Trojans Fall Late To ULL 8-5

Sunday, April 11

Lafayette, La.

1:00 pm

Troy University

UL Lafayette

4/11/2010 9:00:00 PM | Baseball

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Troy Trojans suffered their first Sun Belt Conference sweep since the 2007 season, failing to hold a late lead on Sunday afternoon in dropping an 8-5 decision at Louisiana-Lafayette.

Troy falls to 16-15 overall on the year and 4-8 in league play while the Ragin' Cajuns improved to 18-14 overall and 7-8 in the conference.

Troy trailed in the game 4-2 going to the seventh, but plated three runs in that inning to regain the lead. The inning could have been much bigger for Troy but after Adam Bryant, whose two-run double tied the game, scored on a wild pitch, the Trojans failed to deliver after two walks loaded the bases.

ULL came right back in the home half of the inning, with Troy closer Chase Whitley (2-2) on the mound, and got solo homers from Greg Fontenot and Jordan Poirrier to regain the lead. The Cajuns added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth when Fontenot delivered a two-run single.

“They made plays and got big hits when they needed them and we didn't,” Trojans coach Bobby Pierce said. “We should have been able to do more early in the game against their starter (Michael Cook), but we didn't take advantage of the opportunities.”

Troy got the lead with single runs in each of the first two innings. Bryant led off the game with a homer off Cook. It was his team-leading 10th of the year and his third to start a game. Whitley drove in a run in the second with a single, but left two on in the inning and had a failed sacrifice attempt.

The Cajuns knotted the score in the home half of the second when Tyler Frederick hit a two-run homer, his first of the year, off Troy starter Drew Hull. The homer was the only mistake Hull made until the sixth inning when he surrendered back-to-back doubles to Poirrier and Chad Keefer before leaving the game trailing 3-2.

ULL plated another run in the sixth after Whitley came in on a wild pitch, but the junior struck out three to avoid any other woes. Overall, Whitley allowed four runs in three innings of work to take the loss. He entered the game having allowed just three earned runs in 28.2 innings all year.

“He was a little under the ball, which happens sometimes,” Pierce said. “Give their guys some credit because they got some good swings against our best guy.”

Junior right-hander Ryland Parker (1-0) worked 2.2 strong innings for ULL to earn the victory. He did not allow a hit and struck out three down the stretch for the Cajuns.

Bryant led the Trojans with three hits and three RBI. Whitley also had two hits for Troy. Poirrier, Frederick, Alex Fuselier and Fontenot had two hits each for ULL.

The Trojans will return to Riddle-Pace Field on Tuesday night to take on UAB in the first of two back-to-back games with the Blazers. The first pitch is set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams will meet again on Wednesday in Birmingham at 6:30 p.m.