Bandits falter in series final against Akron

As the Bandits walked off the field following a 7-5 loss in Saturday night's series finale against the Akron Racers at The Ballpark at Rosemont, assistant coach Kyla Holas walked up to her players for a brief team meeting. Among her comments was: "We were thinking too much." The message resonated with the team, especially so for Taylore Fuller, who earlier scored what was a go-ahead run for the Bandits in the third inning.

"We were just in our own heads and we let us beat ourselves more than they beat us," Fuller said. "In that last inning, just truing to do way too much instead of just putting the ball in play."

Although she appeared earlier in the series in the circle, Ellen Sara Roberts showed a respectable outing in her first career start for the Bandits.

Ellen Sara Roberts earned her first professional start in the U.S. after beginning her career in Australia with a stint in Italy mixed into her professional experience. After allowing just 2 hits through 2.2 innings and striking out 3 batters, Roberts surrendered a 2-run homer to Akron's Ashley Thomas, a towering shot that landed beyond the bleachers.

However, the Bandits fought back with a key third inning rally.

With Emily Crane on base with a single, Brenna Moss sliced a triple to the left-center field gap to cut the deficit in half. Moss came in to after Emily Carosone put the ball in play and the Bandits took the lead later in the inning on an RBI-single from Fuller on a 3-2 count, her first RBI as a member of the team.

"They were throwing me off-speed this whole series," Fuller said." I had to do something and I was just looking to make contact."