Michael Shipma
Sports Editor
Coming off four straight losses, the Troy baseball team bounced back by scoring three unanswered runs to defeat UAB 3-2 at Riddle-Pace Field on Wednesday night.
The trio of pitchers that took the mound for Troy held the visiting Blazers to just four hits and collectively struck out seven batters.
Offensively, Cole Prestegard led the Trojans with a 2-3 performance at the plate, including an RBI single that brought in the game winning run in the seventh inning.
The Troy bats took a while to put batters in scoring position against a Blazer bullpen that put a new pitcher on the mound for each inning. Those pitchers faced 36 batters, striking out 11 and forcing eight ground outs.
UAB jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning, but a solo homerun courtesy of Troy’s Brandon Lockridge cut the deficit in half. It was his first homer of the season, at eighth of the junior’s career.
Troy’s pitching held the Blazers at bay for the remainder of the game, allowing the offense to find some rhythm and get on base in the seventh inning. It was then that the Trojans’ Joey Denison and Prestegard batted in runners to take a lead that the hosts held for the rest of the contest.
Troy will stay at home for a three-game series against Tennessee Tech before facing Samford on the road Tuesday night.
