Troy University Athletics
Saturday, March 16
Troy, Ala.
3:00 PM
Troy University
9-10, 0-2
6
vs
10
Arkansas State
13-7, 2-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas State | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 1 |
| Troy | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
Another Late-Inning Grand Slam Dooms Troy
3/16/2019 7:19:00 PM | Baseball
TROY, Ala. – After being down to its final strike down one, Arkansas State rallied for five runs in the ninth inning to defeat Troy, 10-6, Saturday afternoon at Riddle-Pace Field and clinch the Sun Belt-opening series.
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A couple of batters after Arkansas State's (13-7, 2-0) Justin Felix tied the game with an RBI double, Jake Jablonski stepped to the plate and delivered big blow on the first pitch – a no-doubt, eventual game-winning grand slam over the monster in right. Â
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Prior to the ninth, Troy (9-10, 0-2) pitching had not allowed a hit since the fourth inning – a combination of 2.2 hitless innings from Rush Hixon and a six-strikeout outing for Cory Gill (0-1). Gill breezed through the first two batters of the ninth with a groundout and strikeout but wore his first loss of the season after giving up the five runs on four hits.
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The Trojans took the lead in the third inning with a four-spot, highlighted by a three-run bomb from freshman Logan Cerny. Troy scored a single run in each of the first two innings; the run in the second came on a first-pitch solo shot from Sadler Goodwin – his team-leading fourth of the season. Goodwin and Dalton Sinquefield both tallied multiple hits in the game, Goodwin going 2-for-4 and Sinquefield finishing 3-for-5.
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The Red Wolves were once again led offensively by Drew Tipton, who followed Friday's 3-for-3 performance with a 3-for-4 day Saturday. Tipton brought ASU within one with a two-run triple in the fourth inning – the last hit allowed by the Trojan pitching staff until the ninth.
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Payton Lannon (1-0) picked up the win in relief – striking out two and allowing three hits in two scoreless frames.
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Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"That's a brutal loss; no way to shape it any better. But give them credit, they had two outs with nobody on in the ninth and got hit-hit-hit, we hit a batter, then grand slam. Give them credit because they deserve it. Cory (Gill) was great; but they just beat our best guy. We're not showing enough toughness right now. We had the chance to score several times and we couldn't get that next run in."
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Notable
• With the loss, Troy dropped its first two conference games for the first time since 2015 when the Trojans were swept by Louisiana at Riddle-Pace Field.
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• Arkansas State clinched just its third ever series win against Troy and its second series win at Riddle-Pace Field. The Red Wolves took two of three from the 2012 Trojans in Troy.
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• Dalton Sinquefield stayed hot at the plate with his third three-hit game of the week, this time going 3-for-5 with a double. He's now 9-for-18 with two runs scored, a double and four RBI in the last four games.
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• Saturday marked the second time in three games Troy lost on a grand slam after leading by one in the ninth. The Trojans fell on an 11th-inning, walk-off slam Wednesday night at Jacksonville State.
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Up Next
The Trojans will look to salvage the series finale with a 1 p.m. start time Sunday behind the arm of junior lefty Max Newton. The first 200 fans to the game will receive a free green Troy t-shirt for St. Patrick's Day and kids will get the chance to run the bases after the conclusion of the game.
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A couple of batters after Arkansas State's (13-7, 2-0) Justin Felix tied the game with an RBI double, Jake Jablonski stepped to the plate and delivered big blow on the first pitch – a no-doubt, eventual game-winning grand slam over the monster in right. Â
Â
Prior to the ninth, Troy (9-10, 0-2) pitching had not allowed a hit since the fourth inning – a combination of 2.2 hitless innings from Rush Hixon and a six-strikeout outing for Cory Gill (0-1). Gill breezed through the first two batters of the ninth with a groundout and strikeout but wore his first loss of the season after giving up the five runs on four hits.
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The Trojans took the lead in the third inning with a four-spot, highlighted by a three-run bomb from freshman Logan Cerny. Troy scored a single run in each of the first two innings; the run in the second came on a first-pitch solo shot from Sadler Goodwin – his team-leading fourth of the season. Goodwin and Dalton Sinquefield both tallied multiple hits in the game, Goodwin going 2-for-4 and Sinquefield finishing 3-for-5.
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The Red Wolves were once again led offensively by Drew Tipton, who followed Friday's 3-for-3 performance with a 3-for-4 day Saturday. Tipton brought ASU within one with a two-run triple in the fourth inning – the last hit allowed by the Trojan pitching staff until the ninth.
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Payton Lannon (1-0) picked up the win in relief – striking out two and allowing three hits in two scoreless frames.
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Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"That's a brutal loss; no way to shape it any better. But give them credit, they had two outs with nobody on in the ninth and got hit-hit-hit, we hit a batter, then grand slam. Give them credit because they deserve it. Cory (Gill) was great; but they just beat our best guy. We're not showing enough toughness right now. We had the chance to score several times and we couldn't get that next run in."
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Notable
• With the loss, Troy dropped its first two conference games for the first time since 2015 when the Trojans were swept by Louisiana at Riddle-Pace Field.
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• Arkansas State clinched just its third ever series win against Troy and its second series win at Riddle-Pace Field. The Red Wolves took two of three from the 2012 Trojans in Troy.
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• Dalton Sinquefield stayed hot at the plate with his third three-hit game of the week, this time going 3-for-5 with a double. He's now 9-for-18 with two runs scored, a double and four RBI in the last four games.
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• Saturday marked the second time in three games Troy lost on a grand slam after leading by one in the ninth. The Trojans fell on an 11th-inning, walk-off slam Wednesday night at Jacksonville State.
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Up Next
The Trojans will look to salvage the series finale with a 1 p.m. start time Sunday behind the arm of junior lefty Max Newton. The first 200 fans to the game will receive a free green Troy t-shirt for St. Patrick's Day and kids will get the chance to run the bases after the conclusion of the game.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lannon, Payton (1-0)
L: Gill, Cory (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Felix, Justin 1
3B: Tipton, Drew 1
HR: Jablonski, Jake 1
RBI: Tipton, Drew 2 ; Zimmerman, Will 1 ; Felix, Justin 3 ; Jablonski, Jake 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Tipton, Drew 2 ; Zimmerman, Will 1 ; Davis, Eli 1 ; Culver, Sky-Lar 1 ; Felix, Justin 1 ; Deshazier, Jaylon 1 ; Huber, Will 1 ; Jablonski, Jake 2
SB: Tipton, Drew 2 ; Zimmerman, Will 1
CS: Zimmerman, Will 1
HBP: Huber, Will 1
Batting:
2B: Sinquefield, Dalton 1
HR: Goodwin, Sadler 1 ; Cerny, Logan 1
RBI: Goodwin, Sadler 1 ; Bartolero, Caleb 1 ; Cerny, Logan 3
SH: Mercer, Hunter 1
SF: Bartolero, Caleb 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Frederic, Drew 1 ; Sinquefield, Dalton 1 ; Smartt, Chase 1 ; Goodwin, Sadler 2 ; Cerny, Logan 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
3b/c
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF/C
/ Baseball
IF/RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
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