Pitching Duel Favors Goshen in TU’s Narrow Loss
UPLAND, Ind. – The Trojans delivered seven scoreless frames on Thursday but Goshen found the 3-2 advantage in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off single from a pinch hitter.
Pitching dominated the evening, as Taylor (24-9, 4-5 CL) and Goshen (10-17, 4-6 CL) combined for nine hits and five runs. Luke Shively started on the bump for TU, offering 4.1 innings of work with a pair of strikeouts.
Righty reliever Clay Riggins was solid, entering in the fifth with two base runners. Riggins completed the inning with no harm done. The senior continued to deal throughout the outing, collecting three strikeouts through 4.1 innings.
The TU offense struck first, posting two runs in the third inning. Josh Lane and Nick Rusche began the frame with back-to-back singles, which scored Lane with the help of a Maple Leaf error. Wyatt Whitman followed with a groundout to bring in TU’s second score.
Goshen pitching caught fire after the two Taylor runs, retiring 16-straight Trojans.
With the score knotted at two runs apiece, Goshen utilized a walk and a bunt to place a runner in scoring position. Two outs in the bottom of the ninth and a pinch hitter from the Maple Leafs roped a single to left field to seal the win for Goshen.
Taylor will continue its weekend series with Goshen with a doubleheader at 1:00 pm on Saturday on the road.
