Troy Powers Past UTA; Falls to Texas State in Elimination Final

Friday, May 11

Lafayette, La.

5 PM

Troy University

34-26

Texas State

41-14

Texas State

Troy

Troy Powers Past UTA; Falls to Texas State in Elimination Final

5/11/2018 10:28:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Grace Bolin

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana- The bats were on fire as Troy put up 26 hits on Friday in the elimination bracket of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to defeat UTA 9-5, but the Trojans fell to Texas State 9-5 in nine innings. The Trojans made history as their six games in the conference tournament was the longest run since the program joined the Sun Belt in 2007.

Game one: Troy 9, UTA 5
Freshman Talia Truitt set a season-high with four hits in a game to lead the Trojans over the Mavericks in Troy's fifth game of the tournament.

Troy plated four runs in the first as Logan Calhoun and Madeline Porter reached safely on an error and hit by pitch. A single from Stephanie Snyder loaded the bases and Erica Davis followed with a two-RBI single up the middle. Carli Kayler kept the momentum going with a two more RBIs with a double into left. Truitt reached with her first hit of the day on a bunt single.

UTA answered back with a three-run inning in the bottom of the third on a few base hits and a three-RBI double from Aileen Garcia.

Another four run inning, sparked by four back-to-back singles and a base clearing triple from Porter, gave the Trojans an 8-3 lead. Truitt kept her streak alive in the seventh with another bunt single, and was able to score on an RBI from Calhoun.

Annie Willis made the start, but Peyton Glover entered in relief after 2.2 innings. In 4.1 innings of work, she only gave up two hits and allowed just one run to cross the plate. The duo combined for just a pair of strikeouts as the Troy defense made the plays to overcome the Mavericks for the second time in the tournament.

All but one batter in the Troy lineup recorded a hit against UTA, while five posted multiple hits led by Truitt with four and Katie Webb with three.

Game two: Texas State 9, Troy 5
Troy suffered a heartbreaking, extra inning loss to No. 1 seeded Texas State, falling just short of reaching the Sun Belt Championship, ending the Trojans' historic run in the tournament.

Texas State struck first in the fourth inning, bringing in two runs, but Troy answered back with four runs of its own. A Porter single and a walk to Stephanie Snyder put two runners on as Erica Davis smashed a single down the left line, scoring Porter.

Kaylee Hussey came through clutch with her team-leading eighth home run of season, a three-run shot as the Trojans took a 4-2 lead.

The Bobcats rallied back to plate three more runs and regain the lead, but once again, Troy fought back as Davis recorded another RBI, bringing in Kyndal Riddick who entered the game to run for Webb.

Neither team could break the gridlock in the seventh and eighth innings, but Texas State capped the game, earning a spot in the Sun Belt Championship game with a three-run ninth inning, that Troy couldn't answer.

Glover and Willis took turns in the circle, as Glover made the start before Willis entered as relief before Glover re-entered in the ninth. Willis took the loss and moves to 17-9 on the year. Glover recorded three strikeouts in her 6.1 inning and Willis added one.

QUOTABLE
"We came up a bit short," head coach Beth Mullins said, "but I could not be more proud of the grit and fight this group showed this week. Every player on this team fought and did their job every single game. All year we have talked about raising the standard and I think we did that and set a new standard for next year's team to meet and beat."

NOTEWORTHY

Troy's nine runs against UTA was the most runs scored through the first three days of the tournament and its 16 hits was the most of any game combined.
For the tournament, Talia Truitt led all Troy batters with .727 at the plate (8-for-11), followed by Katie Webb with .421 (8-for-19).
Hussey hit two home runs during the week, to bring her season total to eight, and Kayler added one.

For more on Troy softball, visit TroyTrojans.com and follow @TroyTrojansSB on Twitter.