Troy University Athletics
Troy Softball Splits Week One, Invites Central Alabama & Florida State to Troy Softball Complex
10/7/2024 4:59:00 PM | Softball
TROY, Ala. – Troy softball invites Central Alabama and the Tallahassee Regional winner Florida State for a pair of home fall ball matchups at the Troy Softball Complex, scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 9 (5 p.m.) and Sunday, Oct. 13 (1 p.m.), respectively.
"The fall is all about competing and getting better each and every day," head coach Eric Newell said. "We are honored to host six games, and I hope we can get the place packed for both. We are looking to use this week to keep improving. I know Florida State is going to give us everything they've got. They are a perennial program, and we'll need to be focused to put a good product onto the field."
Game Information
Who: Central Alabama / Florida State
Where: Troy, Ala. – Troy Softball Complex
When: Wednesday, Oct. 9 – 5 p.m. / Sunday, Oct. 13 – 1 p.m.
Week One Recap
The Trojans opened their fall schedule against Northwest Florida at the Troy Softball Complex on Wednesday, shutting out the opposition, 4-0, behind a team effort in the field. Six pitchers combined to allow zero runs with the help of Troy's defense, forcing NWF to have eight runners left on base. Freshmen pitchers dominated in Ally Fleck and Mya Holt, as Fleck led the Trojans with four strikeouts through two innings while Holt pitched three innings for no hits. On the offensive end, Natalie Turner had three of Troy's four runs, as Kayden Dunn and Caiden Oliva had multi-hit games (2).
"We hosted Northwest Florida this past week, and I thought we struggled a bit offensively, but we are going to work on that throughout the fall," Newell said. "We pitched it great and played some solid defense. Then, against Mississippi State, our girls competed well. We lost 11-8, but we got the lead early and fought back to retake it multiple times. The moral of the story was how well we competed against a good team. We swung it well, hit some homers and battled from behind. There's a lot of positives that can be taken from week one."
Game two saw a neutral site battle against Mississippi State, where the lead changed hands four times for an 11-8 result in favor of the Bulldogs. Troy quickly grabbed the 1-0 lead in the first and held it until the Bulldogs punched five runs on the board, 5-1. Heading into the seventh, Troy trailed 7-5 but rallied for an 8-7 advantage as they took to the field. The final 2.5 innings were all Mississippi State, with four unanswered runs to put Troy at 1-1.
Holt shined on the mound through the opening week with four innings pitched. She's yet to allow a single hit or run while pitching one strikeout and walk. Sarah Beth Brake leads the Trojans in the batter's box with three RBIs, going 3-for-4 with a double and a homer against the Bulldogs. Dunn joins her with a home run against Mississippi State to sit at 3-of-7 and two RBIs.
Central Alabama
The Central Alabama Trojans have competed in two games through the fall schedule and look towards a Tuesday matchup with Gadsden State CC before facing Troy on Wednesday. Last season, Central Alabama finished 29-17, 28-4 ACCC with 75 homers, 344 walks, 31 sac flies and a .344 batting average to lead their league.
Campbell Hecklinski returns to the lineup for Central Alabama after a 2023-24 campaign where she led the ACCC in runs (74) and stolen bases (59) to earn ACCC Division II First Team. She's followed by sophomore Morgan Brewer, who batted in 91 runs to lead the conference, with 60 coming against league opponents.
Florida State
When Sunday comes, the 2024 Tallahassee Regional winner Florida State would've competed in three fall ball games as they come off a 46-16, 19-5 ACC record that included series sweeps over NC State, Pitt, Notre Dame, Alabama State, Boston College and North Carolina en route to a 3-0 record in the NCAA Regional, eventually falling to No. 2 Oklahoma in the Super Regional.
Jaysoni Beachum returns for the Seminoles after receiving 2024 TUCCI/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year, NFCA Second Team All-American, D1Softball Freshman of the Year, ACC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-ACC, and USA Softball National Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist and leading the program in batting average (.417), hits (78), homers (16), RBIs (66) and on-base percentage (.509).
"The fall is all about competing and getting better each and every day," head coach Eric Newell said. "We are honored to host six games, and I hope we can get the place packed for both. We are looking to use this week to keep improving. I know Florida State is going to give us everything they've got. They are a perennial program, and we'll need to be focused to put a good product onto the field."
Game Information
Who: Central Alabama / Florida State
Where: Troy, Ala. – Troy Softball Complex
When: Wednesday, Oct. 9 – 5 p.m. / Sunday, Oct. 13 – 1 p.m.
Week One Recap
The Trojans opened their fall schedule against Northwest Florida at the Troy Softball Complex on Wednesday, shutting out the opposition, 4-0, behind a team effort in the field. Six pitchers combined to allow zero runs with the help of Troy's defense, forcing NWF to have eight runners left on base. Freshmen pitchers dominated in Ally Fleck and Mya Holt, as Fleck led the Trojans with four strikeouts through two innings while Holt pitched three innings for no hits. On the offensive end, Natalie Turner had three of Troy's four runs, as Kayden Dunn and Caiden Oliva had multi-hit games (2).
"We hosted Northwest Florida this past week, and I thought we struggled a bit offensively, but we are going to work on that throughout the fall," Newell said. "We pitched it great and played some solid defense. Then, against Mississippi State, our girls competed well. We lost 11-8, but we got the lead early and fought back to retake it multiple times. The moral of the story was how well we competed against a good team. We swung it well, hit some homers and battled from behind. There's a lot of positives that can be taken from week one."
Game two saw a neutral site battle against Mississippi State, where the lead changed hands four times for an 11-8 result in favor of the Bulldogs. Troy quickly grabbed the 1-0 lead in the first and held it until the Bulldogs punched five runs on the board, 5-1. Heading into the seventh, Troy trailed 7-5 but rallied for an 8-7 advantage as they took to the field. The final 2.5 innings were all Mississippi State, with four unanswered runs to put Troy at 1-1.
Holt shined on the mound through the opening week with four innings pitched. She's yet to allow a single hit or run while pitching one strikeout and walk. Sarah Beth Brake leads the Trojans in the batter's box with three RBIs, going 3-for-4 with a double and a homer against the Bulldogs. Dunn joins her with a home run against Mississippi State to sit at 3-of-7 and two RBIs.
Central Alabama
The Central Alabama Trojans have competed in two games through the fall schedule and look towards a Tuesday matchup with Gadsden State CC before facing Troy on Wednesday. Last season, Central Alabama finished 29-17, 28-4 ACCC with 75 homers, 344 walks, 31 sac flies and a .344 batting average to lead their league.
Campbell Hecklinski returns to the lineup for Central Alabama after a 2023-24 campaign where she led the ACCC in runs (74) and stolen bases (59) to earn ACCC Division II First Team. She's followed by sophomore Morgan Brewer, who batted in 91 runs to lead the conference, with 60 coming against league opponents.
Florida State
When Sunday comes, the 2024 Tallahassee Regional winner Florida State would've competed in three fall ball games as they come off a 46-16, 19-5 ACC record that included series sweeps over NC State, Pitt, Notre Dame, Alabama State, Boston College and North Carolina en route to a 3-0 record in the NCAA Regional, eventually falling to No. 2 Oklahoma in the Super Regional.
Jaysoni Beachum returns for the Seminoles after receiving 2024 TUCCI/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year, NFCA Second Team All-American, D1Softball Freshman of the Year, ACC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-ACC, and USA Softball National Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist and leading the program in batting average (.417), hits (78), homers (16), RBIs (66) and on-base percentage (.509).
Players Mentioned
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