No. 25 South Alabama Walks-Off Troy to Take Series

Saturday, May 20

Mobile, Ala.

1 PM

Troy University

31-24, 16-14

South Alabama

36-19, 22-8

Troy

South Alabama

Photo by: Joey Meredith

No. 25 South Alabama Walks-Off Troy to Take Series

5/20/2017 5:10:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

By: Jace Sanders

Box Score

MOBILE, Alabama – Wells Davis hit a three-run walk-off homer in the ninth inning to lift No. 25 South Alabama over Troy, 10-7, in the series finale at Stanky Field Saturday.

The Jags (36-19, 22-8) tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run shot from Colton Thomas who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the squad offensively.

The Trojans (31-24, 16-14) led 7-5 heading into the ninth before allowing a two-run, game-tying home run and the walk-off blast still with no outs in the frame.

Troy took the 7-5 lead with a two run top of the eighth after tying it in the seventh on a Brody Binder solo shot. Binder – who finished 2-for-4 in the finale – ended the weekend batting .583 (7-for-12) with two home runs and six RBIs.

Along with Binder, three other Trojans turned in multi-hit games –Matt Sanders, Brandon Lockridge and Justin Friend.

Following a 48-minute lightning delay, Troy struck for four runs on five hits in the top of the third to bounce back and take a 4-3 advantage.

Troy freshman Lance Johnson (1-2) suffered the loss after giving up three runs – all in the ninth – on four hits in 3.1 innings of work; while South Alabama reliever Avery Geyer (2-2) earned the win after working a perfect top of the ninth.

QUOTABLE
"We played well enough and hard enough to win this game," Troy head coach Mark Smartt said. "All credit goes to them for winning this game on a two-run and three-run homer. I'm disappointed for our players because I didn't manage the game well. We've got to get back to work and play this same team Wednesday."

SOUND "SMARTT" WITH YOUR FRIENDS
• Matt Sanders doubled in the third and singled in the fifth to post his 22^nd multi-hit game of the season and 51^st of his career – a team-high.

• The Trojans hit five home runs in the series – Thursday (2), Friday (2) and Saturday (1) – which is the most in any series this season. It was the first time since February 24-26 (at New Orleans) that Troy hit a homer in all three games of a series.

• Brody Binder finished the weekend 7-for-12 (.583) with two homers and six RBIs against the Jags – he entered the weekend with two home runs and seven RBIs total.

• The dropped season series to South Alabama was Troy's first since 2007 – split in 2009 and 2012.

WHAT'S UP NEXT?
Sixth-seeded Troy and third-seeded South Alabama will meet for the fifth time this season in the first round of the 2017 Sun Belt Baseball Championship. Wednesday's first pitch from J.J. Clements Stadium in Statesboro, Ga., is set for 8 a.m. (CT).