Troy University Athletics

Troy Takes Road Series with Split in Twin Bill
2/24/2019 7:31:00 PM | Baseball
The Trojans (4-3) picked up their first series win of the season over a Bulldog (5-2) squad that won 39 games last season and was previously undefeated in through four games. Troy took two out of three in the set following Saturday's one-run victory in the first ever meeting between the two teams.
Game One
A five-run first put the Trojans behind the eight ball early, and the Bulldogs piled it on with two-run homers in each of their final three at-bats to even the series with an 11-4 win in the first leg of the doubleheader.
Tech had five players record multiple hits in the matchup, led by a couple of three-hit games from Taylor Young and Mason Mallard. The Bulldogs also had five players drive in more than one run in the matchup, starting with a three-RBI double in the first inning.
After the five-run first inning, Troy responded with three runs in the top of the second starting with an RBI single from Sadler Goodwin – Goodwin finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in the game. The only other Trojan to record more than one hit was Tanner Jackson, who finished 2-for-4 in the contest.
Beau Billings (1-0) earned the win in relief for the Bulldogs, pitching 2.1 innings of one-hit work – he fanned one. Troy's Grant Stewart (0-1) took the loss after allowing five runs on five hits in 0.2 innings on the mound.
Game Two
Troy bounced back in a big way in the series finale, jumping on Tech early and often to secure the 7-5 win to clinch the series. Drew Frederic launched two homers, while Chase Smartt and Austin Garofalo recorded four hits apiece in the game.
Frederic bookended the scoring for the Trojans, hitting a solo homer in the first and another in the eighth – he finished 2-for-3 at the plate, adding a couple of walks and three runs scored. Smartt and Garofalo both recorded four hits in five attempts, with identical lines of one RBI, one run scored and one double each.
After the Bulldogs responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the first, Sadler Goodwin held the offense scoreless until the fifth inning – helping Troy get out to a 5-1 lead at that point. Rush Hixon (1-0) picked up his first win of the season after dealing two innings of one-hit relief work. Redshirt junior Cory Gill (2) earned his second save of the weekend after fanning three batters in the final two innings of the ballgame.
The Trojans scored in five of the first six innings and added another in the eighth, but the resilient Tech team wouldn't go away easily – thanks, in part, to a couple of no-doubt solo homers from Steele Netterville in the sixth and eighth innings.
LA Tech starter Logan Bailey (0-1) fell for the first time in 2019, scattering 10 hits around eight strikeouts and allowing five runs – four earned – in 4.1 innings of work.
Sound "Smartt" with Your Friends
After Sunday, Troy improved to 4-0 in games when it hit at least one home run – while falling to 0-3 in games when it has not hit a home run.
Notable
• Drew Frederic became the first Trojan to hit two home runs in the same game since Brandon Lockridge did so against Appalachian State in 2017. Frederic led the team with seven homers in his 2018 campaign.
• Senior Chase Smartt's four-hit game tied his career-high set against Arkansas State in the 2016 Sun Belt Tournament.
• Newcomer Austin Garofalo was 5-for-8 overall in the two games Sunday, propelling himself into the team-lead with a .348 batting average on the season. Game two marked his single-game high for hits and was the second multi-hit game of his young career.
#Whup Next
Troy and Jacksonville State renew both school's longest-running rivalry with the 144th rendition of the matchup Wednesday night at Riddle-Pace Field. The Trojans will aim to #WhupJaxState with first pitch at 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Beau Billings (1-0)
L: Stewart, Grant (0-1)
S: Matt Miller (1)

Batting:
2B: Mosley, Rigsby 1 ; Smartt, Chase 1 ; Garofalo, Austin 1
RBI: Goodwin, Sadler 2 ; Garofalo, Austin 1 ; Early, Manning 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cerny, Logan 1 ; Smartt, Chase 2 ; Goodwin, Sadler 1
CS: Mosley, Rigsby 1
HBP: Garofalo, Austin 1

Batting:
2B: Steele Netterville 1 ; Parker Bates 1
HR: Taylor Young 1 ; Mason Mallard 1 ; Shelton Wallace 1 ; Mason Robinson 1
RBI: Taylor Young 2 ; Mason Mallard 2 ; Steele Netterville 3 ; Shelton Wallace 2 ; Mason Robinson 2
SH: Chris Clayton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hunter Wells 1 ; Taylor Young 3 ; Mason Mallard 2 ; Steele Netterville 1 ; Parker Bates 1 ; Shelton Wallace 1 ; Mason Robinson 1 ; Graham Hackbarth 1
CS: Hunter Wells 1
HBP: Parker Bates 1