Trojans Cap Off Bear Creek Tournament with Two-Game Split

After two big wins over RV University of Rio Grande and RV University of the Cumberlands to begin the weekend, Taylor went 1-1 on Saturday to finish up the Bear Creek Tournament. The Trojans defeated RV Lawrence Tech 5-1 to start the day before falling to Webber International 4-2 in their final contest.

Taylor ended the Bear Creek Tournament with a 3-1 record, defeating three teams receiving votes in the Top-25. Furthermore, with their triumph over Lawrence Tech (1-2), the Trojans increased their winning streak over teams receiving votes to five games.

Ashton Whitman led the Taylor offense against the Blue Devils, finishing the contest 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a pair of runs batted in. Maddi Evans and Emma West each finished 1-for-2 with an RBI, while Caitlyn Grim drove in a run in her lone at-bat. West collected two more hits on Saturday, giving her at least one hit in nine of Taylor’s first 12 games.

TU’s offense did all of its damage in the second and third frames. Whitman started the rally with a single, before both Evans and Kara Tucker drew walks to load the bases. Grim’s RBI groundout scored Whitman for Taylor’s first run, and West followed with a RBI single, plating Evans and giving the Trojans a 2-0 lead.

In the third, Whitman increased Taylor’s advantage to four with a two-run double to deep left-center field, before Evans added a little insurance with an RBI single. All three of Taylor’s runs in the frame came with two outs.

The Blue Devils were able to get one run back in the top of the seventh, but they were unable to muster any kind of comeback.

Lauren Kanai (5-0) continued her strong start to the season in the circle, putting together another masterful performance. The junior hurler pitched six innings, giving up just three hits while striking out three Blue Devil batters. After the Trojans built their five-run advantage, Kanai allowed just one base runner in her final three innings.

In six appearances so far this season, Kanai has held her opponents to a .248 batting average while recording a 2.25 ERA.

Taylor’s eight-game win streak came to an end against Webber International (7-0) later in the afternoon. The Trojans scored the first run of the game on a Grim RBI bunt single, but the Warriors responded with two runs in both the second and third innings, taking a lead they would not relinquish.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *