Trojans Roll Past MTSU 15-4

Wednesday, May 26

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

11:15 pm

Troy University

Middle Tennessee

5/27/2010 7:00:00 AM | Baseball

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Strange things sometimes happen in the dead of night.

In a game played mostly after midnight, the Troy Trojans bats came to life in the dead of night and routed tournament host Middle Tennessee 15-4 at Reese Smith Field.

After having to wait almost four hours before finally getting to take the field, the Trojans jumped on home-standing Middle Tennessee early and then used an eight-run eighth inning to run-rule the tournament hosts in the final game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament's opening day of play.

Troy improved to 34-23 on the year while dropping the Blue Raiders to 34-22. Middle Tennessee will face UL Lafayette, an 8-6 loser to Arkansas State, in an elimination game at 12:30 this afternoon. Troy will face the Red Wolves in a game scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The Trojans jumped on top quickly when Ryan Ditthardt hit the first pitch of the second inning for a long home run off MTSU starter Kenneth Roberts (4-6).

The Trojans followed up in the third inning, scoring five times to chase Roberts. A solo homer by Chad Watson, a two-run double by Ditthardt and an RBI double by J.R. Myers were the big blows in the inning.

The Blue Raiders started battling back in the fourth inning, scoring three times against Trojans starter Andrew Dickinson (7-5). Tyler Burnett singled to drive in the first run and Will Skinner followed with a run-scoring double. A Drew Robertson single plated the third run and the inning came to end when Steven Felix gunned down Skinner at home when he tried to score on a fly ball.

Troy added an insurance run in the fifth when Miles Hoyle scored on a single by Watson.

MTSU got that run back on a solo homer by Skinner in the sixth before the fireworks really started. Troy batted five Blue Raiders pitchers in the decisive eighth inning, scoring eight times before the first out was recorded.

The big blows in the frame included a three-run double by Ditthardt and a two-run homer by Hoyle.

Following the big inning, senior Robby Loew came in to finish for Dickinson, who worked seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Ditthardt led the Trojans offensively with three hits and six RBI. Watson also had three hits and drove in three while Whitley, Hoyle and Myers had two hits each. All nine Troy starters had at least one hit in the game, including Adam Bryant, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the eighth.