Troy Downs Southern Miss, Second Game Appealed

Saturday, March 6

Auburn, Ala.

9 a.m.

Troy University

16-4

Southern Mississippi

11-8

TROY

Southern Miss

Troy Downs Southern Miss, Second Game Appealed

3/6/2021 3:50:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Game One Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

AUBURN, Ala. – Freshman Ashlan Ard came in clutch during the late innings of game one to power Troy past Southern Miss, 5-4, before a controversial call resulted in an official appeal to be filed with the NCAA, leaving game two of the doubleheader still undecided.

Ard was Troy's hero in game one of the doubleheader going 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of crucial, game-deciding RBIs. The third baseman has now recorded four multi-RBI games this season.

Game One: Troy 5, Southern Miss 4
A late game offensive push by Southern Miss gave the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game heading into the top of the seventh.

Needing at least one run to keep the game alive and just three outs to work with, momentum seemed to favor Southern Miss after a pick off and a strikeout recorded the first two outs of the final frame.

Troy placed two runners aboard after sophomores Katie Lively and Anslee Finch stayed patient and earned a walk. Ard, a freshman, rose to the occasion and smashed a base-clearing double to left field, giving Troy a one-run advantage.

In the bottom half of the seventh, senior Kynsley Rae Blasingame (3-0) calmly retired the Golden Eagles in order to secure the victory.

Southern Miss struck first in the bottom of the opening frame off of a Terrica Williams sacrifice fly that scored Destini Brown.

The Trojans responded in the top of the second with three runs, highlighted by Anslee Finch's fourth long ball of the season, to take the lead.

A pair of scoreless outings sent the game into the bottom of the fifth where Williams hit a two-RBI single to tie the game. Blasingame entered in relief of Leanna Johnson and recorded the final out of the inning.

Southern Miss's offense picked up right where it left off in the bottom of the sixth, stringing together back-to-back hits to plate the go-ahead run and set up Ard for the game-deciding double.

Makenna Pierce (2-3) suffered the loss for Southern Miss allowing two runs, five hits and three walks.

Game Two: Troy 3, Southern Miss 3 *
The Golden Eagles struck first in the opening frame when a pair of groundouts scored Brown who led off with a double.

After both teams went down in order in the second, a pair of hits squeezed across another run for Southern Miss in the bottom of the third.

Another quiet outing for either side sent the game into the top of the fifth, where Troy's offense ignited to tie the game.

After Troy's first two batters couldn't find a way on, Logan Calhoun kickstarted the two-out rally with a single to right-center. Sinness followed with a double to right field that scored Calhoun.

Candela Figueroa then tied the contest crushing a triple to right field, her second three-bagger on the season.

Scoreless sixth and seventh frames sent the game into extra-innings. With the international tie-breaker rule in effect, Figueroa started the eighth on second base.

A ground out moved the go-ahead run to third with one out for Horne. Horne singled to centerfield to put the Trojans up one.

In the bottom of the eighth, Southern Miss plated their international tie-breaker runner to tie the game. A walk then placed the winning run into scoring position. After forcing a fly out, a miscommunication between the umpires allowed a walk-off single to be hit after a no pitch was called due to music in the stadium.

Troy has filed an official protest with the NCAA for the game to be declared a no-contest. Southern Miss was declared the on-field winner by a score of 4-3.