Troy Shuts Out Texas State in Opener

Friday, April 21

Troy, Ala.

6 PM

Troy University

20-17, 7-9

Texas State

22-17, 9-7

Texas State

Troy

Photo by: Joey Meredith

4/21/2017 8:52:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

By: Jace Sanders

Box Score | Highlights

TROY, Alabama – Andrew Crane and Cory Gill combined to strike out 14 batters as Troy blanked Texas State, 4-0, in the Sun Belt series opener at Riddle-Pace Field Friday.

Crane (3-1) worked six scoreless innings while only scattering two hits with seven strikeouts. Gill earned his fourth save of the season, striking out seven of the ten batters he faced.

Brandon Lockridge led the Trojans (20-17, 7-9) at the plate – going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a triple. Justin Friend, Mason Rogers and Steven Whitaker accounted for the rest of Troy's hits on a night when hits were at a premium.

Entering Friday's game, Texas State (21-17, 9-7) led the conference in batting average with a .298, but were held to only three hits. All nine of the Bobcat starters stuck out at least once in the game.

Connor Reich (2-3) was saddled with the loss despite striking out 10 Trojans in the game. Reich allowed four runs – two earned – on five hits in 6.2 innings of the mound.

QUOTABLE
"Terrific job by our team, especially Andrew Crane and Cory Gill," Troy head coach Mark Smartt said. "Crane handled the pressure really well. We played great defense, pitched great and scored enough to get the win."

I've been ready all week. I trusted my stuff to go right at them and let my guys play behind me. It's nice to get a lead early and have the momentum on our side. Crane

Gill – Crane did great, and I just didn't want to give up our first run. I stayed poised and positive and kept throwing my best stuff. If they can hit it, they can hit it and they didn't tonight.

SOUND "SMARTT" WITH YOUR FRIENDS
• Brandon Lockridge and Steven Whitaker both ripped their first triples of the season in the first and second inning respectively. The Trojans have three triples in the past two games after three in the first 35 games of the season.

• Andrew Crane extended his scoreless inning streak to 18.2 innings with six shutout frames Friday. In his three starts this season, Crane has allowed only two runs and scattered only 10 hits with 16 strikeouts in 19 innings of work.

• The Trojan pitching staff struck out 12+ batters in a game for the fifth time this season, while the 14 combined are the third most by Troy this year.

• Steven Whitaker stole his 16^th base of the season – he ranked 33^rd nationally coming into the game.

• Cory Gill struck out seven of the 10 batters he faced and nine of his last 14 over three appearances.

WHAT'S UP NEXT?
The Trojans and Bobcats will play games two and three in doubleheader fashion Saturday starting at 3 p.m. Troy will send righty Daren Osby (4-3, 3.93) and lefty Austin Crook (4-1, 3.71) to the mound for the start in the respective games.