Troy Bats Awake Late, but Trojans Fall 4-3

Saturday, May 14

Monroe, LA

6:00 pm

Troy University

University of Louisiana at Monroe

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

Troy Bats Awake Late, but Trojans Fall 4-3

5/14/2011 10:43:51 PM | Baseball

By: Taylor Bryan

BOX SCORE

MONROE, La. – Troy had the bases full with two out in the ninth inning, but could not get the tying run home and the Trojans dropped a 4-3 game to ULM on Saturday night at Warhawk Field.

With the loss and a win by FIU, the Trojans dropped into a first place tie for the first time this season.

“I've got to give credit to ULM,” Troy head coach Bobby Pierce said. “They played hard from the first pitch to the last. I don't think our team was really ready. We competed very hard down the stretch, and with the game on the line, we certainly were competing hard. I thought we gave away too many at-bats in that particular ballgame.

At the end of the day, we made a great and valiant effort at the end, but when you put yourself in that position, sometimes you come up a little short and that's what happened to us tonight.”

A valiant effort it was as the Trojans (36-15, 18-8) plated two runs in the eighth inning and had the tying run 90 feet away with the bases loaded in the ninth.

Todd McRae led off the inning with a single, his second of the game, before being replaced by pinch-runner Ali Knowles. McRae's 2-for-4 night extended his streak to 27 straight games reaching base.

After pinch-hitter Drew Prichard struck out, Logan Pierce walked to put two on with one out. Daniel Peterson flyed out to center, then Tyson Workman was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Tyler Hannah.

On an 1-1 pitch, Hannah attempted to check his swing and made contact anyway, dinking a light hit past the mound and onward to second base. ULM's Caleb Clowers rushed to the ball and made a quick flick to first to rob a sprinting Hannah of a base hit on a bang-bang play and give the Warhawks the 4-3 victory.

“We got the bases loaded, but couldn't quite finish that off,” Pierce said. “I thought the pitching got the job done, but we didn't quite get the job done offensively and I'll give credit to their left-hander for that.”

Both teams scored in the third inning, with Troy plating a run on a groundout by Peterson, and ULM's Joey Rapp driving home a run with a single for a 1-1 tie.

The Warhawks (23-26, 8-18) took a 3-1 lead in the fifth behind a pair of run-scoring hits – one each from Jarrett Hammond and Rapp. Hammond's knock scored Shane Ardoin, then Rapp's single back up the middle chased home the shortstop one batter later.

ULM chased Troy starter Jimmy Hodgskin in the sixth inning after a single by Jason Hicks, then a walk to Caleb Knox started the inning. Reliever Thomas Austin struck out Ardoin, then got Les Aulds to hit into a double play to end the inning.

Hammond and Rapp again combined with back-to-back hits to score a insurance run off of Austin, a run that proved to be the ultimate difference. Rapp led ULM with three hits and three RBI.

Troy's rally didn't start until the eighth, when Workman walked with one out, then Hannah followed with a double to right. Adam Bryant sent both home with a single to right to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Bryant's RBI-single chased ULM starter Randy Zeigler (5-4) after 7.1 innings pitched. He allowed three runs while walking five with one strike out.

With the new pitcher James Jones on the mound, T.J. Rivera flied out to left, then Hayden Hillyer, who had pinch run for Blake Martz the previous inning, had his deep fly to left-center tracked down by ULM's Ardoin to end the inning with Troy still down a run.

Austin got two outs in the eighth, then Nate Hill struck out Aulds to set up Troy's final shot in the ninth.

Overshadowed by the narrow loss was the solid outing from Hodgskin (2-5). The freshman from Windemere, Fla. tossed five-plus innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits with two walks and a strike out.

“[Hodgskin] certainly pitched well enough to win the game and to give us a chance to win,” Pierce said. “I thought Thomas Austin was starting to show the signs from last year when we could count on him to come in and throw strikes. He's starting to find his niche again. Jimmy cut down on his walks, cut down on his pitch count and got deeper into the game.

He did give us a chance there, and then [Hill] came in and did what he was supposed to do.”

The Trojans will go for the series win on Sunday with junior LHP Ryan Sorce on the mound.

“Ryan Sorce will start the game,” Pierce said. “From there, we've just got to take it an inning at a time. Hopefully, we will score and give us a chance and some breathing room. Ryan is very capable of giving us a quality start and that is what we expect of him. We've got to defend behind whoever is pitching. We came up a little short on that. We've got to do a better job putting together quality at-bats each time.”

First pitch on Sunday is set for 1 pm.