Some terrific base running saw Julia Vargas avoid a tag at third before scoring, and Browning evaded a tag at the plate on a squeeze play.
Six runs from Calumet saw the lead trade hands again, and TU had three in the bottom half as the see-saw battle continued with a pair of runs to knot it at 10.
Emily Guthrie came in to pinch hit in the bottom of the sixth and fired her first-career home run to give Taylor a 12-10 lead before Calumet scored three to take the lead again in the seventh.
The outcome looked bleak in the bottom of the seventh, trailing by one and nobody on and two outs before Browning and Lickey teamed up with back-to-back doubles to send the game into extras.
Larkin added to her offense with a clean inning inside the circle in the eighth for her first win of the season, as TU had five players record an out inside the circle in the nightcap.
Taylor (20-8, 9-5 CL) jumps back into CL action on Saturday, March 29, with a doubleheader against No. 11 Marian (21-5, 11-3 CL). The twin billing will begin at 12:00 pm at Gudakunst Field.