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Talons sweep doubleheader, win first series versus Blaze

Screenshot 2025-02-05 152517by: Cooper Taylor06/15/25
Screenshot 2025-06-14 at 5.26.09 PM
Photo courtesy of Mary Kate Ridgway

Game 1: Talons 14, Blaze 12

The Talons jumped all over Emma Lemley to open the game. A couple of free passes aided the run barrage, but big swings from Tori Vidales and Hannah Flippen put the Talons up 4-0 after just one inning. Vidales drove in a run on a single to right field. The next at-bat, Flippen mashed a three-run shot to extend the deficit to four.

Meanwhile, the Talons debuted a new pitcher in the circle. Former UCLA right-hander Megan Faraimo toed the rubber for the first time this season. Aubrey Leach spoiled Faraimo’s opener, ripping a leadoff double to the left-center gap. Baylee Klingler continued her hot hitting in the first, driving in Leach on a single up the middle.

Entering the second, the Blaze changed rookie pitchers, turning to Brooke McCubbin in the circle. Similar to the first inning, a walk and a Sierra Sacco single put the first two runners on. An RBI groundout from Ali Aguilar stretched the Talons’ lead right back to four. Faraimo achieved the shutdown inning in the home half. The Talons tacked on another in the third after McCubbin surrendered a single and walked three batters. In the bottom of the third, Faraimo dealt another scoreless inning.

In the top of the fourth, the Talons loaded the bases for a consecutive inning. Rookie Bri Ellis then lifted a two-run single to left field. Victoria Hayward followed with a two-out RBI single of her own. Sharlize Palacios kept the floodgates open with another two-run single. Immediately following Palacios, Aguilar singled in a run. Aguilar’s RBI single finally chased McCubbin from the game. The Talons drove in eight runs off of the Clemson rookie. Hope Trautwein entered in relief and ended the inning.

After nearly an hour rain delay, the Blaze punched right back in the bottom of the fourth. A wild pitch scored the second Blaze run, giving way to the heart of the Blaze order. Klingler launched her first homer of the season, a three-run shot. Rookie Lauren Derkowski came on in relief of Faraimo and ended the Blaze threat.

The Talons jumped ahead 12-1 after three and a half innings, but after a four-run fourth and a shutdown top of the fifth, the Blaze didn’t stop there. A sacrifice fly from Aubrey Leach and four runs off three RBI singles from Klingler, Danielle Gibson-Whorton and Korbe Otis cut the Talons’ lead to 12-10 after five full innings.

Trautwein settled things down for the Blaze, shutting the Talons out again in the sixth. Mariah Lopez was the new Talons pitcher in the home half, trying to earn the save. After a leadoff walk and an infield single though, Lopez was chased from the game. The fourth pitcher for the Talons, Raelin Chaffin, then entered. With the bases loaded, Klingler tied the game on a two-run single. Down 12-1, the Blaze had scored 11 unanswered to tie the game.

Baylee Klingler after her home run during AUSL game
Photo courtesy of Meghan Murphy / AUSL

A leadoff walk for the Talons in the seventh ended Trautwein’s day, bringing Keilani Ricketts in. Ricketts couldn’t stop Sydney Romero, though. The former Oklahoma Sooner took Ricketts yard, grabbing a 14-12 lead into the home half of the seventh.

Montana Fouts came on in relief in the seventh to earn the save. The Alabama legend retired the side in order to end the game. Klingler’s seven RBIs were not enough to outshine Romero’s go-ahead homer. The Talons staved off the Blaze’s 11-run comeback and prevailed in a 14-12 shootout.

Game 2: Talons 7, Blaze 6

Keilani Ricketts got the start in Game 2 of the doubleheader but was met with a reckoning Talon force. The Talons pushed across four runs on four hits in the opening frame. A two-run single from Hannah Flippen opened the scoring, followed by a second two-run single from Ally Shipman-Shrout.

Montana Fouts earned the start in Game 2 as well, and saw a similar fate. After walking a pair, Danielle Gibson-Whorton homered, cutting the lead to 4-3 after the first inning.

Following a scoreless second, Caroline Jacobsen mashed a two-run homer in the away third, extending the Talons’ lead to three.

Baylee Klingler followed with an RBI double, cutting the deficit to 6-4 after three innings.

No score in the fourth kept the game at bay, but Ali Aguilar homered off Emma Lemley in the fifth to stretch the Talons’ lead back to three. No score in the sixth paved the way for Megan Faraimo to finish the game in the seventh.

Down to their final out, Gibson-Whorton homered again, this time a two-run shot. Her big swing cut the lead to 7-6 with one out remaining. The Blaze brought the winning run to the plate in the home seventh, but a groundout ended the game.

The Talons earned the doubleheader sweep, giving Fouts the win in the circle after tossing six innings and striking out five.

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