Top Three Lead Troy in Game One

Friday, May 11

Monroe, La.

6:00 PM

Troy University

33-17, 15-10

ULM

22-26, 10-15

Troy

UL MONROE

5/11/2018 9:58:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Jace Sanders

MONROE, Louisiana – Matt Sanders, Drew Frederic and Joey Denison accounted for seven of Troy's 11 hits and scored every run in the Trojans' 8-1 victory over ULM in the Sun Belt series opener at Warhawk Field Friday night.

Troy (33-17, 15-10) scored three in the first, three in the seventh and two more in the ninth to secure the win over the sputtering Warhawks (22-26, 10-15).

Denison drove in three runs and scored two more in a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. Meanwhile, Sanders and Frederic scored three times each and finished with two hits apiece – Frederic also picked up an RBI.

However, the production didn't stop there – Brody Binder went 2-for-4 in the game, while Rigsby Mosley and Sadler Goodwin both drove in runs.

Starter Andrew Crane (5-4) took the mound with a lead in the first and made it stand with 6.1 innings of one-run, eight-strikeout work. Crane's lone run came on a third-inning solo shot from Chad Bell, who finished 2-for-4 for ULM.

Crane handed the ball and a bases-loaded, one-out jam to Jackson Cofer, who picked up a strikeout and groundout to end the threat. Cofer pitched the remainder of the game – 2.2 innings – and allowed just one baserunner with four strikeouts.

Troy's three-run, four-hit first came off Trey Jeans (3-5) who suffered the loss for the Warhawks. Jeans settled down after the rough start and pitched five innings with five hits allowed.

Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"Andrew Crane and Jackson Cofer really battled tonight. Crane made quality pitches when he had to and Jackson was terrific; coming in with the bases loaded and finishing the game without allowing anything. Denison can hit, he's in the top five all-time for me. When there's a guy at second or third, there's nobody better than Joey Denison."

Noteworthy
• The nation's top run scorer helped his cause with three more runs scored tonight – Sanders has 71 this year. He's just five runs shy of breaking Troy's all-time single-season runs record.

• Senior Joey Denison continued his stellar season with three RBIs and three hits in the opener. It marked his 16^th multi-RBI game this season as he now has 61 on the year.

• Drew Frederic swiped his Sun Belt-leading 25^th base in 27 attempts this season – he entered the series ranked in the top 20 nationally. Troy remains one of two teams in the country with three players over the 20-steal mark.

On Deck
Troy will go for its first series win in Monroe since the 2013 season on the arm of freshman righty Levi Thomas (1-0, 1.23), making his first Saturday start of the season at 2 p.m.