Troy Secures Series Over Louisiana After Split of Doubleheader

Sunday, April 16

Lafayette, La.

12 p.m.

Troy University

25-11, 8-6

Louisiana

24-12, 9-5

Troy

Louisiana

Troy Secures Series Over Louisiana After Split of Doubleheader

4/16/2023 7:04:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 PDF Box Score (Gm 1)PDF Box Score (Gm 2)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Trojans won a series in Lafayette for the third time in program history after splitting Sunday's doubleheader with the Ragin' Cajuns. Troy was victorious in game one, 6-2, behind another strong pitching performance from Grayson Stewart and two home runs from Caleb Bartolero.

Game two saw a much closer contest as three solo home runs were all the scoring between the two teams as Louisiana won 2-1, with the winning run coming from a pinch-hit home run in the seventh.

Grayson Stewart (4-2) put the Trojans (25-12, 8-7) in a position to win in the first game after going six innings with only one earned run while striking out seven, no walks, and seven hits. Stewart threw five innings of no-hit baseball and retired the first 12 Louisiana batters.

Following Stewart was Ben Thompson, who was also stellar in relief. Thompson came on in the seventh inning with the score 4-2 but shut down the Louisiana bats for three scoreless innings allowing only two hits and striking out seven more Ragin' Cajuns. Thompson earned his first save of the season.

Bartolero, in game one, went 2-4, accounting for half the runs scored and half of the runs driven in with three each.

For Louisiana (25-12, 10-5), Jackson Nezuh (5-2) picked up the loss in game one. He went 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits with seven strikeouts. Max Marusak had two hits to lead the Ragin' Cajun offense.

It was Marusak who led off game two with a home run. The 1-0 lead was where things remained up until the seventh when Shane Lewis hit his Sun Belt-leading 16^th home run and picked up his 50^th RBI of the season to tie things up.

Logan Ross, on 78 pitches, went 4.2 innings, only allowing one run on two hits. Noah Manning (1-2) followed and was given the loss after allowing the go-ahead home run in a 3-2 count.

Cooper Rawls (8-0) got the win in relief allowing only two base runners in his three innings of work. Blake McGehee only allowed four hits, including the Lewis home run, during six innings of work in his start.

GAME ONE:
The Trojans capitalized off a Mock leadoff walk, and he quickly scored when Bartolero hit his eighth home run of the season to give Troy the early 2-0 lead.

It was Bartolero three, Louisiana zero in the top of the fourth as he took a first-pitch breaking ball deep and over the center field wall for his second home run of the afternoon. It was his second multi-home run game this season, as his first came in the first series of the year against Stony Brook.

Stewart had his best stuff working as he retired the first 12 batters. The first Ragin' Cajun batter reached base via an error in the bottom of the fifth. That runner came around to score for an unearned run after two steals and a sacrifice fly.

Troy immediately responded with two of their own in the top of the sixth, all with two outs. First, Lewis was hit by the pitch, which would be the first of four in the inning, as Bartolero followed and got hit by the pitch. Then, in a 1-2 count, Ethan Kavanagh went to right field with the shift on for an RBI single, restoring a three-run lead. Following Kavanagh, Tremayne Cobb Jr. was hit to load the bases, and then Clay Stearns took one for the team right after and picked up an RBI to make the game 5-1.

Stewart's no-hit bid was broken up in the bottom of the sixth as a leadoff single got things started. A double by Marusak put runners in scoring position with only one out, but Stewart continued to work around the Louisiana lineup, with the hosts able to score on a groundball to short for the second out. A fly ball left runners on the corners as Stewart got through six innings.

Louisiana looked to cut into the lead, having loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, but Thompson got out of the jam unscathed and would close things out in the ninth.

GAME TWO:
The only blemish coming against the Trojan starter Ross was the Marusak home run in the first.

It was a one-run lead for the hosts until the top of the seventh as Lewis took the first pitch, he saw over the centerfield wall to tie the game.

The third solo home run of the game gave Louisiana the lead once again as pinch hitter Conor Higgs made it a 2-1 game.

Troy could not generate any runs after, as they only managed one baserunner in the two innings that followed. The Trojans only struck out three times but left five men on base.

The Trojan Road trip continues on Tuesday, April 18, as they stay in the state of Alabama and travel north to Jacksonville State for a midweek contest with the Gamecocks, with the first pitch at 6 p.m.