Trojans Erupt Late To Take Series Opener

Friday, March 18

Riddle-Pace Field

6:00 pm

Troy University

University of South Alabama

Photo by: Edward Fieder

3/18/2011 9:29:40 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Ricky Hazel

FINAL BOX SCORE: PDF | HTML PHOTO GALLERY | POST-GAME AUDIO

Troy turned a pitchers' dual into a comfortable victory by scoring six times in the eighth inning on Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field to take a 7-1 victory over South Alabama in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams.

Even with the victory, the Trojans left the field feeling a little uneasy. Troy junior starting pitcher Tyler Ray was hit on the lower right leg by line drives in both the fourth and sixth innings. He had to be helped from the field after the second shot, but x-rays on the leg were negative.

Troy improved to 15-3 overall on the year with the win while South Alabama fell to 9-7. The teams will meet again on Saturday night with the first pitch slated for 6 p.m.

“The pitching was great again,” Trojans coach Bobby Pierce said. “Tyler is going to be OK. He took two balls in the same exact spot. I have never seen that happen before. We were concerned that the second one might have fractured his leg, but it didn't. It is going to be a bad bruise and we'll have to wait and see how quickly we can get him back.”

With Ray out of the game in the sixth inning, the Trojans turned to sophomore left-hander Nathan Hill (1-0) to fill in some innings. He did more than that, closing out the Jaguars over the final 3.2 innings on just two hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

Ray allowed just one run on three hits and struck out six in the 5 1/3 innings he was on the mound.

“Nate Hill came into a pretty tough circumstance and used that slider that he has that is really tough against lefties, in a lineup full of them, and had some success,” Pierce said.

Hill's only real trouble came in that sixth inning when he gave up consecutive two-out hits to Jake Overstreet and Brent Tanner to give the Jaguars a chance to take the lead. With first base open, Hill pitched carefully to USA's Nolan Early, giving up a walk to the Jags' leading hitter, before getting Logan Kirkland to strikeout to end the threat.

“It felt good out there,” Hill said. “It is the second time I have had to go in cold after an injury, but I did ok after that first inning. It is tough to warm up and try not to rush when you come in like that. After those two hits, I knew I had first base open with a freshman on deck. Since he had homered his last time, I thought he might be swinging big, and I was able to get the strikeout.”

Offensively, the Trojans had plenty of chances to score against USA starter Garrett Harris, but left 10 runners stranded in the seven innings Harris worked.

“The game was a lot tighter than the final score would indicate,” Pierce said. “It was a nail biter. Neither team could take advantage of those early run-scoring opportunities that both had. We were a little disappointed that we didn't have better at bats in some of those situations, but we kept cheering our guys on and telling them that they had better at bats coming. We were finally able to bust the game open.”

The Trojans were able to touch the Jaguars bullpen for six runs in the eighth. Junior Jeff Miller (0-1) took the brunt of the damage, giving up five runs on three hits and two walks. He did not retire a single hitter.

The biggest blows in the frame for Troy came off the bats of freshman Ali Knowles and senior T.J. Rivera. Knowles came up with the bases loaded and no one out and ripped a hard single through the right side to plate two runs to put Troy on top.

“Ali looked as good as anyone in the lineup,” Pierce said. “Their kid, Harris, had a great change-up and never threw the pitch that you wanted in any count, which is why he is successful. A lot of our left-handed hitters didn't look good against the change-up, but Ali got a couple of really good swings against it and then got the big hit with the bases loaded to get the game in our favor.”

After a pair of walks forced in another run,Cory McGinnis came on to pitch for the Jaguars. Blake Martz plated a run with a sacrifice fly and then Rivera delivered a two-out double to drive home two more.

Knowles was joined by Todd McRae and Logan Pierce with two hits each in the game for the Trojans. The duo of Ray and Hill held South Alabama to just five hits in the game while striking out 13.

The Trojans will send sophomore left-hander Ryan Sorce (2-1, 3.52) to the mound for game two on Saturday. He will be opposed by The Jaguars' senior right-hander Dustin Crenshaw (2-0, 3.68).

“Ryan Sorce will go and the bullpen is in good shape because Tyler and Nate took care of things tonight,” Pierce said. “We have a lot of left-handed pitchers available, and I like that matchup against a left-handed heavy lineup.”