Trojans Tally 33 Hits, 23 Runs in Sweep of No. 7 Marian
INDIANAPOLIS – Taylor's offense came alive late in the opening game against No. 7 Marian (19-6, 11-5 CL) and could not be stopped thereafter in collecting 33 hits in a doubleheader sweep on the road against the Crossroad League leaders.
A terrific day at the plate for TU included 33 hits, 11 walks, a .500 batting average and just two strikeouts. The offensive explosion saw 13 players record a hit or walk, and eight Trojans had multi-hit games.
Taylor trailed 2-0, entering the fifth inning. Madisyn Standridge began the frame with a double down the left-field line. Jayci Kitchen drove her in with a single to left center to halve the deficit.
Trailing by a run, the heart of the Taylor order delivered with three singles to load the bases with nobody out. Pinch-hitter, Delaney Barton laced a single up the middle to plate a pair of runs and give the Trojans their first lead of the day.
The offense stayed hot and loaded the bases for a second time in the inning with two outs. Clutch hitting, which the Trojans have excelled at recently, continued as Kitchen ripped a two-RBI single to left center to push the lead to 5-2.
Lizzy Sinders (7-4) faced a dynamic offense and was stellar in getting out of jams including the bottom of the sixth. The Knights loaded the bases with one out, but Sinders forced a shallow fly ball and a grounder back to the pitcher to end the frame without any damage. The freshman threw a complete game and allowed only two runs despite giving up 10 hits and a pair of walks.
TU added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh as Addison Messer and Standridge had RBI singles with the bases loaded.
Sinders escaped another bases-loaded jam in the final inning. The first two batters reached before the righty recorded a pair of outs. Another base knock loaded the bases but a weak groundout to third ended the game.
The runs continued to come for Taylor, who scored in the final eight frames of action on Saturday. TU took advantage of a defensive miscue in the first, and Kaylee Larkin ripped an RBI double for an early 2-0 advantage.
Claire Cullen (5-3) gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the first but settled in and had a terrific out inside the circle. The sophomore allowed two hits and struck out a pair of Knights in five innings of scoreless ball.
The Trojans continued to pour on runs as 12 separate players scored at least one run in the contest, which got out of hand quickly with six runs in the third.
Kitchen and Ava Everman each collected a team-high five hits on Saturday, while Kitchen drove in six runs. The sweep of Marian is the first for Taylor since 2014 and is the highest-ranked win since defeating No. 6 Marian in 2021.
Taylor (15-12, 10-5 CL) continues Crossroads League action against Goshen (11-5, 5-9 CL) on Tuesday, March 31st, with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 pm.