Trojan’s Season Comes to an End in Tight Loss

 

MEDFORD, Ore. – In an elimination game, Taylor (26-29) battled, but ultimately fell, 4-2, against No. 3 seed Embry-Riddle (AZ) (41-4).

 

Ashton Whitman and Emma West continued to be the driving forces of the offense, collecting three and two base hits, respectively, as the offense totaled nine hits. Alexi Clay also had two base knocks and added a run batted in to cap her senior year.

 

Mackenzie Noah pitched well in her first appearance in the Opening Round. The freshman threw three scoreless innings against a great offensive team, gaining valuable experience against top competition on the national stage.

 

No. 24 Embry-Riddle raced out to a 3-0 lead, after two innings of play to set the tone of the game early.

 

After falling behind, the Trojans started to rally in the third. West belted a double down the right field line to start things off and scored two batters later, as Whitman ripped a single up the middle. The rally continued with two outs, as Aleyah Rastetter drew a walk, before Caitlyn Grim scored on another single up the middle, this time by Clay to cut the deficit to one.

 

The Eagles grabbed another run in the bottom of the third on a solo home run, to make the score 4-2.

 

Taylor placed six more runners on base in the last four frames, but could not find the needed runs to complete the comeback and fell, 4-2, as its season came to a close.

 

The loss ends an up-and-down campaign for the Trojans that ended in the program’s fourth trip to the NAIA Opening Round and Coach Erin Bellinger’s second NAIA Opening Round, paired with the 2019 appearance in her first season at the helm.