Troy downs App. St. for fourth straight SBC series win

Asem Abdelfattah photo

Junior infielder Drew Frederic makes a grab behind second base during Friday night’s matchup against App. St. Troy won the game 9-1 behind a hit by Frederic and three stolen bases.

 

Scott Shelton

Staff Writer

The Troy baseball team used 24 runs in three games and dominant pitching against Appalachian State at Riddle-Pace Field last weekend to take its fourth-straight Sun Belt Conference series victory.

With the wins, the Trojans move to 21-19 overall and 9-9 in Sun Belt Conference play.

In game one of the series, sophomore pitcher Levi Thomas took over with one of his best games of the season.

After the game, head coach Mark Smartt talked about Thomas’ performance.

“I was very proud of the way we competed,” Smartt said. “I was extremely proud of the way Levi Thomas pitched tonight. 

“He was focused and went out and executed.”

Thomas pitched eight innings and allowed just four hits and two earned runs while striking out six batters.

On offense, Troy started out with an unearned run in the first inning before exploding in the third inning.

Sadler Goodwin drove in two runs on a RBI double.

Chase Smartt hit his first home run of the season and eighth of his career. Manning Early followed suit with a solo home run — his third of the season and the eighth of his career.

In the fourth inning, Drew Frederic hit the Trojans’ third home run of the day and his seventh on the season.

Lance Thomas closed the game out for Troy, and the Trojans won 8-2 on Thursday.

In game two on Friday, the Trojans saw more of the same.

Redshirt junior Cory Gill put on a clinic after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning. 

In his 52 innings pitched, Gill struck out a career-high 11 batters. 

Troy struck first in the first inning with a sacrifice fly by Rigsby Mosley. In the fifth inning, Goodwin drove in his 41st RBI of the season followed by Hunter Mercer driving in two runs. 

Mercer went on to hit two doubles on Friday. Coming into the game, Mercer had two doubles on the whole season. 

Mercer’s three RBIs put the game away for Troy. He clinched the series on Friday and aimed for the series sweep on Saturday.

In the first two games, the Mountaineers scored a combined three runs. On Saturday, they found the offense they looked for.

In game three, runs by Early and Mosley followed by Smartt’s second home run of the weekend kept the Trojans close behind Appalachian State.

The Mountaineers had five runs through five innings, and by the eighth inning, their lead swelled to 8-3.

In the eighth, Mosley nearly hit a grand slam but still drove in three runs on a three-RBI triple to pull the Trojans within two runs. 

Frederic drove in a run to pull the Trojans within one run, but they couldn’t get past the Mountaineers in the ninth inning and dropped the final game 9-7.

Next, the Trojans travel to Little Rock, Arkansas, to take on the Little Rock Trojans. 

Little Rock currently has the third-best record in the Sun Belt Conference with a 11-6 mark in conference play.

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