Taylor Falls in Heartbreaking Fashion in Opening Round
MEDFORD, Ore. – Taylor battled with one-seeded Southern Oregon on Monday, but fell just short as the Raiders took game one 6-5.
The Trojans were led by Emma West and Ashton Whitman on offense, each grabbing two base hits and scoring once. The offensive performance was a collective one, as every member of the starting lineup, save one, reached base throughout the game.
Southern Oregon struck first in the fourth to grab a 1-0 lead, but Maddi Evans, who battled throughout against one of the nation’s top offenses, limited the damage in the fourth by forcing a foul out to end the inning with the bases loaded.
Taylor responded in the fifth with a run of its own to tie the game at one. The Trojans started the inning with back-to-back walks by Nicole Brindle and West, who both advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Maddi Evans. Whitman launched a deep drive to center that was caught, but produced a run as Brindle crossed the plate.
The Raiders grabbed the lead again in the fifth on a solo home run to left field.
After a great pitching duel throughout the first six innings, both offenses came alive in a wild seventh inning.
Trailing 2-1 entering the seventh, the Trojans mounted a comeback to take a 5-2 lead. After an out, West started a single parade, with Evans, Whitman and Caitlyn Grim following suit to tie the game. Taylor then, took its first lead of the game on a walk by Aleyah Rastetter, before the second out was recorded. TU added two more runs with two outs, first on a walk by Kristin Mihalic, before Alexi Clay ripped a single to right to plate another run and take the 5-2 lead into the bottom of the inning.
Southern Oregon (47-12) answered in the bottom of the inning to take the victory. The Raiders tied the game on a one-out, three-run home run, before a two-out walk-off single ended the game.
Taylor will be action on Tuesday at 4:30 pm against No. 3 seed Embry-Riddle (AZ) (40-4), who fell, 1-0, to No. 2 seed Grand View (43-9), in Monday’s first game.
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