Trojans Down FIU 4-0 To Take Series Opener

Friday, April 8

Riddle-Pace Field

6:00 pm

Troy University

Florida International University

Photo by: Edward Fieder

Trojans Down FIU 4-0 To Take Series Opener

4/8/2011 9:28:07 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Ricky Hazel

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The Troy pitching staff continued to exert its dominance on Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field as a trio of Trojans hurlers combined to pitch a five-hit shutout in a 4-0 victory over FIU in the opening game of a three-game weekend series.

The Trojans improved to 24-5 overall and 9-1 in Sun Belt Conference play with the win while FIU slipped to 19-14 overall and 4-6 in league play.

Junior Tyler Ray (7-0) continue to impress as he held the Panthers to five hits over 6.2 innings of work. His outing, however, ended on a little bit of a sour note when he surrendered a walk to Pablo Bermudez in the seventh inning on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases with Troy clinging to a 2-0 lead.

Trojans coach Bobby Pierce said that call, and the ensuing at bat, were the plays of the game.

“I can't give Tyler enough credit,” Pierce said. “He struggled against this team in the past. I thought he looked more determined that ever tonight. He didn't have the crispest stuff ever, but he was more determined, so I give him a lot of credit for shutting these guys out for as long as he did.

“Nate Hill came in and got the big strikeout at the critical time. I thought Tyler had struck the kid out before that and I was really upset about that particular pitch. Nate came in and got it done.”

Hill dug himself a hole early when he came on in relief of Ray to face FIU's Jeremy Patton. The left-hander missed on his first three pitches to the veteran Panthers' slugger and had to battle from behind.

“That was the critical at bat of the game for FIU,” Pierce said. “We love to have Nate Hill in there against left-handed hitters and that Patton is a good one. He leads their team in walks and, with the bases loaded, Nate knew he couldn't do that. He fell behind but battled back to make a great 3-2 pitch to strike him out. That was the back-breaker for FIU and certainly and uplifting thing for us.”

The Trojans responded to the momentum from the big strikeout to plate a pair of insurance runs in the eighth, although an error by FIU opened the door when Daniel Peterson lifted a fly ball to shallow right that T.J. Shantz misplayed in front of right fielder Yoandy Barroso. The error allowed on run to score and Ali Knowles followed with a single to plate another.

Troy closer Tyson Workman closed out the game in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts.

Troy got off to a good start in the second inning off FIU starter Phil Haig (4-2) when Blake Martz led off with a triple to center and scored on a ground ball by Logan Pierce. Troy added another run in the fourth when Pierce singled in Tyler Hannah, who opened the frame with a hit before stealing second.

“That first at bat for Logan, he did exactly what we like for our guys to do, especially with two strikes,” Troy's head coach said. “We have to be able to put the ball in play in the middle infield to get that run in. I was proud of his approach.

“We got a couple of balls off the bat at critical times. We didn't do a tremendous amount offensively, but enough at the right times. Of course we defended well again and got a good solid win on Friday night.”

The two RBI in the game for Pierce give him nine in two games this week. He and Martz had two hits each to lead Troy. Senior Adam Bryant went hitless in five at bats, snapping his career-best hit streak at 16 games.

The Trojans will look to win their eighth consecutive weekend series tomorrow when Drew Hull (4-0, 1.95) takes the mound for his school-record 75th career appearance. Hull will be opposed by junior left-hander R.J. Fondon (1-4, 4.12) in a game that will start at 7 p.m. and be televised by CSS as the Sun Belt Network Game of the Week.

“After watching Tyler carve them up, if Drew is on top of his game I feel confident that he will pitch a good game for us,” Pierce said. “The bull pen will be ready to give us some outs, so we are in great shape.

“I am proud of our guys and proud of our fans. Tomorrow is another televised game, but I want to encourage the Trojan nation to come out tomorrow because there will be a lot of people across the nation who will be watching and one of the things they look at when it comes to hosting regional play is how your crowd supports its team. Our crowds have certainly been supportive this year, and we need them here again tomorrow night.”