Strong Pitching Keys Troy in 6-3 Win

Sunday, May 2

Troy, Ala.

1:00 pm

Troy University

Western Kentucky

5/2/2010 9:00:00 PM | Baseball

Going into Sunday's series finale against 27th ranked Western Kentucky, the Troy Trojans figured they would need to score a lot of runs to have a chance.

A pair of right-handed pitchers had other ideas as junior Drew Hull and freshman Thomas Austin combined to hold the Hilltoppers to just three hits as the Trojans took a 6-3 victory to take the series.

With the win, Troy improves to 23-20 overall on the year and 10-11 in Sun Belt Conference play with three weeks left in the regular season. The Hilltoppers fall to 31-16 overall and 12-9 in league play, falling for the eighth time in their last 11 conference games.

The only thing that kept the Trojans from shutting out the Toppers was the six walks Hull and Austin (4-1) allowed. Three of the walks resulted in runs.

“It was surprising that our guys pitched well enough to hold WKU down to three hits,” Trojans coach Bobby Pierce said. “ Drew Hull started off in good fashion. He had good stuff, but I don't know what happened to him there in the fifth inning when he gave up four straight free bases and that ended his day.

“ Thomas Austin came in and, the impressive thing he did was battle through losing his arm slot. He ran down to the bullpen between innings and got it back, which you never see a guy do. After that, he was lights out.”

Fortunately for the Troy hurlers, the offense was able to give the Trojans a lead early by scoring four times in the first inning off Hilltoppers starter Brian Edelen (4-1). One run scored on a groundout, two on a double in the gap by Steven Felix, who then scored on a wild pitch.

Felix, who had struggled in the series coming into Sunday, figured prominently in both Troy scoring runs, and WKU struggling to score. After going 1-for-7 with five strikeouts in the first two games, he had two hits and scored twice on Sunday. He reached base all four times he came up and stole a pair of bases.

On the defensive side, he made a pair of outstanding catches on line drives to right and, in the fifth inning, made a game-saving throw. The Hilltoppers drew three walks and had one batter hit by a pitch with two out in the inning.

“You know how this game can take you from hero to goat or goat to hero in a hurry, and Steven did not play well on Friday night, offensively or defensively,” Pierce said. “He started to get things back on track today. He had a couple of big hits in the game, made two diving catches in the outfield and threw a guy out at the plate. That is just an example of staying with a guy who is trying to make plays because he will end up making some plays for you.”

Austin came on for Hull and gave up a single to Kes Carter, plating one run, but Felix cut down Matt Payton, who represented the tying run, at the plate by fielding the hit with his bare hand and firing a strike to Todd McRae at home to end the inning.

“When you are up 4-0 and have a chance to get out of the inning, you have to pay a little attention to the runners, but when it comes time to make a pitch, you still have to make a pitch,” Pierce said. “Drew wasn't able to do that very well, much like their closer, (Rye) Davis, in the eighth inning. We were able to steal a couple of bases and his attention wend somewhere else and I was proud of Shohei for getting the big hit once again.

After the Felix throw, the Hilltoppers managed to get just two more runners on base, both on walks in the sixth. Austin retired the final 10 men he faced to close out the victory.

Troy scored a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning by being uncharacteristically aggressive on the base paths. Felix reached to open the inning with a one-out single and then stole second. With first base open, the Hilltoppers elected to walk Ryan Ditthardt intentionally.

After WKU brought in closer Rye Davis, the Trojans pulled a double steal before Shohei Fujita delivered a single to shallow left-center, scoring both runs.

While WKU struggled to get hits, Troy managed just eight hits in the game as well as the teams battled a howling wind from the south that blew in from right field at speeds up to 35 miles per hour. Felix was the only player for either team to manage two hits on the day.

“Obviously, this was a big series win,” Pierce said. “I am proud of the series win and I will take them any way I can get them, but there are so many things that I see that we can do better. Hopefully this is a start in getting us going in the right direction. I think this team still has a run left in them, but it is up to them now. They have to take a series win like this and run with it.”

The Trojans will be back in action on Wednesday night at Riddle-Pace Field against in-state rival Jacksonville State. The game was originally scheduled for March 23, but was changed after the game at JSU on March 2 was postponed by snow.

In that game at JSU, which was played on March 23, Drew Hull was dominant on the mound into the eighth inning before the Gamecocks rallied for a 7-3 win.

“We have to get ready for a Jacksonville State team that Drew Hull dominated before they came back and won the game,” Pierce said. “They are a good club and then we get back into conference play next weekend in Monroe. I think this is a chance for us to finally hit a stretch run and put some things together.”

Troy season-ticket holders will be able to use their tickets dated March 23 for admission to the game against JSU on Wednesday.