Trojans Continue Onslaught Against Hofstra

Saturday, February 20

Troy, Ala.

1:00 pm

Troy University

Hofstra

Trojans Continue Onslaught Against Hofstra

2/20/2010 10:00:00 PM | Baseball

Junior Chase Whitley came to Troy University in hopes of some day putting his name in the Trojans baseball record book.

It took him all of two days to accomplish that goal, although probably not the way he had hoped.

Whitley was hit by a pitch three times on Saturday, which helped him score six runs in the Trojans' 22-2 victory over Hofstra in the second game of the opening weekend series.

The final game of the series is set for an 11 a.m. start on Sunday to allow the Pride plenty of time to travel to Atlanta to catch their flight home.

Whitley, who was also hit by a pitch once in the opening game, reached base and scored each of the six times he came to the plate. The six runs scored fell one shy of the school single-game mark of seven, which was set by Ricky Rowe against Stetson in 1999.

Despite Whitley's record-breaking day, the star of the game for the Trojans was freshman left-handed pitcher Shane McCain (1-0). In his collegiate debut, McCain dominated the Hofstra order, allowing just three hits and facing just two batters over the minimum through six innings.

“I don't know that I have ever had a freshman come out and throw six shutout innings like that in his first start,” Trojans head coach Bobby Pierce said. “He had great command and pitched really well. I am proud of his effort.”

McCain needed just 66 pitches to work six innings. He did not walk anyone and struck out three.

The Trojans gave the freshman plenty of offensive support, scoring nine runs in the first two innings. Troy scored multiple runs in six of its eight turns at the plate.

“We've had a lot of opening series here that haven't gone so well, but this has been good because we've had a chance to get a lot of guys some experience,” Pierce said. “A lot of guys have been swinging the bat well in these first two games.”

Blake Martz and Chad Watson led Troy's 18-hit attack on Saturday with three hits each. Martz, J.R. Myers and T.J. Rivera drove in three runs each – Rivera with a three-run homer in the fifth and Myers with a three-run homer in the sixth. Every Troy starter had at least one hit in the game.

The Trojans did their damage against five Hofstra hurlers. Starter Cody Normand (0-1) allowed eight earned runs in two innings while Drew Liebert allowed six earned in three frames.

The Pride avoided the shutout by scoring a single run in the seventh off Nick Ward and an unearned run in the eighth off A.J. Howard. Whitley worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to close out the game.

The Trojans will go for the series sweep on Sunday when senior right-hander Andrew Dickinson takes the mound for the first time. He will be opposed by junior right-hander Kevin Rigopoulos for Hofstra.

“Andrew is a fifth-year senior who will throw a lot of ground balls,” Pierce said. “He has come all the way back from his arm problems of two years ago. If he is on like he has been, the infield had better be ready to go.”