Gill Stymies App State; Troy Wins Fourth Straight Sun Belt Series

Friday, April 19

Troy, Ala.

6:00 PM

Troy University

21-18, 9-8

Appalachian State

15-21, 7-9

Appalachian State

Troy

Photo by: Asem Abdelfattah

Gill Stymies App State; Troy Wins Fourth Straight Sun Belt Series

4/19/2019 10:01:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Alabama – Cory Gill struck out a career-high 11 batters and Troy used a balanced offensive attack to defeat Appalachian State, 9-1, Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field. The victory secured Troy's fourth straight Sun Belt series win.

For a minute, it looked as if Gill wouldn't make it out of the first inning as App State had the bases loaded and the junior right-hander's pitch count had already elevated over the 30-pitch mark. Instead, Gill struck out Tyler Leek to end the frame and strike out the side.

Gill (5-1) would go on to strikeout the side again in the third inning and allow just one run on five hits in 5.2 innings of work. Lance Johnson tossed 2.1 scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts before Ryan Fultz closed things out in the ninth. The trio combined for 16 strikeouts and just three walks in the game.

Seven of Troy's starters recorded a hit, and the Trojans belted out three extra-base hits and stole six bases, including three by Drew Frederic.

Troy (21-18, 9-8) struck in the first without the benefit of a hit thanks to a pair of walks and a costly Mountaineer (15-21, 7-9) error. Rigsby Mosley led off the frame with a walk and eventually scored on a sac fly from Logan Cerny.

Following three scoreless frames, Troy broke things open in the fifth with a four-spot as the Trojans got into the App State bullpen. Sadler Goodwin drove home his team-leading 41^strun of the season with a single to right-center and Hunter Mercer doubled home Chase Smartt after a balk scored a run. Another App State error allowed the final run of the frame to cross.

The Trojans added one in the seventh on a double by Manning Early and put the game on ice with three runs in the eighth including a two-run double by Mercer. Mercer's two doubles on the night doubled his double total for the season and marked his fifth multi-hit game of the season.

Luke Drumheller, Dalton Williams and Hayden Cross all had two hits for the Mountaineers. Tyler Tuthill (5-4) took the loss for App State after allowing two runs – one earned – on just one hit over 4.1 innings of work; he did walk five batters.

Troy, who has won nine of its last 12 league games, goes for the series sweep on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Quotable
"I'm really proud of the progress our team has made," head coach Mark Smartt said. "To be 10-8 after 0-5, that is good work. It has taken good play the last month, and we've done that. To win a series for the third time in four weeks on day two is great work from our guys.

"I thought Cory was good tonight. He wasn't efficient early, but he got out of that inning, and I thought that was critical for our team to come out with a zero after he struck out a guy with the bases loaded. Then he found a nice groove and his breaking ball was smooth tonight."

Sound "Smartt" With Your Friends
Cory Gill struck out a career-high 11 batters to become the second Trojan to strikeout 11 batters in a game this season after Levi Thomas fanned 11 North Alabama batters on March 9. His previous career-best was eight in his first-ever outing as a Trojan on Feb. 21, 2016, against Northern Kentucky.

Notable
• Rigsby Mosley extended his career-best on-base streak to 30 games after drawing a walk to leadoff the Troy half of the first; he would come around to score his 28^thrun of the season.

• Sadler Goodwin recorded his 14^thmulti-hit game of the season and second of the weekend after going 2-for-4 in the game. Manning Early also had a pair of hits on the night for his eighth multi-hit game of the season.

• Troy's three pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts in the game … it marked the third time in the last four games that Troy has recorded double-digit strikeouts.

• Drew Frederic stole three bases in the game, including third base twice, he is now 11-for-15 on the year. The last Trojan to steal three bases in a game … Drew Frederic at Jacksonville State in 2018.

For more information on Troy baseball, visit TroyTrojans.com or follow the team on Twitter at @TroyTrojansBSB.

-TROY-