Trojans Pound Out 27 Hits in Wins Over SAU and Grace
 INDIANAPOLIS – The Taylor softball team rode hot bats and stellar pitching to a 12-0 win in five innings over No. 8 seed Spring Arbor in game one and a 6-0 win over No. 5 seed Grace in game two on Monday at Marian. The Trojans collected 27 hits on the day, while holding GC and SAU to a combined four hits.
TU put up a seven-spot in the second inning to put the Cougars in an early 7-0 hole in game one. Davis Carter led off the frame with a double and Courtney Moriarty followed with a home run for the first two runs of the inning. Two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with no outs and Alex Lovelace stepping to the plate. The senior center fielder roped her 50th-career double to bring home two runs and set a new TU record for most doubles in a career, breaking the previous record of 49, set by Emily Tweedy (2011-2014). The two-run double was also the 300th hit of Lovelace’s four-year career, extending her own record that she set last season. Anna Gunderson then singled to bring home another run and two runs aided by errors on the next two at-bats capped off the seven-run inning.
Moriarty held the Spring Arbor bats in check all game long, allowing only two hits and fanning seven hitters in the five-inning game, while the offense provided five more runs of support to finalize the 12-0 victory.
Game two was more of the same from Taylor, as the Purple and Gold quickly put three runs on the board in the top of the first against Grace. Lovelace singled, Gunderson’s sacrifice bunt moved her to second and Cassie Kuizin belted a two-run dinger to center field for the first pair of runs. Lauren Ehle later doubled to bring in the third run of the stanza.
In the third, Carter added a solo shot to give TU a 4-0 cushion, before a couple of scoreless innings on both sides. The Trojans picked up the final two runs of the contest in the sixth on Erin Cozad’s RBI single and Gunderson’s RBI double, giving Taylor the 6-0 win.
Hannah Robbins (17-3) went the distance on the rubber, scattering two hits and striking out three for the victors.
Carter paced the TU offense with six hits, four runs and two runs driven in on the day, while Lovelace collected five hits and scored three times and Gunderson produced four hits and two runs.
With the wins, No. 2 seed TU (38-15) advances to the Crossroads League Tournament loser’s bracket final against No. 3 seed Indiana Wesleyan (40-12) at 11:00 am on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the tourney title matchup with top-seeded Marian (43-4) immediately following at 1:00 pm.
