Strong Pitching in Opener Highlights RV Taylor's Doubleheader Split with Huntington
Huntington, Ind. – Coming off its sweep of Grace, RV Taylor (17-7, 5-3 CL) split a pair of one-run contests with Huntington (12-8, 3-3 CL) on the road. Stout performances from Maddi Evans and Cassy Lewis in the circle, combined with some timely hits late in the contest, lifted the Trojans to a 2-1 triumph in game one, before the Foresters recorded a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.
Evans (8-2) collected her Crossroads League-leading eighth win, giving up just five hits and one run while striking out eight Foresters in six strong innings of work. The Fairmount, Indiana native and former Madison-Grant standout now has 95 strikeouts on the season, which is also tops in the Crossroads League.
The opener was a pitchers' duel as both teams were held off the scoreboard for the first four innings of play. However, Taylor finally broke through in the top of the fifth. Evans helped her own cause, singling home Kristin Mihalic, before Emma West hit an RBI single of her own to score Aleyah Rastetter and give the Trojans a 2-0 lead.
While the Foresters were able to get a run back in their half of the fifth, Evans and Lewis shut the door in the final two frames. Lewis earned her League-leading fifth save, calmly pitching her way out of a jam by inducing a force out at home and a groundout to second with the Foresters threatening in the bottom of the seventh.
Kara Tucker's second home run in the last three contests gave the Trojans an early advantage in game two, but a four-run second inning by the Foresters gave them a lead they would not relinquish.
An Ashton Whitman RBI single in the third and a pair of RBI doubles from Rastetter and Caitlyn Grim in the fourth tied the game at 4-4. However, the Foresters regained the advantage with single runs in the fifth and sixth frames. The Trojans rallied again in the seventh, as back-to-back doubles from Whitman and Mihalic cut the Foresters' advantage to one, but they were unable to score the tying run.
Grim finished 3-for-6 from the dish with a pair of doubles, while Mihalic went 3-for-7. Evans, Whitman, and West each collected a pair of knocks, while Rastetter scored a pair of runs.
Taylor will be back at Gudakunst Field on Thursday for a non-League doubleheader against Aquinas College (7-3). First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.