TU Falls Twice to Saint Francis
Â
UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor softball team dropped a pair of Crossroads League contests to Saint Francis at home on Monday, falling 4-2 in game one and 4-3 in game two.
Saint Francis (12-11, 5-5 CL) opened the scoring in the first game, taking advantage of a lead-off double to record a run in the opening half inning.
TU responded with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame to take a 2-1 lead after one inning. Davis Carter’s groundout to second scored Cassie Kuizin from third for the first Trojan score, followed by Erin Cozad’s double to deep left, which scored Courtney Moriarty and put Taylor in front.
USF tied the game at 2-2 in the third inning on an RBI single, after a walk and a sacrifice bunt put the runner in scoring position with one out.
The game remained tied at two runs apiece entering the seventh stanza, but four-straight Cougars reached base with two outs to put USF on top, 4-2, with Taylor having one more opportunity in the bottom of the seventh, but the Trojans had three consecutive ground outs to end the game.
Carter notched two hits and drove in a run, while Kuizin and Moriarty each posted a hit and a run to lead Taylor’s offense.
Darby Shaw (4-2) took the loss in the circle, going all seven innings and striking out five.
Taylor put a run on the board first in the second outing of the day, as Kuizin walked to lead off the inning and came around to score on Moriarty’s single two batters later.
After the Cougars put runs on the board in the second and fourth frames, TU entered the seventh inning facing a 2-1 deficit.
Saint Francis then tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh, just as it did in the first game. Both runs came on walks with the bases loaded.
TU looked poised to notch its second walk-off win of the season at Gudakunst Field in the bottom of the seventh, as Kara Tucker led off the inning with a walk, and Kuizin followed with a two-run home run to cut the visitors’ lead to 4-3 with no outs.
Ashley Roberts then walked to put the tying run on base, but Moriarty’s bunt attempt popped up in the air and was caught by the catcher, and Roberts was doubled up at first base to quickly clear the bases and leave Taylor down to their final out.
Carter reached base on a walk to put the tying run aboard again, but Erin Cozad flew out to left-center to end the TU rally attempt.
TU mustered just four hits, with Kuizin leading the way with a hit, two runs and two RBIs.
RV Taylor (9-7, 3-5 CL) will return to the diamond on Wednesday, when it faces Spring Arbor (11-10, 5-5 CL) on the road for two games at 3:00 pm.