Slam Costs Trojans in Series Finale

Sunday, April 18

Troy, Ala.

1:00 pm

Troy University

Middle Tennessee

4/18/2010 9:00:00 PM | Baseball

For the second straight day, the Troy Trojans saw an early lead over Middle Tennessee fade into the distance on a Blue Raiders grand slam, lifting MTSU to series deciding 9-4 victory on Sunday at Riddle-Pace Field.

This time the big blow came off the bat of third baseman Tyler Burnett against Troy starter Drew Hull (2-5), after Hull had gotten ahead in the count. The blast turned a 3-3 game into a 7-3 MTSU lead.

Blue Raiders starting pitcher Eric Gilley (4-1) looked as if he would not make it out of the first inning, but settled down after a rough start and went the distance for Middle Tennessee (22-14, 11-7). He allowed eight hits and struck out five in going the distance.

“When you get a guy on the ropes early you need to get him out of the game,” Trojans coach Bobby Pierce said. “We had him on the ropes but couldn't get him out of the game. He got better as the game went along and I thought the ninth inning was his best inning. Give him credit for battling through the tough early part of the game.”

The Trojans fall back to 18-18 overall and 5-10 in Sun Belt play with the loss.

Troy got after Gilley in the first inning, putting two runs and four hits on the board, but let a chance at a big inning slip away by leaving the bases loaded. The Trojans added a single unearned run in the second and another in the seventh, but that was it.

The Blue Raiders, who lead the Sun Belt in home runs, used the long ball almost exclusively on Sunday. Zach Hudson hit a solo homerin the third and Justin Jones hit a two-run shot in the fourth before Burnett's slam. MTSU added an unearned run in the ninth.

“Baseball is played with two outs, on offense and on defense, and our team has not played well with two outs,” Pierce said. “I think seven of their runs today came with two outs.”

Justin Miller led MTSU's 14-hit attack with three. Hudson, Burnett, Justin Guidry and Jones had two hits each. Adam Bryant, Chase Whitley and Todd McRae had two hits each to lead Troy.

The Trojans will be back in action on Tuesday night when they open a four-game road trip at Auburn. Troy will visit New Orleans next weekend for a Sun Belt series against the Privateers.

“Pitching will be the key and we'll approach that game by committee,” Pierce said of the game at Auburn. “It would be great to win at Auburn, but we are going to have to pitch well and throw a lot of guys. We will have to hit and hit with runners on base and do a better job with two outs.”