Mosley’s Walk-Off Single Caps Four-Run Troy Rally

Saturday, April 28

Troy, Ala.

3:00 PM

Troy University

30-13, 13-7

UT Arlington

20-23, 10-10

UT Arlington

Troy

Mosley’s Walk-Off Single Caps Four-Run Troy Rally

4/28/2018 7:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Adam Prendergast

Box Score | Highlights | Photo Gallery

TROY, Ala. – Rigsby Mosley hit a grand slam in Troy's series opening victory over UT Arlington on Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field. He one-upped himself on Saturday with a walk-off single in the ninth inning to complete a four-run Troy rally in a 7-6 victory over UTA to clinch the Trojans' first-ever series victory over the Mavs.

Mosley, who finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a double, came to the plate with runners on first and second and one out after UTA elected to intentionally walk Brandon Lockridge. The freshman fell behind in the count 1-2 and then battled off five foul balls around a pair of pitches outside the zone. On the 11^th pitch of the at-bat, he lined a single through the right side of the infield and Drew Frederic scored the winning run for Troy's first walk-off victory of the season.

"When you win a game down three in the eighth you have something special," head coach Mark Smartt said. "We beat two really good pitchers – their best two guys out of the pen – and I couldn't be prouder of the at-bats in the eighth and the ninth innings. They are a hard team to beat because they keep playing, but I couldn't be prouder of my team for showing the courage to keep swinging and keep fighting."

Matt Sanders worked an eight-pitch walk to leadoff the fateful ninth inning and Frederic put the pair in scoring position with a single to center field and some aggressive base running. Joey Denison tied the game with a sac fly to left field ahead of the intentional walk to Lockridge.

Troy (30-13, 13-7 Sun Belt) needed the late-game heroics after UTA (20-23, 10-10) took a 6-3 lead in the eighth inning on a three-run double from Christian Hollie.

Brody Binder delivered an RBI single and Chase Smartt added a run-producing groundout in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull the Trojans within one, 6-5, heading into the final frame.

Zack Lightsey (3-0) pitched a perfect top of the ninth and took home the win for Troy, while Daniel James (1-4) was saddled with the loss for UTA after allowing two runs in an inning of work.

UTA opened the scoring in the second on a solo home run by Jakob Nunez and Lockridge answered in the home half of the inning scoring on back-to-back wild pitches after a double. Lockridge finished 2-for-3 as he added his 12^th career triple to become Troy's all-time leader in the category in the fourth inning.

After the Mavs regained the lead with a run in the third, Mosley laced a double into the left-center field gap to score Frederic and Sanders and put Troy in front 3-2 in the sixth inning. Omar Salinas tied the game in the seventh with an RBI single.

Sound "Smartt" with Your Friends
Troy has now won five straight Sun Belt Conference games to improve to 13-7 in league play. The Trojans have won five of their seven league series this season and could sweep their second consecutive series with a win on Sunday.

Quotable – Head Coach Mark Smartt
"The drama in the ninth was incredible, but how about (Mosley's) at-bat in the sixth with a double to give us the lead. He is growing up right in front of our eyes. He is a good hitter. I'm not sure he knows how good he is yet, but he is a competitive hitter that is hard to strikeout. He struck out earlier in the game, and I knew he wasn't going to strikeout in the ninth. He was too determined to get the ball in play, and he got rewarded with the big game-winning hit."

Notable
• With his fourth-inning triple, Brandon Lockridge set Troy's all-time career triples record with 12. Troy already holds the school's single-season team record with 22 this year and ranks second nationally in the category.

• Daren Osby has thrown at least five innings in 10 of his 11 starts this season – he worked 6.1 innings Saturday.

• Saturday's victory over UT Arlington clinched the Sun Belt Conference series in Troy's favor. It marks the first time that Troy has won a series over UTA. The Trojans improved to 6-10 all-time against the Mavs and have won three straight games after losing six of the previous seven.