TROY, Ala. – The ULM baseball team dropped the series opener to No. 20 Troy on Thursday (April 17) night at Riddle-Pace Field in Troy, Ala.

The Trojans (27-11, 11-5 Sun Belt) racked up 12 hits and four doubles to generate nine runs. Troy held the Warhawks (19-20, 5-11 Sun Belt) to four runs on eight hits and did not surrender an extra base hit.
 
Troy issued three free passes after Bryce Blaser was hit by a pitch and Henry Garcia Jr. and Colby Lunsford drew walks with two outs to extend the top of the first. Garrett Gainous fired his first strikeout of the night as the Warhawks stranded the bases loaded. Joey Cirelli pitched a 1-2-3 bottom half of the first and neither team scored in the opening inning. Major Brignon riped a single to right field for ULM's first hit of the game in the second. Troy scored the game's first run in the bottom of the second after Steven Meier hit an RBI groundout. Kade Dupont led off the third with a base hit before Gainus recorded three consecutive outs and finished his third scoreless inning. Troy's Sean Darnell hit an RBI single and Brooks Bryan plated two on a double and extended the Trojans' lead to 4-0 after three innings.
 
With one out in the fourth, Jake Haggard hit a single to left and moved 90 feet after a Troy wild pitch. On a 2-2 pitch, Brignon drove in ULM's first run of the night with his second hit of the game on a line drive to center that allowed Haggard to cross home plate. Tony Lindwedel walked, and ULM had two runners on with one out before an inning-ending double play was turned by Troy. Aidan Haynes escaped damage in his relief inning out of the bullpen after Troy loaded the bases with one out and kept the deficit at three runs with a strikeout and a ground out to end the inning. Dupont reached base for the second time on a hit by pitch to start the fifth inning and moved to second with two outs on a wild pitch. Gainous completed his fourth scoreless inning as ULM stranded its seventh runner on base to end the top of the fifth. Landon Grigg induced a double play turned by Michelle Artzberger and Brignon that wiped away a leadoff hit for the Trojans in a shutout fifth inning. Brignon delivered his second RBI base hit of the night that scored Artzberger and trimmed Troy's lead in half, 4-2. An error, a balk and an RBI base hit padded Troy's lead in the bottom of the sixth to 7-2.
 
Blaser collected a base hit up the middle in the seventh and was stranded at second base after a wild pitch. Troy scored a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on a two-RBI single by Houston Markham. Lindwedel lifted a sacrifice fly that scored Artzberger in the top of the eighth inning. Adam Tubbs tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning. Garcia Jr. drew a walk before Troy wrapped up the game on a strikeout and took game one, 9-3.

Brignon and Haggard accounted for five of ULM's eight hits with Brignon swining for his first three-hit game of his collegiate career. Dupont, Blaser and Artzberger all finished with one hit each. Cirelli was charged with the loss after allowing four runs on five hits. Haynes did not surrender a run and struck out one batter. Grigg surrendered three runs and struck out one while Tubbs struck out three and gave up two runs.

Game two of the series between ULM and Troy will be held Friday (April 18) night with first pitch set for 6 p.m. at Riddle-Pace Field.