Trojans Drop Series to RV Huntington
HUNTINGTON, Ind. – After rattling off 17-straight victories and not suffering a loss since February 13, Taylor wound up on the wrong end of three final scores on Monday, dropping the final three games of the four-game series with Huntington.
The day opened with the continuation of Saturday’s second game, as Taylor failed to overcome a 5-1 deficit after play resumed in the fifth inning. Camden Knepp and Nick Rusche singles in the seventh were followed by an error and passed ball but TU would get no closer in the 5-2 setback.
The Foresters (18-6, 11-5 CL) followed with a first-inning barrage in the first game on Monday’s doubleheader, jumping to a 4-1 lead and rallying for four more in the bottom of the ninth to steal an 8-7 walk-off win.
Taylor scored in the first, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth innings, drawing even with a two-run home run from Brett Lawson in the sixth and taking a 5-4 lead on a solo shot from Conner Crawford in the seventh.
Walks from TJ Bass and Crawford ignited a ninth-inning rally that saw the Trojans extend the lead to 7-4, but Huntington stormed back in the bottom of the ninth with four runs on three hits, two walks and a hit batter.
Drake Gongwer was excellent out of the bullpen for TU, entering with one out in the second and not allowing a hit until the ninth inning. Gongwer ended with 10 strikeouts, two runs against and no walks allowed over 6.2 innings of relief.
Huntington finished off the day by capitalizing on a trio of third-inning errors by the Taylor defense to take a 1-0 lead and carried a 4-0 edge in the final frame.
Run-producing hits from Knepp and Lawson cut the deficit in half, but the rally stopped there and Taylor fell by a 4-2 count.
No. 20 Taylor (24-9, 13-3 CL) will look to get back on track with a weekend series against Grace (9-16, 6-10 CL) at Winterholter Field. Friday’s doubleheader is slated for a 1:00 pm start.
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