No. 22 Trojans Drop Crossroads League Opener
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 3 |
|
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 3 |
UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor struggled to find its footing against Huntington on Friday, as it suffered multiple costly mistakes in the field and on the bases, while failing to collect the big hits in a 7-6 loss to the Foresters.
The Trojans left 11 runners on the bases in the nine-inning affair, issued seven walks on the mound and committed a trio of errors that led to three unearned runs for HU (5-5, 1-0 CL).
Taylor jumped on the board early as Josh Lane, Nick Rusche and Wyatt Whitman strung together three-straight singles to open the bottom half of the first. TJ Bass worked a walk to score Lane, before a Christian McGill sacrifice fly gave the Trojans a 2-0 edge.
Taylor could not tack on additional runs in the first and missed another chance by leaving the bases loaded in the fourth. Huntington took advantage by plating two runs in the sixth, eighth and ninth frames to open a 7-2 lead.
Lane and Rusche again sparked a rally for TU by walking to open the bottom of the ninth and a two-run double from Andrew Kennedy narrowed the margin to 7-4. Ben Kalbaugh delivered a two-run single later in the inning to draw Taylor within 7-6 with runners on first and second with one out, but a successful pickoff play and a diving catch in center field from Huntington kept Taylor from completing the comeback.
Lane and Rusche were a force atop the Taylor lineup, combining to reach base five times and score four runs. Kennedy and Kalbaugh each delivered two RBI and McGill collected two hits.
No. 22 Taylor (16-5, 0-1 CL) and Huntington (5-5, 1-0 CL) are slated to finish the three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 pm at Winterholter Field.
