Early Lead Lifts Troy Past South Alabama 10-6

Saturday, March 17

Mobile, Ala.

6:30 p.m.

Troy University

South Alabama

Boone Shear

Photo by: Lisa Ray

Early Lead Lifts Troy Past South Alabama 10-6

3/17/2012 10:11:00 PM | Baseball

By: Adam Prendergast

BOX SCORE

MOBILE, Ala. – Boone Shear drove in four runs and Nate Hill tossed 5.1 shutdown innings out of the bullpen to lead Troy to a 10-6 victory over South Alabama in game two of the three-game Sun Belt Conference series Saturday night at Stanky Field. The teams will play the rubber game of the series Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Trojans (9-8, 1-1 Sun Belt) jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the top of the third inning and matched every Jaguar (5-13, 1-1) comeback attempt. Troy improved to 136-6 under Bobby Pierce when scoring at least 10 runs in a game.

Shear finished the game 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored to go along with his four RBIs, all of which came in the first three innings of the game. Chase Mathis was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Logan Pierce was 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Austin Golden extended his hit streak out to a modest five games after going 2-for-5; he has multiple hits in three of the games after making his first start of the season last Wednesday against East Carolina and is 8-of-18 during his hit streak.

Hill (2-1) held South Alabama to just four hits over the final 5.1 innings of the game to pick up the win. The southpaw allowed just one run – a bases-loaded walk in the ninth – and struck out three.

The Trojans loaded the bases in the first inning with just one for the second straight night. Shear, who now has 26 RBIs through the first 17 games of the season, lined a double inside the third-base bag to clear the bases and give Troy the early 3-0 lead. Shear moved to third on a Jakob Nixon line out and scored the fourth run of the frame on Mathis' first hit as a Trojan.

Shear struck again in the third with a single to center field. Tyler Hannah led off the frame with a single to center and moved to second on a five-pitch walk to Danny Collins. Collins, who moved up to third on Shear's single, scored on a wild pitch to stretch the Trojan lead out to 6-0.

The Jaguars cut the lead in half, 6-3, after loading the bases with one out in the home half of the third. Nolan Early scored the first run of the inning on a grounder to second and two batters later Nick Zaharion poked a two-run single just inside the right-field foul line. Early, Zaharion and Dustin Dalken all had two hits on the night for South Alabama.

The teams traded two-spots in the fourth inning. Jake Harrell got the top half of the inning rolling with one-out double to right-center field; Harrell now has seven hits on the season and all have gone for extra bases (seven doubles and one home run). Harrell moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Golden single. Golden then stole second on scored on a single to left by Pierce.

Early doubled home Dalken with one out in the home half of the fourth and then Graham Oden, who walked earlier in the inning, scored on a grounder to short to cut the Troy lead to 8-5.

Mathis made the Jaguars pay for a pair of errors in the sixth inning with a two-out, two-run double down the line in left field to push the Troy lead out to 10-5. Collins and Shear scored on the play after reaching on a throwing error and a dropped pop up by the catcher, respectively.

South Alabama starter Jarron Cito's night was finished after just three innings of work after he was charged with six runs – four earned – on five hits. Cito (1-2) walked three and struck out two in the losing effort before handing the ball to Tyler Huffer to start the fourth. Huffer didn't make it out of the fourth after allowing two runs on three hits in just two-thirds of an inning.

Jimmy Hodgskin took a no-decision for the Trojans after he was lifted with two outs in the fourth inning. Hodgskin was charged with five runs on six hits; he walked three and struck out two.