Troy Baseball Blanks Southern Mississippi

Saturday, March 1

Hattiesburg, Miss.

2:00 pm

Troy University

7-4

Southern Miss

5-6

Troy

Southern Mississippi

3/1/2014 5:34:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Wes Johnson

Box Score

HATTIESBURG, Miss – The Troy University baseball team bounced back from a Friday night loss to even the three-game series with Southern Miss 1-1 with a 5-0 victory on Saturday afternoon at Pete Taylor Field.

The Trojans (7-4) used the stellar pitching performance turned in by Shane McCain (2-1) to earn the win. McCain pitched seven inning allowing just four hits and struck out six. At one point, the senior retired 10 consecutive USM batters and allowed just one hit through four inning and two hits through five.

Jeremy McGowan entered the game and pitched the final two innings to earn the save.

Troy opened the scoring the second inning when Jo-El Bennett kicked off the frame with a triple. One batter, Adam Tewksbury hit a fly ball to the warning track in left field, deep enough to score Bennett and give the Trojans the lead.

In the second, Garrett Pitts singled to extend his hitting streak to five games, and then scored on a Matthew Howard ground ball. After Trevin Hall singled up the middle, Nick Masonia followed with a base hit to plate another run.

The Trojans would pound out 11 hits in the game including three from both Tyler Vaughn and Trevin Hall. Troy pulled away in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from Pitts and a bases loaded walk from Kyle Brown.

The shutout was the second of the season by the Trojan pitching staff, which already matches the total from all of last year. Troy blanked Northern Kentucky, 7-0, in the season opener.

Troy and Southern Miss will square off in the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. Senior Will Starling is scheduled to get the start on the mound for the Trojans.