Ortiz, Stearns Propel Troy Past Youngstown State

Friday, February 19

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

1-0

Youngstown State

0-1

Youngstown State

Troy

Ortiz, Stearns Propel Troy Past Youngstown State

2/19/2021 10:52:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Orlando Ortiz struck out 11 and walked none in his Friday night debut as Troy secured a 10-4 victory over Youngstown State on Opening Night at Riddle-Pace Field. The Trojans improve to 5-1 in season-openers under head coach Mark Smartt.

Eight of nine Trojan starters recorded a hit in the game, highlighted by Clay Stearns' 2-for-2 night at the plate with a two-run homer and a triple for a total of three RBIs. William Sullivan went 2-for-5 with an RBI double in the first inning and crushed his first-career home run to right field in the bottom of the fourth.

Kyle Mock finished 4-for-5 with an RBI, and was responsible for two of Troy's (1-0, 0-0 SBC) six doubles on the night. Drew Frederic also posted a multi-hit game with a double in the second and an RBI single in the seventh.

Rigsby Mosley led off with a single before Dalton Sinquefield's double to right-center opened the scoring in the first inning. Sullivan's double scored Sinquefield before Austin Garofalo did his job and brought home Sullivan with a sac-fly.

Youngstown State (0-1, 0-0 HL) found a quick response in the top of the second on a two-run home run from Nick Caruso.

Five unanswered runs – two in the third, one in the fourth and two in the fifth – by the Trojans gave Troy control of the contest before both squads plated a run in the seventh and eighth innings.

Ortiz notched the win on the mound after going six innings with 11 strikeouts and no walks. The junior allowed two runs and just three hits. Lance Johnson made his 94^th appearance as a Trojan and struck out two of the four batters he faced to close the game.

Colin Clark was tagged with the loss for the Penguins after pitching 4.2 innings and allowing eight runs on 11 hits.

Sound Smartt With Your Friends

Troy is 41-18 under Mark Smartt in series openers. This is the 44^th time in the Smartt era the Trojans have scored at least 10 runs in a game. Troy is 42-2 in those games.

Notable

Troy improves to 17-4 on Opening Weekend and 5-1 in season-openers under Mark Smartt.
Eight of nine Troy starters recorded a hit and six Trojans recorded an extra-base hit on the night.
Kyle Mock recorded the seventh and eighth extra-base hits of his career. Eight of his 16 career hits have gone for extra bases.
Drew Frederic posted the 61^st multi-hit game of his career while William Sullivan registered his seventh.
Orlando Ortiz struck out a career-best 11 batters and walked none in the first Friday-night start of his career.
Lance Johnson made his 94^th career appearance for the Trojans, the third-most among active Division I players.
In Matt Snell's ten career relief appearances, Matt Snell has retired eight of the ten first batters he's faced.

Quotable – Head Coach Mark Smartt
"It was a good Opening Night win for us, I was really proud just to play the game. We've gone through so much as a team to get here. It was a great way to start the 2021 season, but most importantly, I'm proud to be back representing Troy."

On Orlando Ortiz
"I'm really proud of Orlando. It was his first Friday-night start, and that's a big step for anybody. Moving from Saturday to Friday, that's a big step for anybody. He had a little trouble in the first, and struck two guys out to get out of a tough situation, which I thought was a great confidence-booster for him. He gave up a two-run homer in the second, but I thought he took it to another level after that and was great in his first start of the year."

Up Next
Troy and Youngstown State continue their four-game series with a doubleheader Saturday, Feb 20 at Riddle-Pace Field. First pitch is schedule for 1 p.m.