Troy Sweeps Opening Day of Mercer Bear Tournament

Friday, February 23

Macon, Ga.

12:30 p.m.

Troy University

10-4

Bryant

4-2

Troy

Bryant

Troy Sweeps Opening Day of Mercer Bear Tournament

2/23/2024 7:18:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (Bryant)Box Score (Mercer)

By: Athletics Communications

MACON, Ga. – Troy softball swept the opening day of the Mercer Bear Tournament on Friday at Sikes Field, claiming a 9-1 victory over Bryant before clinching a 3-1 win in extra-innings against Mercer.

Troy (11-4) got dominant pitching performances from Haley Pittman in the opener and Libby Baker in the second game, as each tossed complete games in the circle, allowing a combined six hits and two runs over the pair of games.

Troy 9, Bryant 1
Libby Baker hit her first two home runs of the season, and Haley Pittman continued her hot start in the circle, tossing a two-hit complete game as Troy cruised past Bryant, 9-1, in five innings.

Pittman (2-1) lowered her ERA to 2.26 on the season with her outing as she struck out three and walked one in the run-rule victory by the Trojans.

Troy got on the board in the opening frame thanks to a sac fly off the bat of Baker, following a D'Aun Riggs leadoff single and back-to-back walks to Jade Sinness and Taylor McKinney.

Baker finished 2-for-2 at the dish with a season-best five RBIs, while Cassidy Boltz had a pair of hits and two RBIs for the Trojans.

Taylor McKinney extended Troy's lead in the third inning with her first home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center, and Baker made it back-to-back jacks for the Trojans with her first of the season.

Troy broke the game open in the fourth with four runs on just two hits, thanks to Baker's 3-run homer after a Bryant error kept the inning alive. Boltz got into the home run party as she crushed a 2-run shot to left-center.

Bryant's (4-2) lone run came on an Alexis Clancy solo homer in the fifth. Grace McKillop (2-1) took the loss for the Bulldogs, allowing seven runs – five earned – on seven hits in four innings of work.

Troy 3, Mercer 1
Coming off a two home run game earlier in the day, Libby Baker tossed a four-hit complete game in Troy's 3-1 victory over Mercer in game two of the day.

Mercer (4-3) struck first with a run in the third, but the Trojans finally broke through against Gabby Ellis in the sixth as Audra Thompson drew a five-pitch walk with the bases loaded to tie the game.

D'Aun Riggs and Jade Sinness led off the frame with back-to-back singles, and following an out, Anslee Finch punched a single through the left side of the infield to load the bases for Thompson.

Sinness led the Trojans, going 3-for-4 at the plate, while Riggs scored a pair of runs and Finch reached base twice.

Baker kept the Bears off the board, including striking out two with a runner on third in the sixth and working a clean seventh to force the extra frame. Baker (5-1) picked up her fifth win of the season and has now allowed two or fewer runs in each of her last four starts.

Playing with the international tiebreaker, Sinness roped a double down the line in right to plate Riggs and three batters later, Baker helped her own cause with an RBI single back up the middle.

In the home half of the eighth, the Bears brought the winning run to the plate following a one-out walk, but Baker induced a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning and secure the Troy victory.

Notables
· Taylor McKinney hit her first home run of the 2024 season.

· Libby Baker hit two home runs in the same game for the first time in her collegiate career.

· In the game against Bryant, the Trojans scored in every frame but the second inning.

· In the game against Bryant, the Trojans hit three homers in a single game to mark the fifth time in the Eric Newell era – last time was against James Madison on April 16.

· The opening game against Bryant, 9-1, is the fifth time the Trojans have run-ruled their opponent in 2024.