Troy Falls Late at No. 8 Mississippi State

Tuesday, May 16

Starkville, Miss.

6:30 PM

Troy University

30-22

Mississippi State

34-19

Troy

Mississippi State

Troy Falls Late at No. 8 Mississippi State

5/16/2017 10:42:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

By: Jace Sanders

Box Score

STARKVILLE, Mississippi – No. 8 Mississippi State scored seven unanswered runs to battle back and defeat Troy, 10-8, Tuesday night at Dudy Noble Field.

Troy (30-22) led 8-3 heading to the bottom of the fourth inning but failed to score again to fall in the last mid-week contest of the season.

The game turned in the bottom of the sixth inning when Cory Gill faced Bulldog star Brent Rooker with two on, two outs and an 8-5 lead; Gill got Rooker to hit a high fly-ball to center field. However, the Trojan outfield was playing too deep and the ball fell in front of Steven Whitaker for a two-RBI double – Mississippi State (34-19) tied the game at 8-8 with an RBI single in the next at-bat.

The Bulldogs struck for two more runs to take the 10-8 lead in the bottom of the eighth where the score would stand. Troy's Marc Skinner (4-6) allowed the two runs on three hits in an inning of work to suffer the loss on the mound.

Trevor Davis finished 2-for-3 with a double and four RBIs to lead the Trojans offensively in the matchup.

The Trojans struck for five runs in a third inning rally that consisted of only two hits – Davis and Jackson Cofer each delivered two-out, two-RBI singles up the middle. Davis added two more RBIs on a double down the line in left as a part of a three-run Trojan fourth.

Brandon Lockridge also turned in a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Reliever Trey Jolly (3-1) worked 2.1 shutdown innings on the mound to win the game for the Bulldogs. Riley Self struck out two in a perfect ninth on his way to earning his fourth save of the season.

QUOTABLE
"It was a disappointing loss," Troy head coach Mark Smartt said. "They're a good offensive team, but when you have a lead in the sixth inning you have to win. We had plenty of chances and there's plenty to build on headed to South this weekend."

SOUND "SMARTT" WITH YOUR FRIENDS
• Steven Whitaker stole his 20^th and 21^st bases of the season with swipes of second in the third and fourth innings. Coming into the game, Whitaker ranked 41^st nationally in stolen bases.

• Brandon Lockridge drove in a run with a single in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Lockridge has hit safely in 48 of Troy's 52 games this season.

• Trevor Davis drove in at least four runs for the second time in his career – he had five RBIs in Troy's victory over Alabama earlier this season.

• With the loss, the Trojans fall to 0-4 all-time against Mississippi State – 0-3 in Starkville.

WHAT'S UP NEXT?
Troy will close out its regular season with a three-game set against rival South Alabama. First pitch in Mobile is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday.