Larkin’s Blasts Not Enough as TU Drops Home Opener

UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor dropped both games in its home opener on Friday against Huntington (15-7, 7-3 CL) in perfect softball weather.

Taylor dropped a pitchers' duel in the opener, 3-2, after Huntington scored a pair in the top of the seventh.

A scoreless affair through the first three innings has both teams struggling to gain any momentum at the plate. Kaylee Larkin broke the silence with a no doubt home run to dead center. The senior's fourth home run of the season plated a pair and gave TU a 2-0 lead.

Lizzy Sinders continued to keep the Forester offense at bay until a solo home run by Khloee Gregory halved the deficit in the sixth. The freshman hurler finished the evening allowing three runs, one earned and striking out five in a complete game showing, her seventh of the season.

Leading by one entering the seventh, Taylor had a flurry of defensive miscues. An error on a fly ball to center preceded a strikeout, but a grounder to third produced a pickle which resulted in the Foresters placing the tying run on third and the winning run on first. A single knotted the game at two and a passed ball put the winning run on third, which crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly.

After having the first two runners reach base, the Trojan offense could not provide a vital hit in the final frame with the next three batters retired to end the game in an agonizing 3-2 defeat.

The road team struck first in a 9-5 victory in the third inning, scoring four capped by a three-run home run by Gregory, her second of the night.

Larkin responded with a two-run shot of her own in the bottom of the frame to cut the deficit in half. The senior then drove in a run in the third with a bases-loaded walk. A chance to tie the game slipped by as TU could not produce any more runs despite having the bases loaded with one out.

The Foresters scored four more in the top of the fifth to push the lead to 8-3. Taylor answered with a pair in the bottom of the inning. Jayci Kitchen and Bella Browning delivered two-out RBI singles. Larkin drew another walk to load the bases, but the elusive clutch hit evaded the Trojans to end the frame down 8-5.

Sinders, Browning and Kitchen each had three hits in the nightcap as TU racked up 11, which matched Huntington. Larkin hit a homerun in both contests while drawing a pair of walks and being hit by a pitch as the senior continues to dominate at the plate.

Taylor (10-10, 5-3 CL) returns to Gudakunst Field on Saturday, March 21st for a doubleheader against Grace (6-16, 0-8 CL), with first pitch slotted for 1:00 pm.