Alex Mellen | Echo
A sunny day at Gudakunst Field on Tuesday couldn't warm up the Taylor softball team. The Trojans lost both games of their home doubleheader against Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU) 5-1 and 6-5. Their record now stands at 20-8 in the Crossroads League and 34-13 overall.
"It definitely wasn't our best game yet," said senior Emily Tweedy. "I think that we didn't come in playing as well as we could have today. We didn't get the job done."
Freshman Hannah Robbins pitched all seven innings of game one, her 11th complete game of the season. She struck out five and allowed nine hits.
MVNU scored its first run in the third inning. A line drive by Sierra Enrique bounced off the tip of Robbins' glove and brought Keli Thompson home from third. Robbins recovered by striking out one and a causing another to line drive out.
Taylor's single run came in the fourth when freshman Lauren Ehle scored on a grounder by freshman Micaela Christensen and brought the score to 1-1. After that, the Cougars took charge of offense, scoring four runs in the next three innings to make the final score 5-1.
The Trojans started stronger in game two, jumping to a 4-0 lead by the second inning. Freshman Alex Lovelace, senior Karon Earley and Tweedy contributed hits, and Ehle added a two-run home run. Lovelace went 4 for 4 on the game, and Tweedy went 2 for 4.
In the third, MVNU's Konnor Byers hit a two-run home run off junior pitcher Hannah Klebesadel. After walking one and giving up a run on a bunt in the fourth, Klebesadel was replaced by sophomore Ashley Miller. The Cougars managed to drive in one more run in that inning, bringing the score to 4-4.Sophomore Mackenzie Heirs scored for Taylor in the bottom of the fourth off a single down the middle by Lovelace. The team was stymied by MVNU's defense for the rest of the game; however, the Cougars picked up two runs in the sixth for a 6-5 win.
"We hit a couple balls, squared up on a couple balls in the second game," said head coach Brad Bowser. "Could've went better. We had a runner get thrown out at the plate that shouldn't have went, and so we lost a couple runs that maybe could've happened."
The Trojans are currently first in the Crossroads League and need to win two of their final four games to clinch the conference title.
"Today we just didn't come together and play as a team like we should have," Tweedy said. "If we do that, we're going to beat everybody, but if we don't, then we're going to end up losing."
Taylor plays at Bethel today, with a 3 p.m. first pitch. Tomorrow is senior day at home as the Trojans take on Marian University for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
Photography by Josh Adams
