TROY, Ala. - Troy scored six of its nine runs
with two outs, ultimately downing the ULM baseball team 9-4 Friday night at
Riddle-Pace Field.
Troy (23-26, 11-14 SBC) struck in the bottom
of the first inning, as Danny Collins smashed the first pitch he saw from
Shelby Aulds (3-2) over the center field wall to shoot the Trojans in front
3-0. Aulds struck out Jacob Nixon
swinging to end the frame.
Corben Green and Judd Edwards each opened the
top of the second inning with singles off Trojan starter Tyler Ray (4-5). Brandon Alexander drew a five-pitch walk to
load the bases with nobody out. Taylor
Abdalla then worked a walk of his own to score Green and bring ULM (24-25,
11-14 SBC) within two runs at 3-1. Logan
Fiasco grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, but Edwards scored to close the gap
to one (3-2). An RBI single through the
right side from Les Aulds scored Alexander and tied the game at 3-3.
Joey Rapp was hit by a pitch with one out in
the top of the third then advanced to third base on a Green single to right
field. Ray forced Edwards to pop out to
Collins at third base for the inning's third out.
A leadoff double from Tyler Hannah and a
sacrifice bunt from Tyler Vaughn gave the Trojans a runner in scoring position
with one man out in the bottom of the third inning. An RBI single from Logan Pierce gave Troy a
4-3 advantage.
Shortstop Jeremy Sy made three nice stops on
Troy ground balls in the bottom of the fourth inning, sitting the Trojans down
in order on 6-3 putouts to get Shelby Aulds out of the frame.
Clowers roped a 1-2 single off Ray in the top
of the fifth, moving Les Aulds over to third base with nobody out in the
inning. Sy grounded into a 6-4-3 double
play, but Aulds came across to score and tie the game at 4-4.
Clowers, Edwards and Green paced ULM with two
hits apiece, with Aulds and Abdalla adding RBIs.
Pinch hitter Chase Mathis clocked a solo home
run over the high wall in right field with two outs in the bottom of the sixth
inning, pushing Troy back in front 5-4.
An infield single by Abdalla and a bunt
single by Fiasco led off the ULM seventh inning against reliever Nate
Hill. Les Aulds sacrificed both men into
scoring position with a bunt back to the mound, but a Clowers strikeout and Sy
ground out stranded both runners on base.
Boone Shear ripped a two-out double into the
left field corner in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring Hannah to up the
Troy lead to 6-4. Kendall Thamm forced a
Collins pop out to end the Trojan threat.
Edwards sent a two-out single up the middle
in the top of the eighth inning, and pinch hitter Justin Stawychny was hit by a
1-0 pitch to chase Hill from the contest.
Thomas Austin got Abdalla to ground out to shortstop to stall the ULM
rally.
The Trojans opened an 8-4 lead on a Clay Holcomb
triple to the gap in left center field, scoring Mathis and Brandon Brown in the
bottom of the eighth inning. A Hannah
sacrifice fly extended the Troy cushion to 9-4.
Mathis, Hannah and Jake Harrell each finished
with two hits to lead Troy, with Hannah scoring a game-high three runs.
Game two of the three-game set is scheduled
for Saturday at 6 p.m.
