Baseball Drops Series Opener at Northwestern State

Friday, March 1

Natchitoches, La.

6:30 p.m.

Troy University

9-2

Northwestern State

3-7

TROY

Northwestern State

Baseball Drops Series Opener at Northwestern State

3/1/2024 9:57:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Troy saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end Friday night as the Trojans dropped their series opener at Northwestern State, 5-3, at Brown-Stroud Field.

Troy (9-2) out-hit Northwestern State (3-7) on the night, 9-7, but errors on the mound, in the field and at the plate proved to be the difference in the game after the Demons scored following consecutive wild pitches in the fifth, a throwing error led to an insurance run in the eighth and the Trojans grounded into two doubles plays and left eight runners on base.

Ethan Kavanagh and Will Butcher connected on back-to-back doubles in the top of the first to give the Trojans a brief lead before the Demons jumped in front in the third on an RBI double from Reese Lipoma and a 2-run homer off the bat of Rocca Gump.

Chase Prestwich (2-1) kept the Troy bats in check for the remainder of his 6.2 inning outing, scattering five hits while striking out 10 and walking just one Trojan hitter; Troy entered the game averaging 7.4 walks per game.

Northwestern State tacked on a run in the fifth on a ground out by Lipoma following two wild pitches. Kole Myers, who finished 2-for-4 for the Trojans, cut the deficit in half in the seventh with a single to right, scoring Aidan Gilroy, but the Demons added the unearned run in the eighth to go in front 5-2 heading into the final frame.

Troy brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth after Shane Lewis drew a walk to lead off the inning and scored on a Myers single, but Tyler Bryan worked around the damage for his first save of the season.

Grayson Stewart (0-1) suffered the loss for the Trojans, allowing four runs on six hits in six innings of work with nine strikeouts and no walks. Brady Fuller worked the final two innings, allowing an unearned run on one hit.

Myers and Mikey Bello had a pair of hits for the Trojans, while Samuel Stephenson was the lone Demon with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4.

The teams continue the three-game series Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Logan Ross (2-0, 3.00) will take the mound for Troy against Dawson Flowers (0-0, 4.91) for Northwestern State.

Notable
• Kole Myers extended his on-base streak to 29 games and Ethan Kavanagh's streak reached 23 games.

• With three doubles, Troy hitters have collected three or more extra-base hits in 10-of-11 games and have four or more in seven games.

• Troy was hit by just one pitch in the game … in its two losses, the Trojans are averaging being hit by 0.5 pitches; in their nine wins, the average jumps to 2.67 per game.

• Kole Myers recorded his 23^rd career multi-hit game and 11^th career multi-RBI game, while Mikey Bello picked up his third multi-hit game of the season and ninth of his career.