MONROE, La. - Ryan
Ditthardt
hit three doubles and a home run to lead Troy to a 13-3 victory over ULM
Saturday afternoon at Warhawk Field. The Trojans now have a four game
lead over
the Warhawks for the eighth and final spot in the Sun Belt Conference
Tournament with seven league games to play.
Ditthardt finished
the game
5-for-6 with four runs scored and a pair of RBIs. Todd McRae was 3-for-5
with
five RBIs while Adam Bryant, Steve Felix, Chad Watson and Shohei Fujita
had a
pair of hits for the Trojans.
Following three
scoreless innings
of play, Troy (25-21, 11-12 Sun Belt) pushed five runs across the plate
in the
fourth. Ditthardt opened the scoring with a double that hit off third base and
skirted down the left-field line. Felix had an RBI single and later
scored from
third when Fujita was caught stealing at second. The final two runs of
the
inning were unearned after a two-out error by the Warhawks (17-30,
7-16).
Kelvin York was
2-for-3 and
scored the first run of the game for the Warhawks. He reached on a
one-out
single in the fourth and then stole second. He advanced to third on a
misplay
by the Trojan defense and scored on a throwing error. Judd Edwards also
had two
hits for the Warhawks and Shane Ardoin hit a two-run home run in the
bottom of
the ninth.
Ditthardt hit a
one-out homer
in the fifth to extend the Trojan lead out to 6-1. Troy scored two in
the
seventh and five in the eighth to break the game open. McRae had the big
hit in
the eighth for the Trojans as he doubled with the bases loaded to drive
in three
runs.
Tyler Ray (6-3)
worked seven
innings of six-hit ball to pick up the win for Troy. He allowed one
unearned
run, struck out three and walked two. James Jones (3-6) suffered the
loss for
the Warhawks after allowing eight runs - six earned - on 11 hits over 6
1/3
innings of work. He didn't walk a batter and struck out two.
The teams wrap up
the
three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. Jordy Poche (3-4, 7.60) will start
for the
Warhawks opposite Troy's Drew Hull (2-5, 7.48). It will be Kids Day at
Warhawk
Field - all children 12 and under will be admitted free and will have an
opportunity to run on the field for the National Anthem with their
favorite
Warhawk.
