Parker Sessions Pushes Troy to Victory with Pinch Hit RBI Single

Thursday, April 6

Jonesboro, Ark.

6 p.m.

Troy University

21-10, 5-5

Arkansas State

9-17, 1-7

Troy

Arkansas State

Parker Sessions Pushes Troy to Victory with Pinch Hit RBI Single

4/6/2023 10:30:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

JONESBORO, Ark. – In a tie ball game in the top of the ninth inning with two outs and two men on, sophomore Parker Sessions came on as a pinch hitter and got a pitch that he liked sending it up the middle for a single, driving home the game-winning run. Troy went on to beat Arkansas State 6-5 in the series opener Thursday night from Jonesboro.

A Shane Lewis single started the inning, and a Caleb Bartolero walk quickly had Troy threatening. However, two quick outs brought up Sessions as a pinch hitter, and he delivered his fourth hit and second RBI of the season to give Troy (21-10, 5-5) the thrilling victory.

Getting the win was Ben Thompson (3-0). Thompson came on in the bottom of the eighth with a runner on second and one out. He faced seven batters and struck out four of them, with the last coming with the tying run on third in the ninth to secure the win.

After a solid performance from Brady Fuller, where he went six innings, allowing four runs with seven strikeouts and one walk, the Trojan bullpen was called upon to finish the game. Kristian Asbury and Noah Manning followed Fuller as Manning was able to get out of a couple of jams to keep the game tied at five, going 1.1 innings pitched and four strikeouts.

Arlon Butts (2-2) takes the loss as he allowed two hits, including the game-winning single in the top of the ninth. Arkansas State (9-17, 1-7) starter Hunter Draper held Troy in check, going five innings and allowing only two runs while striking out a career-high six batters.

Offensively for Troy, Kole Myers and William Sullivan each had two hits, with Sullivan hitting his 14^th home run of the season. Tremayne Cobb Jr. also hit a solo home run, but the Trojans left 13 runners on base, including loading the bases three times with only one run to show for it.

For the 11^th time this season, the Trojans scored in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead early in the ballgame. Ethan Kavanagh hit his first triple this season, which was followed by a Sullivan RBI single. It was Sullivan's 32^nd RBI of the year. Troy is now 10-1 when scoring in the first frame.

The bases were loaded with Trojans as Troy looked to deal more damage early, but only the single run came across to score. However, the lead lasted only for two outs as the Red Wolves had back-to-back two-out doubles to tie the ball game.

Troy had another prime opportunity in the top of the second to retake the lead, as they loaded the bases again with one out but failed to do any damage after a strikeout and a ground out to get Arkansas State out of the jam.

A 438-foot shot from Cobb Jr. broke the deadlock in the top of the fourth with his second home run of the season.

The fifth and sixth inning saw Arkansas State have runners in scoring position with one out. In both instances, Fuller was able to leave unscathed, including in the bottom of the sixth with runners on second and third Fuller got two strikeouts to keep things right where they were at 2-1.

The Trojan offense helped Fuller with some runs in the top of the seventh as Myers took advantage of two Red Wolves errors to put himself on third. Kavanagh got the job done immediately after with a sacrifice fly driving in the Trojans' third run.

Sullivan tied teammate Shane Lewis for the team lead in home runs with his 14^th of the season. Sullivan continues to be one of the hardest-hitting players in the country, with another ball leaving his bat at 115 mph.

In the bottom half of the seventh, Fuller's only walk of the night started a big inning for the hosts as the Red Wolves batted around, sending all nine batters to the plate and scoring four runs to tie the game at 5-5.

Troy gets back to .500 in Sun Belt Conference play and will look to go above .500 for the first time this season as the Trojans and Red Wolves will continue their series tomorrow, Friday, April 6, with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.