March 2, 2015

Lovelace and Robbins Sweep Crossroads League Awards

HARTFORD CITY, Ind. – No. 25 Taylor earned two wins over Cumberland and Tennessee Wesleyan Saturday, led by the performances of Alex Lovelace and Hannah Robbins. Lovelace earned league Player of the Week Honors, while Robbins was named the Pitcher of the Week.

Lovelace, the returning Crossroads League Player of the Year and NAIA 2nd Team All-American, got on base seven times in eight at-bats as the leadoff hitter in the Trojan lineup. The sophomore went 3-of-4 in the 5-1 victory over Cumberland. Lovelace scored a run and drove in a run while stealing two bases in two attempts, including a steal of home in a double-steal put on by Taylor. In the 6-4 come from behind win over Tennessee Wesleyan, she went a perfect 3-of-3 from the plate with two runs scored and a walk. The speedy center fielder made six putouts in the two games combined and has yet to make an error in her collegiate career. This season in six games played Lovelace is 13-of-21 from the plate for a 0.619 batting average, which ranks No. 13 in the NAIA. Lovelace is also leading the team in on-base percentage with a mark of 0.680 and ranks second on the team in slugging percentage at 0.714.

Robbins earned her third start of the season and was excellent in the victory over Cumberland. The sophomore from Woodburn, Indiana and Woodlan High School threw a complete game gem giving up just five hits and one earned run. Robbins struck out three of the first four hitters in the contest and only allowed a single the first time through the Cumberland batting order. The right-handed hurler often found a way to get ahead in the count and went on to finish the game with eight strikeouts, notching at least one put away in six of her seven innings pitched. The eight strikeouts was one shy of her career-high strikeout total of nine set on January 26 of this season in a 12-2 win over Webber International. On the year Robbins now holds a 2-0 record with 20 strikeouts and a 0.89 earned run average, which places her at No. 16 in the nation through 15 and two thirds innings pitched in the early going.

No. 25 Taylor (5-1) is scheduled to be in Elizabethtown, Kentucky this Friday and Saturday for the USCAA 2015 Preseason Invitational. If the weather permits, the Trojans will have five games during that two-day span starting off on Friday with a 5:00 pm game against Iowa Wesleyan College. The rest of Taylor's schedule will include Roosevelt at 6:45 pm Friday and on Saturday No. 23 Davenport at 9:00 am, Indiana University Southeast at 1:00 pm and Lindenwood University to conclude the invitational at 3:00 pm.