Trojans Drop Tournament Opener in Extra Innings
 UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor rallied to erase a 7-1 deficit against Goshen on Saturday, drawing even with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on a three-run home run from Wyatt Whitman but could not pull out the win as the Leafs scored in the 10th and took a 10-9 victory.
Taylor’s first two batters of the game hit safely, as Jared Adkins tripled and scored on a Tanner Watson single. TU would not collect its next hit until the fifth after Goshen had opened a 7-1 lead.
Three-straight singles from Brett Lawson, Josh Lane and Adkins led to a single run to cut the margin to 7-2, and Nathan Targgart rode the wind out to right for a towering three-run shot that brought the Trojans to within 7-5.
The Maple Leafs scored twice in the eighth to claim a 9-5 lead and carried the four-run cushion into the ninth. Adkins opened the frame by getting hit by a pitch, but Taylor made a pair of outs before Austin Mettica kept the inning alive with an RBI single. Sam Wiese followed with a double down the left field line and Whitman lofted the opposite field, game-tying dinger to right to force the 9-9 tie.
The rally was wasted in the top of the 10th however, as Taylor walked three batters and committed an error to allow Goshen to score the eventual game-winning run on the benefit of just one single in the inning.
The final inning continued a trend of TU’s struggles throughout the day, as eight Taylor pitchers combined to allow 15 hits and nine walks over the 10 innings, while the defense committed three errors.
The TU offense nearly overcame those struggles with the nine runs on 11 hits, with five extra-base hits. Targgart and Whitman each had three-run homers, while Whitman and Wiese doubled and Adkins tripled.
Targgart, Whitman and Watson combined for eight runs batted in, while Adkins and Riley Reimschisel each scored two runs. Adkins, Watson and Whitman each posted multi-hit games and Targgart led the defense with five assists from the hot corner.
With the loss, Taylor (34-20) will now face sixth-seeded Indiana Wesleyan (27-29) in an elimination contest at Winterholter Field on Monday at 3:00 pm. The winner of that contest will take on the loser of the noon contest between seventh-seeded Goshen (25-28) and third-seeded Marian (26-19) in another elimination game at 6:00 pm.
