The IUS softball team defeated Taylor University in the first game of a doubleheader on March 14 at the Koetter Sports Softball Complex by a score of 9-3.

Fighting wet and cold conditions, the Trojans started strong when junior third baseman Liz Lewellen hit a two RBI double to take an early lead in the top of the first inning.

A wild pitch sacrificed another run to the Trojans and forced the Grenadiers to replace junior pitcher Brooke Martin with freshman pitcher Amy Blackstone.

“They must have had Brooke’s timing down,” Blackstone said.

Blackstone closed out the first inning and went on to pitch six scoreless innings while the Grenadier offense capitalized on errors and mistakes made by the Trojans.

IU Southeast scored five runs in the third inning and four in the sixth, while Taylor was unable to effectively get their offense going again and remained scoreless the rest of the game.

Taylor Head Coach Robin Lockridge blamed the loss on poor execution by her team.

“We gave it to them,” she said. “They capitalized on the errors and we kind of lost it.”

She also pointed to the five “looking” strikeouts as another reason why her team was unable to score after the first inning.

“Small mental errors like that cost us the game,” she said.

Grenadier pitcher Amy Blackstone said team captain Jennifer Bartley, senior first base, was responsible for rallying the team to close the three run deficit and put enough points on the board to guarantee a win.

“I was just trying to not let anymore runs score,” she said. “Jennifer Bartley held us together.”

IUS Head Coach Todd Buckingham recognized the efforts of Blackstone to hold off Trojan attempts at scoring.

“Pitching won that game for us,” he said, “but all the girls played really well.”

Offense was slow for both teams early in the second game of the doubleheader, with Taylor winning 4-3.

Neither team scored any runs until the fifth inning with IU Southeast putting the first run on the board.

The prospect of another win faded, however, when Taylor’s senior pitcher and first baseman Jill Tomaszewski hit a two RBI single in the top of the sixth inning.

The RBIs were followed by a mishandled pitch by freshman catcher Kaity Barton, allowing another Taylor base runner to score.

The next pitch garnered an illegal pitch call by the plate umpire and prompted Buckingham to challenge the ruling because most of the white powder surrounding the pitcher’s mound had been washed away by the rain and pitchers during the first game.

“It was the wrong call that late in the game,” Buckingham said. “The players should decide the outcome, that call should not have been made.”

The Grenadiers closed out the sixth inning down two runs and allowed Taylor to gain another one in the top of the seventh.

Scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh, the Grenadiers were given a second chance at a comeback after an IUS base runner was tagged out while headed to second base.

The out would have made the final one of the game with Taylor as the victor, however, the officials ruled that the base runner’s progress was impeded by a Trojan player, giving the Grenadiers one last chance.

The next — and last — pitch of the game found Blackstone connecting for a pop fly that was caught by the Trojans, ending IU Southeast’s desperate attempt at a comeback.

Buckingham said he was disappointed in his team who had played excellently in the first game but struggled in the second.

“We folded under pressure,” he said. “We have to learn to play when it’s on the line, not when it’s convenient.”

He acknowledged the efforts of freshman pitcher Kayla Duke to hold the Trojans at four runs but said the rest of the team did not give her the defensive support she needed.

Lockridge said her team adjusted their attitude and did what was necessary to hold off the Grenadiers’ attempt at a comeback late in the game.

“We took control of ourselves,” she said. “We capitalized on their mistakes and they didn’t have many.”

The final play of the game, after her team thought they had won but retook the field because of an impeded IUS base runner, showed the capability of her team to perform under pressure, she said.

“That final play, that showed mental toughness,” she said.

By TRAVIS STURGILL
Staff Writer
trsturgi@ius.edu