Smartt Earns 100th Win; Troy Wins Series Over South Alabama

Friday, May 18

Troy, Ala.

3:00 PM

Troy University

37-17, 18-10

South Alabama

29-22, 17-10

South Alabama

Troy

Smartt Earns 100th Win; Troy Wins Series Over South Alabama

5/18/2018 10:14:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (Game One)Box Score (Game Two)

By: Jace Sanders

TROY, Alabama – Head coach Mark Smartt recorded his 100^th win as Troy's head coach with a shutout and a blow out, 3-0 and 11-1, of South Alabama to take the final regular season series of the 2018 campaign Saturday afternoon at Riddle-Pace Field.

The Trojans (38-17, 19-10) took a commanding doubleheader over the Jags (29-23, 17-11); behind the arm of Andrew Crane in game one and with the help of their powerful offense in the second leg of the day.

Game One
Andrew Crane's final start at Riddle-Pace Field was nothing short of stellar as the senior pitched 8.2 innings to lead Troy's 3-0 shutout of South Alabama in game one of the three-game series.

Crane (6-4) was an out away from a two-hit shutout when he walked his fifth batter and was pulled for CJ Carter. Carter (8) threw three pitches and recorded the strikeout to complete the victory.

Matt Sanders drove in the Trojans' first two runs on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly in the third and fifth innings – Sanders finished 2-for-3 in the opener. Drew Frederic brought home the other of Troy's three runs on a two-out single in that fifth inning, as well.

South Alabama starter Tyler Carr (8-3) pitched the full game on the mound for the Jags, but suffered the hard-luck loss after giving up three runs on seven hits.

Game Two
The weather rolled in and Troy started raining runs all over South Alabama, winning 11-1 to sweep the doubleheader and to take the series in game two of the series.

The Trojans scored all 11 of their runs in their final four at-bats – three in the fifth and sixth, one in the seventh and four in the eighth.

Drew Frederic and Matt Sanders picked up where they left off in game one and had monster games in the second leg of the twin bill. Frederic finished 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Sanders was 3-for-6 with two runs driven in and two runs scored, as well.

Troy broke a scoreless tie with a three-run shot off the bat of Brandon Lockridge in the fifth inning; followed by three runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth.

The flood gates then opened and Troy scored four runs on three consecutive extra-base hits to lead off the eighth – Matt Sanders doubled, Drew Frederic tripled and Joey Denison homered to blow the game wide open.

Senior Jackson Cofer (1-0) picked up his first collegiate win in his last regular season series with four scoreless innings of relief – fanning five batters around two hits. Meanwhile, Zack Lightsey (1) earned the first save of his young career with three innings of one-hit, three-strikeout work.

South was able to score its lone run of the day with a solo shot from Wells Davis in the top of the sixth inning. Jag starter Jared Proctor (4-1) took the loss after giving up six runs on nine hits in six innings.

Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"What a day. One run in 18 innings? Wow. Just a solo homer. It started with Andrew Crane and man, did he come through with a big game in his last one at Riddle-Pace. Jackson Cofer was terrific in game two, then Lightsey got the three-inning save. To hold that offensive team to one run is the sign of a good day on the mound. Our offense finally showed up when Lockridge hit the three-run homer and that woke our guys up."

Notable
• Senior Andrew Crane finished his pitching career at Riddle-Pace Field with an impressive 8-1 record. Crane was an out away from his second complete game of the season and first career shutout.

• Drew Frederic was 6-for-9 in the doubleheader with three RBIs, two runs scored and two stolen bases. Frederic leads the team and the conference with 28 stolen bases this season.

• Troy allowed just one South Alabama run in the two games – the fewest in any two consecutive games in the history of the rivalry.

On Deck
Troy will go for its first three-game sweep of South Alabama since 2006 behind the arm of senior righty Daren Osby (6-1, 4.62) on Senior Day Saturday at 6 p.m. in Riddle-Pace Field.