Troy Falls to Little Rock in Conference Opener

Friday, March 16

Troy, Ala.

6:00 PM

Troy University

12-6, 0-1

Little Rock

10-8, 1-0

Little Rock

Troy

Troy Falls to Little Rock in Conference Opener

3/16/2018 9:35:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Jace Sanders

TROY, Alabama – Little Rock was able to take advantage of three Troy miscues to come out on top of a 3-1 pitchers' battle in the Sun Belt opener Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field.

Troy (12-6, 0-1) was unable to string hits together with runners on – going 0-for-10 in the game in that situation. The Trojans' lone run came after Brandon Lockridge tripled in the third and was brought home on a Matt Sanders sacrifice fly.

Lockridge led the bats with a 2-for-4 night at the plate with a double and the triple – the eighth of his career which ties him for second in school history in career triples.

Troy's offensive struggles can be attributed to the success of Little Rock (10-8, 1-0) starter Chandler Fidel (2-2). Fidel fanned eight and gave up just a run on five hits in seven innings of work. Fidel handed the ball over to Justin Garcia (3) who struck out four batters in two shutdown innings to close the game and earn the save.

Andrew Crane (2-2) took the hard-luck loss despite allowing just three runs – two earned – and striking out seven batters in six innings on the mound.

Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"We didn't have an answer for their pitcher (Fidel), he was in control the whole time. We missed an opportunity in the first inning and it was uphill from there the rest of the night. We played a poor game and still had a chance to win, so I still love this team and we'll come back tomorrow."

Sound "Smartt" with Your Friends
Since 2008, Troy has won just two of its Sun Belt Conference openers. The Trojans beat New Orleans in the 2011 opener and Little Rock last season.

Noteworthy
• With his third-inning triple, Brandon Lockridge moved into a tie for second all-time on the school's record list with eight career triples. He joins teammate Matt Sanders on the list and the two trail the leader Adam Bryant by just three.

• Joey Denison's impressive streak of 10 games with at least one RBI ended Friday night. Denison entered the weekend ranking third nationally with 26 total runs driven in.

• Brandon Lockridge has reached base in all 18 games this season – the streak leads all Trojans in 2018. Lockridge posted a career-long 32-game reached base streak to kick off the 2017 season.

On Deck
Troy will look to even the series on #SpitSTRONG Day Saturday at 3 p.m. The Trojans will send RHP Daren Osby (1-0) to the mound for the start after freshman Bobby Spitulski throws out the first pitch for the game.