Troy Softball Falls in Series Opener

Friday, March 21

Hattiesburg, Miss.

6 p.m.

Troy University

20-11, 0

Southern Miss

15-15, 0

Troy

Southern Miss

3/21/2025 9:23:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Troy softball dropped its series opener against Southern Miss 6-4 on Friday night. Despite a huge night from Taylor McKinney, the Trojans (20-11, 2-2 SBC) couldn't stage a late game rally against the Golden Eagles (15-15, 2-2 SBC) in a back-and-forth contest.

McKinney finished the night a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a home run. The Golden Eagles intentionally walked her in the seventh inning with the game on the line.

Also logging a multi-hit game was Natalie Turner, who went 2-for-3 in the series opener.

Coming out of the bullpen, Esmee Ames turned in a solid performance. She matched her season high in strikeouts, punching out three batters in 2.2 innings of work. However, the Southern Miss offense had eight hits and four walks against Alyssa Faircloth (9-4) and Ames.

While both teams had first-inning singles, both Faircloth and Southern Miss pitcher Jana Lee worked around the baserunners. McKinney laced a single to center field, but Troy couldn't capitalize.

Despite walks by both teams in the second inning, neither team was able to get on the board – Southern Miss gunned down Dailynn Motes trying for third on a Turner single.

McKinnon Howard reached first base on a dropped third strike to start the third inning, and the Trojans got on the board with a long double off the bat of McKinney. Troy made it 2-0 on a sacrifice bunt from Kayden Dunn.

The Golden Eagles took the lead in the third, leading the frame off with a double and scoring on a dropped third strike. Southern Miss took a 3-2 lead with a wall-scraping two-run homer.

Following an eight pitch at-bat, Motes looped a single to left field to lead the fourth inning off. However, a double play killed the threat.

Southern Miss extended the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning, using two singles and a walk to knock Faircloth out of the game. Sarah Beth Brake cut down a baserunner trying to steal second base, and Ames got Troy out of the inning.

Howard led off the fifth with a bunt single, and a double off the wall by Makaley Boswell nearly brought Howard to the plate. However, a strong throw from the Golden Eagles beat her to the plate.

Continuing her excellent game, McKinney launched a two-run home run to center field to cut the deficit to one run. Ames shut down Southern Miss in the bottom of the fifth, striking out two batters.

The Golden Eagles added on in the sixth, putting together a two-out rally and hitting three straight singles to extend the lead to 6-4.

To start the seventh inning, Turner dropped a bunt single. A strikeout and a diving catch by Southern Miss slowed Troy's momentum, and the Golden Eagles closed out the game with a strikeout.

Quotable: Head Coach Eric Newell
"It was a tough night tonight, just one of those games where it didn't bounce our way and I thought that Southern Miss caught some breaks. Every little thing that could've gone wrong kind of went wrong and we still brought the go ahead run to the plate. I think the Sun Belt has a lot of parity, and I think anybody can beat anybody on any given day. Tonight was not our night. The girls are disappointed and the coaches are disappointed but we have to flush that and go onto the next game."

Notables

Taylor McKinney extended her hit streak to nine games with a single in the first inning
McKinney hit her fifth home run of the season and 30th of her career – she's just two home runs behind Kelly Horne, who sits at seventh all-time
Troy lost its first game in Hattiesburg, Miss., since 2018
Alyssa Faircloth is up to 98 strikeouts on the season after recording three on the night
Esmee Ames matched her season high in strikeouts, punching out three batters in 2.2 innings