Trojans Wrap-up Sweep With Blowout of Brown

Monday, March 29

Troy, Ala.

3:00 pm

Troy University

Brown

Trojans Wrap-up Sweep With Blowout of Brown

3/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Troy junior Adam Bryant set the tone for Monday's series finale against Brown when he launched a homer in the first inning.

The blast was the first of many for the Trojans, and the first of two for Bryant, as Troy rolled to a 26-3 victory on Monday afternoon at Riddle-Pace Field.

The Trojans got their heads above water for the season with the win, improving to 12-11 overall. Brown, which has games left this week at New Orleans and South Alabama, falls to 2-11 on the season.

Overall, the Trojans pounded out 29 hits against four Brown pitchers and Troy scored in every inning. In addition to Bryant's two homers, giving him a team-leading nine on the season, Troy got two homers from Ryan Ditthardt and one from T.J. Rivera.

“Their pitching was a little down, and we have all been through that,” Trojans coach Bobby Pierce said. “I was proud of the way we responded and got the ball off the bat. I saw some things today that we haven't seen in a while out of our club – consistency, a little power and a lot of other good things.”

While the Trojans were piling up runs by the bushel, junior right-hander Drew Hull (2-4) turned in his second straight sparkling performance on the mound. The Auburn native surrendered just three hits over six innings with no walks and four strikeouts.

“We have felt that Drew has had some of the best stuff on our club for two years, but we have never been able to get the gutty kind of performance out of him,” Pierce said. “Kids have to grow up and start to believe in themselves and we are starting to see some of that out of Drew. I don't know if he will pitch that well all year, but he should be able to go out there and attack each game the same way.”

Freshman Brad Kottman (0-2) started and took the loss for the Bears, but he was the lucky member of the Brown pitching staff. Kottman didn't survive the first inning, allowing seven runs on six hits before giving way to another freshman, Heath Mayo.

Mayo took the brunt of the Trojans attack, pitching 4.1 innings for the Bears, allowing 12 earned runs on 15 hits.

“You do feel for the opponent, especially the guy on the mound who was having to take one for the team,” Pierce said. “They got caught in a trap where they had to live with a guy and he had to take it on the chin. You have to feel for them but, we have been through similar situations and our mindset was that we needed to keep working and keep pushing.”

After the seven-run first, the Trojans scored single runs in the second, fourth and sixth innings, plated five in the third, six in the fifth, three in the seventh and two in the eighth.

Bryant, who had been in a terrible hitting slump entering the Brown series, left the game after the fourth inning, having already posted four hits with three runs scored and three driven in. During the series he raised his season average 65 points, to .361.

“Adam had a great day and I really hated to get him off the field,” Pierce said. “That is a tough call because you are trying to be respectful and show some sportsmanship, but Adam was having a career-type of day. He has had those types of days before.”

Other Trojans who had big days at the plate included Ditthardt, who had four hits and drove in six, senior Shohei Fujita, who had four hits, and senior Steven Felix, who have five hits and drove in four. Overall, 13 different Troy players had at least one hit in the game.

“A game like this was just what we needed because we needed a game where every pitch wasn't a must pitch so that we could relax and work on some things,” Pierce said. “We talked to our guys before at bats about going up there and accomplishing certain things, and I think we did that.”

The Bears had just six hits in the game, but broke the shutout with a single run in the eighth inning off senior Jordan Mathers, and two more in the ninth off sophomore A.J. Howard. Brown managed just six hits in the game, two of which came from shortstop Chris Tanabe.

The Trojans will be back in action on Wednesday night when they host the red-hot Auburn Tigers. Auburn is coming off a series loss to 14th-ranked South Carolina, but eight of its last 10 and has an overall record of 17-7.

First pitch for the game between the Trojans and Tigers is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday. To reserve tickets for the game, contact the Troy Athletics Ticket Office at 334-670-3681.