Troy Falls to FIU in Tournament Opener

Wednesday, May 9

Boca Raton, Fla.

10:00 a.m.

Troy University

Florida International University

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

5/9/2012 11:53:00 AM | Softball

By: Matt Mays

Box Score | Tournament Central

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Defensive miscues in the fourth inning and a good outing from FIU's Mariah Dawson were enough to send Troy to the loser's bracket as they fell to FIU, 4-1, in their first game of the Sun Belt Championships.

Ashley Rainey (17-12) lost her slender one-run lead in the fourth inning as Troy (31-23) made two errors on one play and FIU scored two unearned runs. Rainey finished with a complete game, but gave up four runs, two earned, on eight hits with two walks and no strikeouts.

Dawson (20-12) threw a complete game, giving up one run on four hits with four strikeouts and four walks. Jessy Alfonso had two hits and reached base three times for FIU (28-25).

Kacie McAllister was the lone Trojan with two hits and she sent 2-for-2 with a walk and scored a run.

Troy struck first with a single score in the third inning thanks to Hayden Gann's RBI single. The base hit to right center scored McAllister who led off the inning with an infield single and moved to second on Michelle Hewett's sacrifice bunt.

The Trojans made one bad defensive play in the fourth inning that allowed FIU to score two unearned runs and take a 2-1 lead. After Brie Rojas led off with a double, Rachel Slowik put down a sacrifice bunt attempt.

Troy has Rojas out at third base, but dropped the ball and Rojas broke for home. A throw to the plate was cut off as the Trojans tried to throw out Slowik who was moving to second, but the throw flew into the outfield, rolling all the way to the wall, allowing Slowik to score as well

After the dust settled, Troy had committed two errors on one play and FIU was up 2-1 thanks to two unearned runs.

The Panthers added an insurance run in the fifth as Rojas delivered a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to put FIU ahead 3-1. The Panthers added another sacrifice fly, this one off of Megan Horne's bat, in the sixth inning to take a 4-1 lead.

Dawson settled in after Gann's third inning RBI as she allowed just one hit over the rest of the game, McAllister's two-out single in the seventh, but the Trojans couldn't bring her around as Troy stranded their six baserunner of the game.

The Trojans return to the diamond on Thursday when they take on the loser of Wednesday's game between ULM and South Alabama. The game is set to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. The loser will be the first team eliminated from the double elimination tournament.

For more information on the Sun Belt Championships, including updated brackets and results, visit the Tournament Central link above.

For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TroyAthletics. For in-game updates from the diamond, be sure to follow Troy Softball on Twitter at @TroySBall.