Trojans Drop Doubleheader to Saint Francis
Game 2
Game 2
Final | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
Taylor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 3 |
Game 1
Game 1
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
Taylor | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
UPLAND, Ind. – A frustrating weekend continued for Taylor on the diamond, as the Trojans dropped a 6-3 decision in Saturday's opener to Saint Francis, before the Cougars completed the four-game sweep by pulling out a 6-5 win after 11 innings in the finale.
Taylor struck out 15 times over nine innings in Saturday's first contest, as the TU bats accounted for just two extra-base hits among six total knocks in the loss. Jacob Morris led the way with two hits and a double, while Joe Moran homered for the 13th time this season and drove in two runs.
All three of Taylor's runs came in the first three frames on a pair of sacrifice flies from Moran and Camden Knepp and a solo blast from Moran. The lead did not hold up, as the Trojans missed opportunities to add on and were kept off the scoreboard over the final six innings.
Saint Francis broke through in the fifth with a game-changing rally that flipped the 3-0 Taylor lead into a 5-3 USF advantage that remained throughout. The Cougars put their first five hitters of the inning on safely to draw even and got a two-run single with two outs and two strikes to take the lead.
Tucker Waddups turned in 3.2 stingy innings out of the bullpen to keep the Trojans close, allowing only one earned run and fanning four.
Nick Rusche created two quick runs for Taylor in the finale, doubling and scoring in the first and homering in the third to draw TU within 3-2.
The Trojans missed multiple scoring opportunities over the next few innings and did not score again until a run came across on a wild pitch to cut a USF lead to 5-3 in the sixth. TU struck again in the seventh, loading the bases without an out and tying the game on a sacrifice fly and a Saint Francis fielding error.
The game remained gridlocked at 5-5 into the 11th when an unearned score put Taylor in a 6-5 deficit. TU threatened to counter in the bottom half with a two-out single to center from Moran, but Knepp was thrown out at the plate to end the game.
Rusche was the hitting star for TU in the loss, going 3-6 with the two extra-base hits and three runs scored. Knepp also collected two hits in the game and reached safely four times.
Sam Shively was brilliant in relief, holding USF to one unearned run over the game's final six innings and picking up a career-high 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk.
No. 21 Taylor (33-16, 22-10 CL) will look to bounce back when it hosts Marian (21-24, 14-16 CL) on April 30 and May 1 in the final series of the regular season.