Offense Keys Saturday Sweep

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. ? A flurry of first inning offense highlighted a pair of Troy victories on Saturday in Bowling Green. The Trojans defeated Western Kentucky 7-3 and 6-1 in Sun Belt Conference action.

“At the plate we came through on numerous occasions with two-out RBI's. That's something we had been working on in practice and it finally paid off,” head coach Melanie Davis said.

Troy (22-15, 7-4 SBC) jump-started their road trip in the first inning of the game one with three runs off Lady Topper starting pitcher Jennifer Kempf en route to a 6-3 win.

Heidi Johnson came around on a wild pitch to score Troy's first run, then Tanya McLean ripped a double to score two more and push the Troy lead out to 3-0.

The Trojans picked up two more in the third inning on Katie Taber two-run single and pinch runner Katie Kolb scored on an error to make the lead 6-0.

Ashlyn Williams was dominant for six innings, scattering two hits, but in the sixth after an error by shortstop Courtney Davis, Lindsay Antone knocked a three-run home run to put WKU on the board.

Williams (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) completed the game to earn her 17^th victory of the season.

Johnson and Davis both finished with multiple hits in game one.

In game two Courtney Davis powered the offense to a 6-1 victory with her 3-for-3, four RBI display.

Davis hit a two-run home run in the first inning, then WKU added a run in the bottom half to end the first inning with Troy leading 2-1.

Davis plated Heidi Johnson in the third inning for the Trojans' third run and a 3-1 advantage.

Tanya McLean belted her second home run of the season to deep left field to provide another Troy run in the fourth, pushing the lead to 4-1.

Pinch Runner Kala Moore crossed the plate in the fifth inning after a Davis single to give the senior four RBI's for the game and secure the Trojans' 5-1 victory.

Rocky Paige started in the circle for Troy, completing two and one-third innings and allowing one run on four hits.

Paige was relieved by Ashlyn Williams (4.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER) who picked up her league-leading 18^th victory.

“We did a good job of utilizing our pitching staff today. Rocky and Ashlyn both did their jobs and made a great combination,” Davis said.

Johnson was 2-for-3 in game two and combined with game one (2-for-4) was 4-for-7 on the game, just one day after being severely ill.

“Heidi [Johnson] came back from being sick on Friday to perform well. She's a gamer and I can't say enough about her,” Davis said.

The Trojans will have a chance to sweep their second Sun Belt Conference series on Sunday.

“Its a nice feeling to have secured the series and we've challenged our team to not be satisfied,” Davis said.

“Because of the parity in the league, every win is incredibly important so we have got to step up and try to secure the sweep.”

First pitch for Sunday's game three is set for 1 pm.

Troy University Athletics

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