TROY, Ala.?Troy scored five
first-inning runs en route to a 13-5 victory over ULM in the Sun Belt Conference
series opener at Riddle-Pace Field Friday night.
Ben Soignier set the ULM
career total bases record with a double in the third inning ? he entered the
game tied with Corey Taylor. The double was the 58th of his career
pulling him within one of Jason Wolfe for the all-time ULM record. He also
moved into a tie for third on the career RBIs list with Terry Matthews.
The first five batters of the
game reached for Troy (28-19, 15-8 Sun Belt) sparked by a first-pitch, lead-off
home run by Chad Watson. Keith
Christensen retired the next three batters of the inning, however two of the
outs drove home runs as the Trojans staked a 5-0 lead.
The Warhawks (26-23, 12-15) fought
back with a pair of two-out runs in the top of the third inning. After Boomer
Blanchard was hit by a pitch, Soignier doubled to left field to score Blanchard
and Matt Collins followed with a single to right to plate Soignier.
Jon Prevost, Jordy Poche and
Collins all had two hits for the Warhawks. Trevor Tyre led Troy going 3-for-4
with three runs scored on the night, while Ryan Ditthardt, Miles Hoyle, Charley
Williams and Michael Precise all finished with a pair of hits -- Precise has
six RBIs.
Troy answered in the bottom of
the third inning with an RBI single by Precise. The inning could have been a
lot worse, but Perry Smith threw out Ditthardt at the plate from right field.
Tom O'Gorman pulled the
Warhawks within two, 6-4, with a towering two-run home run to center field to
score Matt Laird who led off the inning with a double down the line in left
field.
Tyre pushed the Trojans lead
out to 7-4 with a two-out home run to left field in the fourth inning. Steven
Felix made it a four-run game with a sacrifice fly in the fifth to score Hoyle
who led off the inning with a seeing-eye double past third base.
The Trojans put the game out
of reach in the bottom of the sixth inning with five runs paced by a Precise
grand slam. ULM pitchers issued three free passes and hit a batter in the
inning as the Trojans had just two hits in the frame.
Keith Christensen (4-3) took
the loss for the Warhawks allowing six runs on eight hits over the first 2.2
innings of the game. Tyler Ray (7-3) picked up the win for the Trojans allowing
five runs ? four earned ? on 11 hits and one walk over seven innings.
The teams continue the
three-game series tomorrow at 6 p.m. Southpaw Justin Anderson (6-2, 6.59 ERA)
will get the start for the Warhawks and lefty Travis Burge (5-1, 5.31) gets the
nod for the Trojans.
The game will be broadcast live on 1680 AM in the Monroe area and
worldwide on the internet at ulmathletics.com. Fans can also watch all of the
action live on Warhawks All*Access by logging on to ulmathletics.com.
