Ray Sparks Trojans to 5-2 Win Over ASU

Friday, April 3

Jonesboro, Ark.

6:00 pm

Troy University

Arkansas State

4/3/2009 5:00:00 AM | Baseball

JONESBORO, Ark. ? For the Troy Trojans, freshman pitcher Tyler Ray was just what the doctor ordered.

The right-hander squared off with senior preseason All-Sun Belt pitcher Chase Ware from Arkansas State in the first game of a three-game weekend series, and matched the Red Wolves hurler pitch-for-pitch long enough for the Troy offense to finally break through, leading to a 5-2 Troy victory.

The Trojans (16-12, 5-5) ran their all-time record against ASU to 10-0 with the victory and won their first Friday night Sun Belt Conference game this year. The Red Wolves fall to 12-15 overall and 6-7 in league play with the loss.

“Tyler Ray pitched very, very, well tonight,” Troy head coach Bobby Pierce said. “It was exactly what we needed on a Friday night. Hats off to him because their guy is very good.”

Ray (3-2) kept the Wolves at bay into the eighth inning before tiring, turning the game over to junior Chris Sorce. Despite some shaky outings lately, Sorce answered the call, preserving the Trojans' lead over the final inning and two-thirds for his first save of the year.

“Tyler ran out of gas late in the game, but Chris came in and got the job done,” Pierce said. “Chris Sorce was better than he had been lately and we were able to make some big plays in the field, including the one Brett Henry made that might have been a game-saver.”

Henry's place came in the ninth inning with one on and one out and Troy clinging to a 5-2 lead. Giovanni Garcia ripped a ball down the line that was ticketed for the corner, but Henry dove and backhanded the ball and, from his knees, threw out Brandon Eller at second base.

The Red Wolves followed with a single by Guy Brown and a walk to Jordan Kimball, loading the bases and bringing the potential winning run to the plate. At that point, Sorce bore down and struck out ASU leadoff hitter Cody Pace to seal the victory.

Troy jumped on top of Ware (3-1) in the first inning, getting a leadoff single from Bart Pettus and an RBI double from Ryan Ditthardt, but the Trojans didn't scratch against the ASU hurler again until the eighth inning.

The Red Wolves tied the game in the fifth when Eller led off with a single and scored on a ground out by Garcia.

Ware finally wore down in the eighth as Troy batted around and scored four times. Charley Williams led off the inning with a solo homer to give Troy a 2-1 lead, but that was not enough for the Trojans.

“You have to love it when your team hears your message and then goes out and executes your message,” Pierce said. “Even though we were 9-0 against them in this series, every game has been hard-fought and I knew that would be the case here tonight. Ware was very good, but we were ready and took advantage when he ran out of gas.”

Following Williams' third homer of the year, Pettus walked and Chad Watson followed with a bunt single. After Michael Precise delivered a sacrifice bunt, Ditthardt struck out, leaving the inning up to a struggling Henry.

After failing to hit the ball out of the infield off Ware his first three times up, Henry battled until he got a pitch he could handle, and delivered a single to center, scoring two runs. Steven Felix followed with a double to plate Henry for a 5-1 lead.

ASU got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Kimball, who reached on a one-out single and moved up after Ray walked two straight, scored on a sacrifice fly from Todd Baumgartner off Sorce. Sorce then struck out Murray Watts looking to end the inning and the ASU threat.

“This was a very big win for this team,” Pierce said. “To get a Friday win is something we have really needed and we had to work hard to get it. Now we have a chance to win the series on Saturday.”

Junior Jason Walls (1-2, 4.40) will get the call for the Trojans on Saturday and will face off with ASU senior left-hander Jett Jones (0-4, 6.89). The second game of the series is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start on Saturday.