Trojans Sweep Appalachian State

Sunday, April 23

Troy, Ala.

12 PM

Troy University

20-29, 0

Appalachian State

12-30, 0

Appalachian State

Troy

Photo by: Meredith Gramley

4/23/2017 4:45:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Grace Bolin

TROY, Alabama – The Troy softball team finished the weekend with a 7-6 win over Appalachian State on Sunday at the Troy Softball Complex behind powerful hitting from freshman Logan Calhoun. The Trojans move to 20-29 and 8-14 in the Sun Belt.

For the third straight game, Appalachian State took an early after a solo home run from Haley Stewart in the top of the first inning. The Mountaineers went up two after a Troy error allowed another run to come in.

After an hour rain delay, and dance-off between the teams, the Trojans answered back with a four run inning in the third sparked by an RBI triple from Calhoun. Becca Hartley followed with a single up the middle to bring Calhoun home to tie the game at 2-2. With no outs, Katie Webb got on base with a single and Madeline Porter hit a two out, two-RBI double to give the Trojans the 4-2 lead after three innings of play.

The runs continued to flow for Troy as Hartley hit a sacrifice fly to score Carli Kayler, and Katie Webb followed with an RBI of her own.

Appalachian State rallied back and brought three runs across the plate after two RBI singles and a fielder's choice in the fifth to minimize Troy's lead to one run.

Another sacrifice fly in the sixth inning gave the Trojans a 7-5 lead before the Mountaineers were able to close out the game with one more run in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded, and they tying run on third, a 6-3 put out ended the scoring threat to give the Trojans the series sweep.

Calhoun led the hitting efforts at the plate as she went 3-for-3 with three runs and one RBI on the day. She was a home run shy of completing the cycle as she posted a triple, a double and a single in game three. Hartley and Hussey each had two hits on the day, and four other Trojans also contributed with a hit.

After a near-perfect game in game two, Rachel Rigney Brown earned another start in the circle. Claire Graves came in as relief in the top of the fourth, but after allowing three earned runs, Meg Willis made her 12^th appearance of the season. Willis earned the win and Rigney Brown re-entered to get her first save of the year.

NOTEWORTHY
• Logan Calhoun is the first Trojan this year to hit a single, double and triple in a game.
• Troy hit a season-high two sacrifice flies in its 7-6 win over the Mountaineers.
• Hartley remains the team leader in batting average (.367), runs (44), hits (55), doubles (11), triples (2), home runs (16), slugging percentage (.787), and RBIs (44).
• The Trojans lead the conference in doubles with 63 on the year. Hartley and Stephanie Snyder each have 11, while 10 other Trojans have contributed with at least one.

QUOTABLE
"A sweep any time is big, and this conference is a dog eat dog world," head coach Beth Mullins said. "I think we have done nothing in these last few series but get better. Championship Sunday is always a slugfest, and I am proud of the girls. Rigney did a great job starting and then also closing the door when we brought her back in. Our hitters started off slow and made some really good adjustments. Logan Calhoun was our spark today, and I give her a lot of credit for doing that."

UP NEXT
The Trojans will travel to San Marcos, Texas for the last road series of the season against Texas State. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. and Sunday's finale is slated for noon. Troy will then return home for a Sunday doubleheader against South Alabama on Sunday, May 7, before hosting the Conference Tournament May 10-13.