MONROE, La. - Drew
Granier
threw a five-hit, complete-game shutout and Nick Wade hit a grand slam
to lead
ULM to a 7-0 victory over Troy in game one of a crucial Sun Belt
Conference
series Friday night at Warhawk Field. The Warhawks move to within three
games
of the Trojans for the eighth and final spot in the Sun Belt Tournament
with
the victory.
Granier (4-5), who
was coming
off an 11-strikeout performance in a complete game at FIU last Friday,
struck
out six Troy batters and didn't issue a walk until the top of the ninth
inning.
He worked four 1-2-3 innings and held six of the Trojans starters
hitless.
It was the second
complete-game
shutout thrown by a ULM pitcher this season. James Jones, ULM's Saturday
starter, accomplished the feat on March 6 against Mississippi Valley
State. The
shutout was the first by the Warhawks in league play since a 10-0
victory at
FIU on April 26, 2008.
The Warhawks plated
all the
runs they would need against Troy in the second inning as they pieced
together
five hits, including Wade's grand slam, to put five runs on the board.
Jarrett Hammond
started the inning
with a single to center field, Josh Chappell followed with a single back
up the
middle and Perry Smith reached on a bunt single to load the bases. Caleb
Clowers pushed across the first run with a single to right-center field.
Following a foul
out, Wade
hammered the second pitch he saw from Andrew Dickerson over the 24-foot
batter's
eye in center field. It was Wade's 12th home run of the
season and
his first grand slam since May 11, 2008, which also came against Troy.
The slam
was the third by ULM in its last 14 games and the first home run over
the
batter's eye since 2008.
Wade finished
2-for-4 on the
night, while Gill and Hammond also had a pair of hits. Hammond is
12-for-19
(.632) over his past seven games at the plate.
Smith put the
Warhawks up 6-0
with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to score Gill after he led off
the inning with a pinch-hit single. Hammond scored the final run of the
game on
a Troy fielding error later in the frame.
Dickerson (5-5)
worked a
complete game in the losing effort for Troy. He allowed seven runs - six
earned
- on 10 hits over eight innings of work. Miles Hoyle and Chase Whitley
each had
two hits for Troy.
The teams continue
their
three-game series Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. Jones (3-5, 6.35) will
get the
start for the Warhawks opposite Troy's Tyler Ray (5-3, 5.46).
