Troy Drops Conference-Opening Series

Sunday, March 18

Troy, Ala.

1:00 PM

Troy University

13-7, 1-2

Little Rock

11-9, 2-1

Little Rock

Troy

3/18/2018 4:48:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Jace Sanders

TROY, Alabama – Little Rock scored three runs in the top of the fifth to defeat Troy, 3-1, and to take the Sun Belt-opening series at Riddle-Pace Field Sunday afternoon.

The Trojans from Little Rock (11-9, 2-1) strung together three runs on three hits in the fifth – with the eventual game-winner coming on a Kale Emshoff two-out, two-RBI double.

Troy (13-7, 1-2) had plenty of chances to claw back into the game, yet left 10 runners on base to drop the game and the series.

Brandon Lockridge, Drew Frederic and Manning Early combined for seven of the Trojans' eight hits. The lone run scored on a Lockridge RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth – the ninth of the junior's career.

Frederic tied his career-high with three hits in the game – 3-for-4 – to lead all batters. The freshman Early turned in his third career multi-hit game on a 2-for-4 day with a run scored.

A bright spot for Troy was CJ Carter, who struck out four batters and allowed just two base runners over the final four innings of the game. Sadler Goodwin (1-2) was saddled with the loss after giving up three runs on three hits and fanning two batters in one inning of work.

Little Rock reliever Donavin Buck (3-0) remained perfect on the year and closer Justin Garcia (4) earned his second save of the weekend to slam the door shut on Troy.

Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"Unfortunate, you can't lose series at home. We're not doing anything to manufacture runs and leaving too many guys on base. We'll regroup tomorrow and get ready to bounce back."

Noteworthy
• Drew Frederic swiped his 11^th base of the season to move into a tie for the team-lead with Brandon Lockridge. Frederic is 11-for-12 on stolen base attempts this season, while Lockridge is 11-for-11.

• Brandon Lockridge singled to lead off the bottom of the third inning to extend his reached base streak to 20 games to start the season. He started 2017 with a career-high 32-game streak of the likes.

• Lockridge tripled the Trojans' only run in the fourth inning – his ninth career three-base knock. He now is the sole owner of second-place in school history in career triples, just two behind Adam Bryant.

• Frederic tied a new career-high going 3-for-4 on Sunday. His other three-hit game came in Troy's thrilling walk-off victory over Alabama last season.

On Deck
Troy will close its four-game home stretch in a midweek matchup with in-state foe Samford; first pitch Tuesday is set for 6 p.m.