Troy Falls in Series Finale at UALR

Sunday, March 25

Little Rock, Ark.

1:00 p.m.

Troy University

UALR

Photo by: Lisa Ray

3/25/2012 4:11:00 PM | Baseball

By: Adam Prendergast

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Ethan Schlechte held Troy without a hit for 6.2 innings and UALR used a five-run fourth inning to win the rubber game of the Sun Belt Conference series 7-3 Sunday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.

Schlechte and Troy starter Ryan Brady were locked into a true pitchers' duel as they combined to allow just one hit through the opening three frames before the home-standing Trojans were able to produce the big inning for the third straight day; UALR had a four-run inning in the series opener and a five-run frame in Saturday's game.

Nick Rountree drew a 10-pitch walk with one out in the fourth and the nation's RBI leader Sean Bignall tripled to right field to break the scoreless tie. Blake Johnson followed with an RBI single and Bryson Thionnet was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base.

Thomas Austin, who replaced Brady earlier in the frame, struck out John Clark for the second out and handed the ball to Nate Hill out of the bullpen. David Guarno took the second pitch he saw from Hill out of the park to left field for a three-run homer.

UALR (15-9, 2-4 Sun Belt) stretched its lead to 7-0 in the fifth. Chris Burk walked, moved to third on a two-base throwing error on a pick-off attempt and scored on a safety squeeze bunt by Rountree. Thonnet added an RBI single later in the inning.

Logan Pierce broke up Schlechte's no-hit bid with a clean single through the left side of the UALR infield with two outs in the seventh. Pierce appeared to give Troy an early lead with a home run down the right-field line, but the ball was ruled foul by the first base umpire.

Schlechte (2-0) left the game after he allowed one run on three hits in 7.2 innings; he struck out five and walked two in the win.

Boone Shear led off the Troy (11-11, 2-4) half of the eighth inning with his fourth home run of the season. Troy mounted a rally in the ninth after loading the bases with two outs following a pair of singles by Shear and Chase Mathis after Pierce was hit by a pitch earlier in the frame. Jakob Nixon hammered a double to right field to plate a pair and close the gap to the final 7-3 margin.

Shear and Mathis both finished with two hits for Troy in the game. Brady (0-2) was charged with the loss for Troy after he allowed four runs on three hits in 3.2 innings of work.

Troy has a full five-game schedule next week beginning with mid-week road contests at Jacksonville State and Alabama State on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, before hosting Arkansas State in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series over the weekend.