A recent University of Mary graduate who played for the University of Mary Softball program for 5 years, Taylor ended her career as the Marauders all-time home run leader during the NCAA era. Mendez was one of the top hitters in the Northern Sun. The native of Los Banos, CA she was a two-time NSIC Player of the Week during the 2017 season while hitting .349 with a .620 slugging percentage and an on- base percentage of .426. Settling into primarily first base during the 2017 season after playing multiple positions her first three seasons, Mendez hit 14 doubles, two triples and nine home runs with 33 runs batted in and 35 runs scored. She led the Marauders in all the previously listed categories except batting average, where she was second.
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Mendez finished her illustrious Marauder career being recognized as a NSIC first team selection at second base as a sophomore in 2015, a NSIC second team selection as a utility player her junior season in 2016, and , a NSIC second team selection at 1B her senior season in 2017. Â Additionally, she finishes her career with 49 home runs, 158 RBIs, 155 runs scored, a batting average of .356, a .418 on base percentage and a .647 slugging percentage. In addition to leading the NCAA era in home runs, she is second in runs scored, hits (242) and slugging percentage and third in on base percentage.Â
Going into her second year of assistant coaching, Taylor was previously in charge of working with the infielders. A big accomplishment for Taylor was helping the infielders improve their skills while also reducing the number of errors from the previous years by 70. In her first season as an assistant the Marauders had a record of 18-19 while being 9-15 in conference. This year she will be working under the new head coach Steph Roan.
