Troy University Athletics
Troy Wins A-Sun Regular Season Outright By Splitting Doubleheader With UCF
4/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
ORLANDO, Fla. - Troy University split a doubleheader with the Golden Knights of Central Florida winning game one 3-1 and dropping game two 11-8. Sophomore pitcher Jocelyn McCallum gave a dominant performance in game one pitching a one-hitter striking out 12.
UCF opened up scoring in game one when McCallum walked two batters, hit a batter, and then walked another to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead after the bottom of the second. Troy would answer in the top of the fourth when senior catcher Tamra Howren homered to right-center to tie the game at one.
Troy took the lead in the top of the fifth when senior center fielder Jenny Boyd singled down the left field line. Boyd then stole second and third on consecutive plays and came around to score on a throwing error by the UCF catcher.
The Trojans would add another run in the top of the seventh when Howren hit a sacrifice fly to the left fielder to score shortstop Caurie Miller. Miller had reached base on a walk, advanced to second on a Boyd infield single, and finally advance to third when right fielder Stacey Dwyer was hit by a pitch.
Troy would take game one as McCallum threw a complete game one-hitter. The Stafford Heights, Qld. Australia native improved her record to 17-7 while the Trojans improved to 41-17 overall.
In game two UCF once again opened the scoring with a bases loaded walk to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Troy would answer in their half of the second inning when second baseman Brooke Powell singled to left to drive home junior Paige Foster. Caurie Miller then doubled to bring home Powell and Amanda Ragans who reached base on a walk. Jenny Boyd then singled to score Miller and the Trojans held a 4-1 lead after two.
Troy added a run in the top of the third when senior Lindsey Wyatt singled to right field with Sally Jones on first base. A fielding error after the hit was recorded allowed Jones to score from first to give the Trojans a 5-1 lead.
The Golden Knights got back on the board with a Stephanie Best home run to center field to cut the lead to three. Best, who leads the nation in home runs with 23, had been intentionally walked in her previous at bat.
The Trojans would add two more runs in the top of the fifth when Jones homered to left field to drive in Foster who had reached base on a bunt. It was Jones' second home run of the season and it gave the Trojans a 7-2 lead.
UCF and Troy traded runs in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth innings as Best singled to score a runner on second to make the score 7-3 which was followed by a Miller home run to left, her sixth of the year. After five and one half innings the Trojans held an 8-3 lead.
It was in the UCF half of the sixth inning that things turned for the worse for Troy. UCF scored eight runs on six hits while the Trojans committed one error as the Golden Knights took an 11-8 lead over Troy.
The bottom of the sixth would be the Trojans downfall as UCF took game two 11-8. UCF clinched a spot in the Atlantic Sun Tournament with the split while the Trojans had already locked up the number one seed in the tournament by splitting with Florida Atlantic on Friday.
Troy's 17-3 conference record gives them the A-Sun regular season championship outright. This is Troy's first regular season championship since 1999 when the Trojans captured the A-Sun West title with a record of 13-3 in conference play. Troy is now 41-18 overall.
The Trojans will go on to host Florida State of the Atlantic Coast Conference in a doubleheader on Sunday, May 1st. Sunday will be senior day for the Trojans as five seniors will play their last home game against the Seminoles. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
-TROJANS-
