Troy Downs Georgia State, Drops Heartbreaker to Coastal Carolina

Friday, May 13

Mobile, Ala.

4 p.m.

Troy University

31-20

Georgia State

21-33

Troy

Georgia State

Troy Downs Georgia State, Drops Heartbreaker to Coastal Carolina

5/14/2022 12:49:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game One Box Score (PDF)Game Two Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

MOBILE, Ala. – No. 4 Troy shutout the No. 7 seed Georgia State, 5-0, to advance in the Sun Belt Tournament before dropping a heartbreaker to the No. 9 seed Coastal Carolina, 5-2, to end the Trojans' tournament run Saturday at Jaguar Field.

Behind 5.0 one-hit innings from sophomore Libby Baker, the Trojans (31-21) powered past Georgia State (21-33) to advance into the nightcap.

After falling behind 2-0 to Coastal Carolina (31-21), a game-tying solo shot from Kelly Horne was not enough as the Chanticleers plated a run in the top of the seventh to end Troy's tournament run.

Game One: No. 4 Troy 5, No. 7 Georgia State 0
The Trojans struck first in the top of the opening frame after back-to-back two-out walks set up Audra Thompson for a three-run long ball.

After starter Leanna Johnson got in trouble with illegal-pitch forced walks, Baker (9-6) checked into the circle and retired the first three batters she faced to keep Georgia State at bay.

The righty again retired the Panthers in order to send Troy's offense back to the plate in the top of the fifth.

Logan Calhoun led off the frame with a double to left center. Jade Sinness followed and forced an error on the sacrifice bunt that plated Calhoun.

Directly after Sinness' at-bat, the teams were called off the field due to a lightning delay that lasted over two hours. Once play resumed, Troy's offense continued to stay hot. Sinness stole third on the first pitch after resuming, setting up Blake Gibson for a sacrifice fly.

Baker allowed just one hit through the next three frames to keep the Trojans alive in the Sun Belt Tournament. The sophomore hurled six strikeouts and allowed just two walks in the win.

Emily Buck (9-8) was tagged with the loss, allowing three runs, a hit and a trio of walks.

Game Two: No. 9 Coastal Carolina 3, No. 4 Troy 2
Questionable illegal pitch calls plagued starter Johnson early again after back-to-back hits and a pair of illegal-pitch induced walks plated an early run for the Chanticleers.

Baker again entered in relief of Johnson, but a wild pitch saw Coastal Carolina take a 2-0 lead before the Trojans could work out of the inning.

Both offenses remained quiet until Makiya Thomas tallied the first hit since the opening frame in the top of the fifth, but she was ultimately left stranded.

However, the Trojans refused to back down, breaking up Kaitlyn Beasley-Polk's (15-10) no-hitter in the bottom of the fifth.

Katelynn de Leon sparked the Trojan offense with a two-out single. de Leon came around to score off back-to-back singles from Kennedi Gaton and Calhoun to put Troy on the board.

Troy's offensive momentum carried into the home half of the sixth, where Horne blasted a leadoff home run on a pay off pitch to tie the ball game up 2-2.

Taylor McKinney then punched a single to right field and enter into scoring position after a sacrifice bunt, but Beasley-Polko forced a groundout to evade any more damage.

With momentum swarming on both sides, a walk and a bunt single put runners on the corners for the Chanticleers. An RBI groundout plated the game-deciding run before Baker forced a fly out to end the frame.

Despite a two-out single from Calhoun, Troy could not scratch a run across to keep the game alive.

Quotable – Co-Interim Head Coach Taylor Smartt
"I'm really proud of our team and our fight. Obviously not the ending we wanted, but Troy is special, every one of those moments out there were special with our team. I'm just proud with all the adversity that we've faced this year, and the fight they showed right there. It came down to the very end, and I was very proud of them."

Notable

Troy finishes the Sun Belt Tournament at 2-2.
This season, the Trojans notched four wins over Power Five opponents for the first time since 2012 (Ole Miss, No. 25 Ohio State, No. 22 LSU, NC State).
Leanna Johnson tossed a pair of no-hitters this season (SIU and UT Arlington). The Brantley, Ala., native became the first Trojan to throw two no-hitters in a season since Ashlyn Williams in 2012.
Against UT Arlington, Kelly Horne led off the opening frame of action with her 101st career walk, taking claim of Troy's career walks record.
Horne came just one walk shy of matching the program's single-season record.