TU Drops Home Opener to No. 19 IU Southeast
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UPLAND, Ind. – A two-run single from Jared Adkins drew Taylor within a 4-3 margin against No. 19 IU Southeast but the guests plated the final seven runs of the game to hand TU an 11-3 setback in its first game of the year at Winterholter Field.
Taylor never led in nine-inning contest, as IU Southeast (3-1) struck for two in the top of the first and countered a Trojan run in the second with two more in the top half of the third inning for a 4-1 cushion.
TU’s best inning came in the fourth, when Brett Lawson and Josh Lane reached on walks with one out and moved up 90 feet on a ground ball to the right side off the bat of Tanner Kolbe. Adkins followed with a two-out single to left on a 1-0 offering to bring in Lawson and Lane and cut the deficit to a single tally.
That would be as close as Taylor could get however, as IU Southeast capitalized on a pair of TU errors for three runs in the sixth and tacked on insurance runs in the final two innings to pull away.
Taylor managed seven hits and six walks but stranded 10 runners on the bases in the loss, as the Trojans failed to collect an extra-base hit. Nathan Targgart, Sam Wiese and Lawson each had two-hit games, while Wyatt Whitman walked twice and Adkins knocked in two runs.
Six different hurlers took the mound for the Purple and Gold, combining to pile up 14 strikeouts, but the Grenadier sticks blasted three home runs to fuel the attack.
Clay Riggins turned in a strong outing on the bump, entering in relief and yielding only one earned run over 3.1 innings, while striking out six batters.
Taylor (5-4) is scheduled to host Saint Ambrose (0-0) for a four-game series in Upland on February 16 and 17, with the doubleheaders slated to begin at 2:00 pm on Friday and 1:00 pm on Saturday.
