Troy Splits DH at MTSU

Saturday, April 16

Murfreesboro, TN

1:00 pm

Troy University

Middle Tennessee State University

Photo by: Edward Fieder

4/16/2011 6:45:44 PM | Baseball

Trojans Now 26-8 overall this season.

By: Taylor Bryan

BOX SCORE (GAME ONE) :: BOX SCORE (GAME TWO)

MURFREESBORO – Troy got a dominant pitching performance in game one to pick up an 11-1 win, but were on the receiving end of a solid performance in game two as it fell 1-0 to MTSU in the second match-up to split a Sun Belt Conference baseball double-header.

Junior right-hander Tyler Ray tossed eight innings of one-run ball with four strike outs to improve to 8-0 this season. His eighth-straight positive decision ties him for sixth nationally in active winning streaks.

“Tyler Ray was outstanding,” Troy head coach Bobby Pierce said. “We came out very prepared. We scored a lot of runs for him and got an early lead and then stretched that out. It's what you like to see as a coach in how you should approach a game.”

Ray had a streak of 10 straight Blue Raiders retired by a Justin Guidry single with two outs in the sixth inning. But the Hoover, Ala.-native gained a measure of revenge later, striking out Guidry to end in the eighth in what would be Ray's final pitch – his 100th – of the night.

Drew Prichard and Adam Bryant combined to pace the Troy offense in game one. Prichard blasted the first pitch he saw in the fourth inning for his first home run of the season, a line drive shot over the right field fence to score T.J. Rivera.

He finished with three RBI for the day. Bryant batted 4-for-6 with a pair of RBI in the opening meeting of the three-game series.

Todd McRae also had three hits in the game.

Troy tagged MTSU starter Daniel Palo for six runs on seven hits in four innings of work. The Men of Troy tacked on four more on reliever Jud Stoltz over the next four innings.

Guidry was the lone Blue Raider with multiple hits and scored their only run against Ray.

The second game told a much different story for the Trojans. Troy battled for just three hits and a total of six base runners as Hunter Adkins spun eight innings of three-hit ball. Paul Mitture tossed the ninth for his fourth save.

“You have to give Adkins a lot of credit for how he shut us out,” Pierce said. “I'm not sure our mentality was right and our approach was right for the second game. I think we probably took things for granted and then all the sudden we are in a ball game trying to battle back, which is tough to do. The best thing to do is take it as a lesson learned and never shut it down.”

The Trojans got an outstanding performance from starting pitcher Ryan Sorce. The Pace, Fla.-native had one of his better performances (5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K).

Troy also got some outstanding plays in the field allowing it to keep the game close. Specifically, Bryant, Rivera, Prichard and Tyler Hannah recorded sparking plays in the field to aid Sorce and reliever Nate Hill (2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K)

“We had some great plays,” Pierce said. “That's the kind of defense we have played pretty much all season. Those types of defensive plays allow you to give yourself a chance to win. We could just never get on track offensively and score a run. For this team, that hasn't happened.”

The loss marked the first time this season the Trojans had been shut out by an opponent.

Hill entered the game with the bases loaded in the sixth and just one out. He promptly struck out two to get out of the jam.

MTSU got on the board with an RBI base hit by Tyler Acker in the fifth inning. His single plated Davis Pearce for the game's only run.

Bryant, Hannah and Ali Knowles each recorded hits for Troy in the loss.

The Trojans will go for the series win on Sunday at 1 pm. Freshman Jimmy Hodgskin is the probable starter for Troy against MTSU's Eric Gilley.