Troy Smothers UAB at Regions Field

Tuesday, March 13

Birmingham, Ala.

6:30 PM

Troy University

12-5

UAB

6-9

Troy

UAB

3/13/2018 10:49:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

By: Jace Sanders

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Troy used dominant pitching to down UAB, 4-1, Tuesday night at Regions Field to sweep the two-game season series with its in-state rival for the first time since 2006.

The Trojans (12-5) were the beneficiaries of a dominating first career start for junior Sadler Goodwin (1-1). The JUCO transfer fanned seven batters and allowed just one run on four hits in six innings of work.

The ball was handed over to Lance Johnson and then Jackson Cofer, who combined for 1.2 innings of two-hit work with three strikeouts. Closer CJ Carter (3) entered with two outs in the eighth and slammed the door on the Blazers (6-9) to earn the save.

On the offensive side, Troy accumulated just five hits, but four of those went for extra bases. Two of the biggest hits of the night came from Cole Prestegard and Joey Denison.

Prestegard launched his fourth homer of the season with a two-run moon shot to right field in the top of the third inning. Denison iced the game away with an inside-the-park home run in the top of the seventh.

Brandon Lockridge was the only Trojan to record multiple hits in the game – he finished 2-for-3 with a leadoff double to start the game.

UAB scored its only run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth and failed to piece anything else together throughout the ballgame, despite out-hitting Troy 6-5. Cole Collins led the Blazer bats with a 2-for-4 night at the plate.

Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"I'm real proud of the win tonight. We pitched well as a team and it started with Sadler (Goodwin); he looked real comfortable out there. CJ (Carter) then came in the eighth and got us out of a tight spot. We had a couple of chances to score early in the game and we didn't. We'll definitely have to swing better this weekend if we want to be successful to start off conference play."

Starter Sadler Goodwin
"It was fun. I was in a good rhythm and I think that was the key. I found that groove out there and I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates for having my back in the field. I always want to do what helps this team win, whether out of the bullpen or with the start. Either way, I know our offense and defense are both clicking right now and it's awesome to be a part of."

Noteworthy
• Cole Prestegard tied Matt Sanders for the team-lead with his fourth home run of the 2018 season.

• With his seventh-inning homer, Joey Denison extended his RBI streak to 10 games in a row with at least one run driven in.

• Troy's win over UAB evens the all-time series between the two rivals at 27-27. The win also capped the Trojans' first two-game season sweep of the Blazers since 2006 – Troy won 8-7 in Dothan and 5-4 in Troy.

• The Trojans won their 12^th game Tuesday night, marking the most wins by a Troy team before the start of conference play since 2011 – Troy started 14-3 and went on to win the Sun Belt Championship.

On Deck
Troy's grueling 30-game Sun Belt Conference schedule will start with a three-game series against Little Rock this weekend at Riddle-Pace Field. First pitches are scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.