Troy University Athletics
Troy University
Southern Illinois
Trojans Sweep Pair On Day Two of Caravelle Invitational
2/21/2009 6:00:00 AM | Baseball
MYRTLE BEACH, SC ? The Troy University Trojans baseball team bounced back from a season-opening loss with a sweep of two games on Saturday.
Troy (2-1) took the opening game 8-2 over Southern Illinois before downing James Madison 6-3 in the nightcap. Troy will face Southern Illinois on Sunday at 11 a.m. in the final game of the Caravelle Resort Invitational.
“To get two games in one day is great,” Troy coach Bobby Pierce said. “It was an extremely long day and it is hard to stay focused for 18 innings, but this team did a good job all day today.”
Troy 8, Southern Illinois 2
The Trojans earned their first victory of the season behind a stellar pitching performance from freshman Tyler Ray (1-0). In his first collegiate performance, Ray worked six strong innings, scattering just five hits while striking out six and walking none.
“Tyler Ray got everything started for us with an outstanding performance on the mound,” Pierce said. “He had to pitch his way out of a couple of jams, but was right on top of that and was great for six innings.”
Troy gave Ray support by scoring a pair of runs in the third inning off SIU starter Nathan Forer (0-1). J.R. Myers plated one on a ground out and Michael Precise doubled in another.
The Trojans blew the game open in the top of the seventh, chasing Forer in the process. Steven Rosado, Myers, Ryan Ditthardt and Charley Williams all had run-scoring hits in the inning, which included a bit of controversy.
With two out and only two runs in at that point, Daryl Otwell appeared to have delivered a three-run homer down the leftfield line. Plate umpire Tom Katancik signaled homer but, after an argument from the SIU dugout, he was overruled by first base umpire Jamie Roebuck.
“If there was ever a time in a game for a head coach to get thrown out, that was it,” Pierce said. “I have never seen a call like that in my entire career. What made it more unbelievable was he tried to justify the call by saying he had a better angle, which was impossible. I am just glad that it didn't cost us a game.”
SIU scored its only runs in the bottom of the inning off Troy reliever Jordan Mathers, but junior Chris Sorce came on and got the Trojans out of further damage. Sorce and closer Josh Storm closed out the win for Troy.
Bart Pettus led Troy's 12-hit offensive attack with three hits while Myers, Precise and Ditthardt had two hits each.
Troy 6, James Madison 3
The Trojans got off to a quick start against James Madison in their second game of the day. In the second inning, JMU freshman starter Evan Scott (0-1) issued a pair of one-out walks, but appeared set to get out of trouble when he struck out Steven Felix.
That all changed when Brett Henry, making his first start of the year, delivered a long opposite field drive to right for his first home run of the year.
“We have been working for Hank for years to get him to try to hit the ball more to right field,” Pierce said. “We made a little adjustment a couple of weeks ago and after today, with two homers and a double to right, he will trust what we have been telling him.”
JMU got two of those runs back in the bottom of the inning off Troy starter Travis Burge (1-0). Matt Townsend led off with a double and scored on a hit by David Herbek. Herbek later scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Fabiaschi.
Troy got one run back in the third on singles by Rosado and Precise with a ground out and wild pitch in between. The Trojans got the other back in fourth when Henry blasted his second homer of the game, this one a two-out solo shot into the rightfield corner.
Troy pushed its lead to 6-2 in the fifth when Rosado led off with a double and scored on a single by Precise.
Burge picked up a win in his first start, working six solid innings. The lefty allowed just two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out one. He was backed up by sophomore Drew Hull and Sorce with an inning of work each.
Senior J.J. Whetsel came on to pitch the ninth but, after allowing two hits and hitting a batter to load the bases with two outs, Storm was called on to finish.
Storm walked Jake Lowery to force in a run and bring Trevor Knight to the plate representing the winning run. Knight, who was a freshman All-America in 2008, got ahead in the count 2-0 before Storm battled back and appeared to have recorded a strikeout on a 2-2 pitch that was tipped into the mitt of Felix. But, the junior was unable to hang on and Storm geared up for one more pitch.
Knight put a good swing on the Storm fastball, but his fly to deep right settled into the glove of Precise to preserve the Troy victory.
“Burge pitched well in the second game and then we got a good effort out of our pen before J.J. ran into trouble in the ninth,” Pierce said. “The good thing is that Josh was able to come in and get a save and preserve the win.”
Henry led Troy with three hits in the JMU game while Rosado and Precise had two each.
