The Last Couple of Weeks Have Been Tough

The last couple weeks have been a real trial for our team, not only in a physical aspect but also in a mental one as well.

This trial has really tested our teams' ability to bounce back from losses and keep a positive attitude in all phases of the game. It has also shown us a lot about our teams chemistry because a lot of times when a team faces adversity, that team becomes full of individuals who are negative toward everyone else.

Our team, on the other hand, is full of guys who are behind each other in the best times and in the worst times.

Our coaching staff has really been behind us as well. When a lot of coaches would give up on a team, Coach Pierce sat us down and told us that he still believed in us and believed in our ability to have a good year.

Before the Western Kentucky series (the Hilltoppers were 6-0 in conference), Coach Pierce told us how good the Hilltoppers were in each phase of the game, but then showed us the stats for our team and that we were better in each phase.

That was something our team really needed, to know our coach still believed in us and believed we were the best team.

The series against WKU didn't fall in our favor, but each game was a hard-fought battle.

In the first game, we scored first and had a 2-0 lead before WKU had a three-run inning (with two runs coming from a home run) in the third. We tied the game in the fourth inning on a solo homer from Bart Pettus. In the eighth inning, the Hilltoppers scored three runs to make the score 6-3. We were unable to recover from that and lost 7-4.

The second game of the series was a thriller, going 13 innings. We jumped out to 2-0 lead in the first inning on a Ryan Ditthardt double that scored Chad Watson and Michael Precise. We stretched our lead to 4-0 in the second inning. The lead was cut to 4-2 in the fifth inning on a home run to right field. We scored three more runs in the eighth to make the score 7-2 going into the ninth inning.

The WKU team wouldn't give up, scoring five runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 7-7. The score remained tied until Ryan Ditthardt, in the bottom of the 13th inning, hit a mammoth walk-off home run to end the game.

The story of the night was the outstanding pitching by the freshman Tyler Ray (who struck out eight) and the junior Tim Wheeler (who struck out two and picked up the win). Our pitching really kept us in the game and gave us an opportunity to win in the later innings.

The Sunday finale game was a thriller as well, but didn't come out in the Trojans favor as we lost 6-4 in 11 innings. Senior Travis Burge pitched a masterpiece, only giving up six hits and two runs in eight innings, and kept us in the game.

We were proud of our efforts throughout the weekend, even though we came up a little short in the win column.

We continued our good play as we traveled to Jacksonville State on Tuesday to seek revenge on a loss the previous week to the Gamecocks. The game started off with a bang as Miles Hoyle led off with a home run in the first inning to get us out to a quick lead. We ended up scoring five runs and won by a score of 5-1.

Our pitching staff did an outstanding job on the night and allowed only one run and three hits for the entire game. Andrew Dickinson started the game and pitched four innings, and he was followed by Drew Hull, who allowed only one hit in four innings. Josh Storm came in for the ninth inning and finished the game.

We traveled to New Orleans on Thursday to play the Privateers for our third series in conference. The first game was rained out and postponed and we played a doubleheader on Saturday. We lost the first game (a slugfest) by a score of 13-10. With a powerful wind blowing out to right field the balls were really flying and it was hard to keep the ball in the park. With the bats hot for both teams, the Privateers were able to cash in and score more runs.

The second game wasn't going in our favor either, as we found ourselves trailing by one run going into the top of the ninth inning. A couple of key UNO errors allowed us to tie the game at 7 and forced extra innings. Steven Felix came up with two outs in the top of the 11th and had a push bunt single and advanced to second on a balk. Junior Chad Watson hit a line drive though the infield to score Felix and make the score 8-7.

Senior Jeff Green pitched an amazing four innings of work from the seventh inning to the 10th inning and kept us in the game. He allowed no hits and had six strikeouts in his four innings.

The third game was another slugfest, as the gusting wind played havoc for the pitchers again. We ended up winning the game in eight innings by a score of 19-8. We hit the ball really well in the Sunday game and also pitched very well too.

The game ended in eight innings because of the "Getaway Day" Rule. The rule states that if a team is winning by 10 or more runs after the seventh inning the game is called.

In the weekend, the Trojans hit eight home runs and had a total of 45 hits. It was a great weekend of baseball and our first conference series win of the year. Hopefully the pitching will continue to be good and the hitting will continue to roll.

Trevor

Troy University Athletics

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