Troy University Athletics
Friday, March 19
Troy, Ala.
6 p.m.
Troy University
8-9, 0-1
1
vs
8
Georgia Southern
10-6, 1-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Georgia Southern
2
1
1
0
1
0
1
2
0
8
12
0
Troy
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
9
1
Troy Drops Series Opener to Georgia Southern
3/19/2021 10:55:00 PM | Baseball
TROY, Ala. -- Despite another three hits from sixth-year senior shortstop Drew Frederic, and seven strong innings from Max Newton and DJ Wilkinson, the Troy baseball program fell 8-1 Friday night to the Georgia Southern Eagles at Riddle-Pace Field.
Troy (8-9, 0-1 Sun Belt) Junior Orlando Oritz (2-2) struggled, as the righty went just two innings, allowing four runs (three earned) and four hits. The starter really struggled with his command as the patient Eagles (10-6, 1-0) lineup was able to work five walks.
Georgia Southern stuck early Friday, using a pair of walks and an infield hit to load the bases with just one out in the opening frame for right fielder Christian Avant.
Avant smoked the second pitch he saw from Ortiz into the right-center gap for a two-RBI double that gave Georgia Southern a 2-0 lead.
Eagle starter Tyler Owens worked around a one-out walk to Rigsby Mosley to fire a scoreless bottom of the first. In their next turn at-bat, the Eagles powered by a lead-off single from Parker Biedere, a stolen base and a double from Mason McWhorter took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the second.
A lead-off double from Logan Cerny coupled with a single from Jesse Hall plated the Trojans lone run of the night in the bottom of the second.
In the top-half of the third inning, the Eagles chased Ortiz when Jarett Brown worked a lead-off seven-pitch walk.
After the pitching change saw Newton enter the game, the Eagles used a sacrifice bunt, a fielding error and a perfectly placed squeeze bunt to plate to take a 4-1 lead.
Following a scoreless bottom of the third and top of the fourth, the Trojans used a four-pitch walk to designated hitter Kyle Mock and another single from Hall to bring place runners on first and second with one-out for William Sullivan, who struck out.
A walk to second baseman Donovan Whibbs loaded the bases with two-out for Frederic who lifted a long flyball that was just hauled in on the warning track by Biederer.
The mini threat was the Trojans best chance to work their way back in the contest, as the Eagles used a run in the fifth, one in the seventh to take a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the frame.
Troy used another single from Frederic and a one-out walk by Mosley to put a pair on base. The mini surge chased the righty Owens from the ballgame in favor of former Friday night starter Jordan Jackson.
Jackson swiftly came in and shut the door, striking out a batter and using a groundout to second to strand both runners.
Owens (1-0) earned his first victory of the season for Georgia Southern, working six-and-one-third strong innings. The fifth-year senior scattered just six hits and allowed one run, striking out seven Trojans batters.
In the top half of the eighth, Georgia Southern used back-to-back singles to place a pair of runners on with nobody out. Wilkinson hunkered down recording back-to-back strikeouts, before allowing a two-out six-pitch walk that loaded the bases for Steven Curry.
With the count even at two balls and two strikes, Wilkson dropped a nasty off-speed to Curry that froze the batter. The pitch looked to be a strike, but the home plate disagreed bringing the count full. On the pay-off pitch, Curry promptly singled to score a pair. The two runs gave the visitors an 8-1 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Trojans used a lead-off single, a one-out double from Frederic and another walk by Mosley to load the bases, but Jackson used his third and final strike out combined with a fly out to right to end the contest.
The Trojans and Eagles meet again tomorrow for game-two of the weekend series. First pitch from Riddle-Pace Field is set for 3 p.m. Freshman Garrett Gainous is scheduled to take the ball for the Trojans.
Quotable- head coach Mark Smartt
"It's tough to win when you're not scoring runs. We had a couple of chances but we're not putting enough pressure on the opponent. That little rally in the ninth inning was good to see, but we made too many easy outs tonight, and we didn't have enough innings with men on base. From the fourth to the sixth, Owens cruised and we didn't do much against him. It's really hard to win games when you score just one run. We scratched out nine hits, but we didn't get the big hit that we needed in order to stay in the game."
Sound Smartt With Your Friends:
Friday's matchup against Georgia Southern was the first SBC contest that Troy played in 671 days. Troy and Georgia Southern were originally scheduled to meet last season before COVID-19 forced the eventual cancelation of the season.
Notable
• Frederic reached base for the 26th consecutive game. The senior is just two games away from tying his career-best streak of 28 straight games.
• Coming into tonight's action, Ortiz led the Sun Belt in strikeouts (28). The righty recorded just one strikeout Friday.
• After allowing just three walks in 20.2 innings this season coming into tonight's start, Oritz allowed five walks. The righty threw just 30 of his 61 pitches for strikes.
• Troy stranded 12 baserunners.
• Newton and Wilkinson combined to strikeout eight Ga Southern batters over their seven innings of work.
• Wilkinson's seven strikeouts were a career-high.
