Troy Slams Door on UALR to Take Series Opener 6-2

Friday, March 25

Riddle-Pace Field

6:00 pm

Troy University

University of Arkansas - Little Rock

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

Troy Slams Door on UALR to Take Series Opener 6-2

3/25/2011 8:47:11 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Ricky Hazel

FINAL BOX SCORE: PDF | HTML POST-GAME AUDIO

After jumping out to an early lead on visiting UALR on Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field, the Troy Trojans had a little bit of an uneasy feeling in the seventh inning.

That uneasy feeling was put to rest by relief pitcher Garrett McHenry, who posted a pair of strikeouts with the bases loaded on just six pitches and Troy went on to take a 6-2 victory in the series opener.

Troy improved to 17-4 overall and 3-1 in Sun Belt Conference play with the win while dropping UALR to 10-11 overall and 2-2 in league play.

Trojans starting pitcher Tyler Ray (5-0) had worked his way through the first six innings in fairly easy fashion, and held a 4-1 lead going to the seventh. UALR opened the frame with a pair of singles and, after a sacrifice bunt, Ray hit UALR leadoff hitter Sean Bignall to load the bases.

“I don't know that he got tired,” Trojans coach Bobby Pierce said of Ray. “He was struggling to find his arm slot and when he does that his elbow drops a little, his pitches become elevated and he becomes much more hitable. It was a strong performance for him and another win for him.”

With the bases loaded, the Trojans turned to the junior left-hander, McHenry, out of the pen. Much as he did last weekend against South Alabama, the Hodges, Ala., native delivered.

“Garrett McHenry came in with the bases loaded and got two big strikeouts, and that was a huge part of this win,” Pierce said.

After a two-run homer by senior Adam Bryant pushed the Troy lead to 6-1, McHenry found the going tough in the eighth inning. Nick Rountree led off the frame with a solo homer and, after getting a strikeout, McHenry surrendered a walk and a bloop single.

Troy again went to the pen, bringing in junior right-hander Tyson Workman in a critical situation. Workman gave up an infield single to load the bases, but then got a one-hopper back to the mound which he turned into a 1-2-3 double play to end the frame.

“Tyson was a little rusty because we haven't been able to get him in as much lately,” Pierce said. “He competed through that and finished out strong. It was not the best pitching we have had this year when you compare it to some of the other games, but it was certainly good enough to win.”

Workman closed out UALR in the ninth to earn his first save of the year.

Troy took the lead in the first off UALR starter Garret Graziano (2-4) with a two-out rally. Singles by Tyler Hannah, Blake Martz and Logan Pierce plated a run before Drew Prichard hammered a double to score two more, with Pierce leaping over UALR catcher Niko Navarro to score the third run.

“We got the big first inning to score three runs and that ended up being the difference in the game,” Pierce said. “I thought Graziano did a good job for them after the first. He competed well, and that didn't surprise us at all. We didn't do a whole lot after that.”

Troy scored a single run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Hannah. UALR finally got on the board in the sixth when Jason Houston led off with a bloop triple down the rightfield line and Jake Rowell singled him home.

Bryant had three hits in the game to lead all players while Hannah and Josh McDorman had two hits each for Troy.

“Adam is starting to get hot,” Pierce said of his All-American. “He is just starting to get comfortable at the plate. He is starting to see the ball better and is starting to get some better swings. When he gets hot, he is pretty good.”

Bignall, Myles Parma and Greg Garcia had two hits each in the game to lead UALR.

The second game of the series between the two sets of Trojans is scheduled for Saturday night, with the first pitch set for 6 p.m.