Troy Sinks East Carolina 8-2

Wednesday, March 7

Troy, Ala.

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

East Carolina

Cass Abercrombie

Photo by: Edward Fieder

3/7/2012 9:24:00 PM | Baseball

By: Adam Prendergast

BOX SCORE

TROY, Ala. – Cass Abercrombie pitched six solid innings in his first start in nearly two years and Troy scored eight two-out runs as the Trojans sunk East Carolina 8-2 Wednesday night in non-conference action at Riddle-Pace Field.

The Trojans (7-5) got after the Pirates (8-3) early and led 6-0 after the first two innings of the game. East Carolina entered the game ranked sixth in the RPI and had a staff ERA of 1.20 (second lowest in NCAA) after allowing just 12 earned runs over 10 games.

Abercrombie (1-0) struck out five East Carolina batters over his six innings of work and allowed just two runs on three hits – two of the hits didn't leave the infield. The junior right-hander's last start came on May 22, 2010, against South Alabama.

“I just kept the ball down and let the defense work,” Abercrombie said. “I didn't really have a whole lot of nerves going into the start, I just wanted to go out there and be relaxed. East Carolina is a really good team and after the disappointing loss last night I felt like we had a lot better energy tonight and hopefully we can carry that into the weekend.”

Danny Collins was 2-for-3 with three RBIs to lead the Trojan offensive attack. Jo-El Bennett, who tied a Troy single-game record with four walks in the game, scored on two of Collins' hits and also scored on a Logan Pierce single. Pierce drove in two runs with his single in the second and Clay Holcomb also drove in a pair.

Collins put the Trojans on the board with a two-out single in the first after Bennett walked and moved to second on a balk.

Holcomb got the five-run second rolling with a two-run double off the top of the 30-foot wall above the scoreboard in right-center field. Bennett walked and, following a pitching change that saw ECU starter Austin Chrismon leave after just 1.2 innings, Tyler Hannah was hit by a Joseph Hughes pitch to load the bases for Collins who was also hit by a pitch to drive home a run. Pierce then followed with his two-run single to right.

East Carolina scored its only runs of the game around a pair of infield singles by Tim Younger and Corey Thompson to lead off the fourth inning. A four-pitch walked loaded the bases for Chase McDonald who grounded out to third to score a run. A fielder's choice plated the second run of the inning and Abercrombie got out of the jam with another grounder.

The Trojans quickly squashed any comeback hopes by the Pirates in the home half of the fourth as Collins lined a double to center field to score Bennett from first after he drew his third walk of the game. Hannah scored the game's final run in the sixth on a wild pitch after doubling earlier in the frame.

The three-headed monster in the Troy bullpen – Thomas Austin, Nate Hill and Tyson Workman – each threw a clean inning to close out the game.

Chrismon (0-1) was tagged with the loss for East Carolina who gave up a season-high in runs, walks (8) and hit batters (4) between seven pitchers.

The Trojans wrap up their five-game homestand with a three-game series against Monmouth this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.