Nixon’s Walk-Off Single Lifts Troy Past Monmouth 6-5

Friday, March 9

Troy, Ala.

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

Monmouth

Photo by: Lisa Ray

Nixon’s Walk-Off Single Lifts Troy Past Monmouth 6-5

3/9/2012 9:51:00 PM | Baseball

By: Adam Prendergast

BOX SCORE

TROY, Ala. – Jakob Nixon, who was a late addition to the lineup, delivered a two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Troy past Monmouth 6-5 in the series opener Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field.

Nixon was inserted into the lineup after reigning Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week Tyler Vaughn was a late scratch. The sophomore fell behind in the count 0-2 against Hawks closer Andrew McGee before battling back to run the count full. Nixon, who finished the game 2-for-5, drove a ball down the right-field line for the game-winner; the hit easily would have gone for extra bases.

Troy (8-5) needed the late heroics after Monmouth (4-6), who is the defending Northeast Conference champions, scored two runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth to knot the game at 5-all and tag another no-decision on Trojan starter Tyler Ray.

Ray (2-0, 0.98) tossed a season-high 7.2 innings and left the game with a 5-2 lead. He struck out a season-high, and just one shy of a career-high, nine batters and did not issue a walk; Ray has not walked a batter in 22 consecutive innings.

The Trojans jumped on highly-touted Monmouth starter Pat Light early in the game and chased the hard-throwing right-hander after five innings. Light was rated as a top 25 collegiate prospect in the upcoming MLB Draft by Baseball America and features a fastball that consistently stays in the mid-90s.

Danny Collins put the Trojans on the board with a triple to center field in the first inning after Tyler Hannah reached on a two-out error. Collins tried the stretch his three-bagger into an inside-the-park home run as the ball rolled by a diving Josh Boyd in center field, but a perfect relay throw nabbed the Troy designated hitter at the plate.

Boyd and Jamie Rosenkranz strung together back-to-back doubles in the top of the third against Ray to tie the game at 1-all. Ray settled down after that point and held Monmouth to just two hits over his final 5.1 innings of work.

Troy quickly answered back with three runs in its half of the frame. Austin Golden led off the inning with a single to left-center field and Jake Harrell followed with a double to right-center field. Clay Holcomb singled to the left side of the infield to score Golden and Hannah brought home Harrell with a sac fly. Logan Pierce followed one batter later with a single to right center to stretch the Troy lead to 4-1.

Collins finished the game 3-for-4 and got the bottom of the ninth moving with a double to deep center field after Hannah drew a one-out walk. Pierce was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs while Jo-El Bennett was 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Bennett led off the fifth with a double down the line in right field. Hannah was then hit by his sixth pitched and the season and Collins drew a walk to load the bases. Pierce drove a ball to the wall in left-center field and came up just a few feet shy of a grand slam, however Bennett tagged up on the play and gave Troy a 5-1 lead.

The Hawks comeback started with a one-out home run by Rosenkranz in the eighth off of Ray who then struck out Jake Gronsky before giving way to Nate Hill. Hill, who entered the game second in the Sun Belt Conference with a 0.61 ERA, got ahead of three straight batters – two of which he was ahead 0-2 – but all three managed base hits to score one more in the frame.

Tyson Workman, Troy's closer, came out to pitch the ninth, but quickly loaded the bases on a single, hit batter and fielder's choice. Workman struck out Rosenkranz and got Gronsky to ground into a fielder's choice (which scored a run). However, Danny Avella singled to right to tie the game at 5-5.

Workman (2-0) was credited with the win for the Trojans. McGee (0-2) took the loss for the Hawks after allowing one run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Light was charged with five runs – four earned – on seven hits in his five innings; he walked one and struck out three.

The teams will play the second game of the three-game series Saturday at 6 p.m. Sophomore southpaw Jimmy Hodgskin (1-1, 4.19) will get the start for Troy and Monmouth will counter with junior lefty Dan Smith (1-2, 5.62). Troy will honor the 1987 National Championship team in a ceremony before the game.