No. 2 Florida State Takes Two at Troy

Tuesday, April 18

Troy, Ala.

4 PM

Troy University

17-28

Florida State

40-3-1

Florida State

Troy

Photo by: Colin Edwards

4/18/2017 9:38:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Grace Bolin

TROY, Alabama- The Trojans (17-29) faced their fifth ranked team of the season, No. 2 Florida State, in a Tuesday night doubleheader at the Troy Softball Complex. The Seminoles won game one 9-3, but a defensive battle in game two held the Seminoles to just a 2-0 win over the Trojans.

Game one: Troy 3, Florida State 9
A two run home run from Cali Harrod in the top of the second gave the Seminoles an early 2-0 lead. FSU added another run in the third, but the Trojans fought back as Logan Calhoun put Troy's first hit on the board with a single up the middle. Becca Hartley drilled a hit into left center field for a stand-up double to put two Troy runners in scoring position.

Sophomore Stephanie Snyder came up clutch with a double of her own to score Calhoun and Hartley to put the Trojans within one.

A Trojan error and a two RBI double from the Seminoles extended their lead to four runs in the fourth inning. The Trojans bats could not heat up in the next three innings, but the Troy defense did not allow the Seminoles to work their way across the plate in the fifth and sixth innings.

Two seventh inning home runs sealed the victory for the Seminoles, but not before Calhoun was able to score another run as freshman Katie Webb reached on a fielder's choice.

Hartley went 2-for-3 at the plate with a single and double, as well as one run. Calhoun also had solid at-bats as she went 1-for-2 with two runs scored.

Senior Rachel Rigney Brown threw a complete game for the Trojans for her 17^th start and 27^th appearance this year. She recorded three punch outs, but took the loss to move to 6-15 on the season.

Game two: Troy 0, Florida State 2

The Trojan defense came out strong in game two to only allow two Seminoles to cross the plate. Both teams were scoreless through three innings. Florida State broke the scoring drought as Cassidy Davis hot an RBI single in the top of the fourth.

The Seminoles added their last run to the board in the top of the seventh as an Ellie Cooper single scored Jessica Warren.

Erica Davis and Kaylee Hussey earned Troy's two hit in the game in the second inning with back-to-back singles, but a Florida State double play ended the scoring opportunity for the Trojans.

Florida State left seven runners on base during the game, while the Trojans only left one runner stranded.

Claire Graves earned the start and pitched a complete game for in the circle for Troy. The sophomore only allowed two earned runs and recorded two strikeouts on the game. She took the loss to move to 7-8 on the year.

NOTEWORTHY
• Tonight's doubleheader against No. 2 Florida State ties the highest ranked team the Trojans have faced. Troy took on No. 2 Alabama in 2007 and 2008.

• Troy moves to 12-27-1 all time against Florida State.

• Hartley is one home run shy of tying Hannah Day's third place single season record for Troy with 16 homers. She has tied Heidi Johnson in the third place spot with 38 career home runs. Hartley only needs four more on the year to take solo possession of second place.

• Hartley remains the team leader in batting average (.350), slugging percentage (.771), runs (39), hits (49), RBIs (39), triples (2), and home runs (15).

• Erica Davis is riding a four game hitting streak, just two away from her season high, six.

QUOTABLE
"I thought Claire threw well tonight," head coach Beth Mullins said. "Her velocity was up, and we have worked all year on her being a one-pitch warrior out there. She might have one bad batter and then she is going to get back and dominate the next pitch. Both of our pitchers threw complete games and I thought we had some really solid innings on the mound."

"We faced a really good pitching staff on the opposing team, and I give FSU credit because they held our offense. It was a really great game. Who wouldn't want to see a 2-0 ball game against one of the top teams in the country?"

UP NEXT
Troy will host conference opponent Appalachian State for a three game series on Saturday and Sunday, April 22 and 23 at the Troy Softball Complex. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. and Sunday's finale will begin at noon. Admission to Troy softball games is free for all ages.

For more on Troy softball, follow @TroyAthletics and @TroyTrojansSB on Twitter and visit TroyTrojans.com.