Taylor Run-Rules IWU to Earn Doubleheader Split
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UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor softball team bounced back from a 10-7 defeat in game one with a 9-1 run-rule victory in the second game to earn a split with Indiana Wesleyan on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Gudakunst Field.
TU was on the verge of being run-ruled in the first outing of the afternoon, as the Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening frame and led, 8-0, after three innings. The Trojans evaded a shortened game when Lauren Ehle blasted a solo home run to lead off the home-half of the fifth and Alex Lovelace scored on Anna Gunderson’s single to make it an 8-2 ballgame going into the sixth inning.
Ehle went yard again in the sixth, sending the 1-0 pitch over the center-field fence for a two-run homer, and Justice Carmichael sent the following pitch out of the park to pull the Trojans within three.
IWU (24-10, 11-7 CL) added two runs off of Kaisey Carson’s home run in the top of the seventh to extend the lead to 10-5.
A two-run dinger by Hannah Castor cut the TU deficit to three, 10-7, with only one out in the bottom of the seventh. The Trojans were able to get runners on first and second with the tying run at the plate twice, but a strikeout and a flyout ended Taylor’s rally attempt in game one.
Ehle went 2-4 at the plate with the two dingers in back-to-back plate appearances, while Lovelace, Gunderson, Carmichael and Davis Carter each also recorded a pair of hits in the opening contest for the Purple and Gold.
In game two, TU pounded out seven runs in the second inning to jump out to a 7-0 lead, which the Trojans would keep until the Wildcats posted their only run of the game on a solo blast by Kira Madl in the top of the fifth stanza.
The Trojans tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to seal the 9-1 victory, due to being up eight runs after five innings of play.
Hannah Robbins (8-3) scattered three hits and struck out four batters, surrendering only one run on the home run in the circle for TU.
RV Taylor (22-11, 14-4 CL) will take on Bethel (2-25, 2-16 CL) in a league doubleheader on the road at 1:00 pm on Monday.