Troy (8-9, 0-1 Sun Belt) Junior Orlando Oritz (2-2) struggled, as the righty went just two innings, allowing four runs (three earned) and four hits. The starter really struggled with his command as the patient Eagles (10-6, 1-0) lineup was able to work five walks.
Georgia Southern stuck early Friday, using a pair of walks and an infield hit to load the bases with just one out in the opening frame for right fielder Christian Avant.
Avant smoked the second pitch he saw from Ortiz into the right-center gap for a two-RBI double that gave Georgia Southern a 2-0 lead.
Eagle starter Tyler Owens worked around a one-out walk to Rigsby Mosley to fire a scoreless bottom of the first. In their next turn at-bat, the Eagles powered by a lead-off single from Parker Biedere, a stolen base and a double from Mason McWhorter took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the second.
A lead-off double from Logan Cerny coupled with a single from Jesse Hall plated the Trojans lone run of the night in the bottom of the second.
In the top-half of the third inning, the Eagles chased Ortiz when Jarett Brown worked a lead-off seven-pitch walk.
After the pitching change saw Newton enter the game, the Eagles used a sacrifice bunt, a fielding error and a perfectly placed squeeze bunt to plate to take a 4-1 lead.
Following a scoreless bottom of the third and top of the fourth, the Trojans used a four-pitch walk to designated hitter Kyle Mock and another single from Hall to bring place runners on first and second with one-out for William Sullivan, who struck out.
A walk to second baseman Donovan Whibbs loaded the bases with two-out for Frederic who lifted a long flyball that was just hauled in on the warning track by Biederer.
The mini threat was the Trojans best chance to work their way back in the contest, as the Eagles used a run in the fifth, one in the seventh to take a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the frame.
Troy used another single from Frederic and a one-out walk by Mosley to put a pair on base. The mini surge chased the righty Owens from the ballgame in favor of former Friday night starter Jordan Jackson.
Jackson swiftly came in and shut the door, striking out a batter and using a groundout to second to strand both runners.
Owens (1-0) earned his first victory of the season for Georgia Southern, working six-and-one-third strong innings. The fifth-year senior scattered just six hits and allowed one run, striking out seven Trojans batters.
In the top half of the eighth, Georgia Southern used back-to-back singles to place a pair of runners on with nobody out. Wilkinson hunkered down recording back-to-back strikeouts, before allowing a two-out six-pitch walk that loaded the bases for Steven Curry.
With the count even at two balls and two strikes, Wilkson dropped a nasty off-speed to Curry that froze the batter. The pitch looked to be a strike, but the home plate disagreed bringing the count full. On the pay-off pitch, Curry promptly singled to score a pair. The two runs gave the visitors an 8-1 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Trojans used a lead-off single, a one-out double from Frederic and another walk by Mosley to load the bases, but Jackson used his third and final strike out combined with a fly out to right to end the contest.
The Trojans and Eagles meet again tomorrow for game-two of the weekend series. First pitch from Riddle-Pace Field is set for 3 p.m. Freshman Garrett Gainous is scheduled to take the ball for the Trojans.
Quotable- head coach Mark Smartt
"It's tough to win when you're not scoring runs. We had a couple of chances but we're not putting enough pressure on the opponent. That little rally in the ninth inning was good to see, but we made too many easy outs tonight, and we didn't have enough innings with men on base. From the fourth to the sixth, Owens cruised and we didn't do much against him. It's really hard to win games when you score just one run. We scratched out nine hits, but we didn't get the big hit that we needed in order to stay in the game."
Sound Smartt With Your Friends:
Friday's matchup against Georgia Southern was the first SBC contest that Troy played in 671 days. Troy and Georgia Southern were originally scheduled to meet last season before COVID-19 forced the eventual cancelation of the season.
Notable
• Frederic reached base for the 26th consecutive game. The senior is just two games away from tying his career-best streak of 28 straight games.
• Coming into tonight's action, Ortiz led the Sun Belt in strikeouts (28). The righty recorded just one strikeout Friday.
• After allowing just three walks in 20.2 innings this season coming into tonight's start, Oritz allowed five walks. The righty threw just 30 of his 61 pitches for strikes.
• Troy stranded 12 baserunners.
• Newton and Wilkinson combined to strikeout eight Ga Southern batters over their seven innings of work.
• Wilkinson's seven strikeouts were a career-high.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Owens, Tyler (1-0)
L: Ortiz, Orlando (2-2)
Batting:
2B: McWhorter, Mason 1 ; Avant, Christian 1 ; Brown, Jarrett 1
RBI: McWhorter, Mason 1 ; Avant, Christian 2 ; Curry, Steven 2 ; Anderson, Matt 1 ; Biederer, Parker 2
SH: Curry, Steven 1 ; Biederer, Parker 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McWhorter, Mason 2 ; Thompson, Austin 2 ; Avant, Christian 1 ; Brown, Jarrett 2 ; Biederer, Parker 1
SB: Biederer, Parker 1
CS: Thompson, Austin 1
Batting:
2B: Frederic, Drew 1 ; Sinquefield, Dalton 1 ; Cerny, Logan 1
RBI: Hall, Jesse 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cerny, Logan 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
0
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
RHP
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