by Taylor Fraze
Troy softball competed in a series against Coastal Carolina this past weekend. The Trojans claimed the series 2-1 with both wins coming Thursday in the doubleheader.
The first game resulted in a 9-0 victory; however, the second game was much closer with the Trojans closing out the game late 8-7. The final game of the series was played Friday, but this game resulted in a 4-0 loss for Troy.
With these wins, the Trojans improved to 28-10-1 on the season with a 9-2-1 conference mark. This puts Troy at third place in the conference with only four weeks remaining in the regular season.
Troy and Coastal Carolina started its series with a doubleheader on Thursday, April 6. The series was originally planned to be played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but due to weather on Saturday, the games were rescheduled.
The first game of the doubleheader started with the first pitch at 3 p.m. Troy started off its defensive effort very quickly with Leanna Johnson striking out three of the first four Coastal batters. The offense followed this strong defensive effort by scoring three runs of its own to put Troy up 3-0 early. D’Aun Riggs, Taylor McKinney and Anslee Finch scored for the Trojans in the first inning.
Johnson picked up right where she left off, striking out two more Coastal batters to bring her strikeout total to five for the game. Both offenses stalled until Troy scored one run in the bottom of the fourth off a Kennedi Gaton RBI.
A big fifth inning would propel Troy to a dominating win in game one. The Trojans scored three more runs off four hits to tally on to their total and bring the lead to 7-0. McKinney would end up putting the game away for good with a walk-off homer in the sixth inning to complete the run rule of Coastal, 9-0.
The second game of the doubleheader started off much like the first game. Coastal opened the game with a solo home run, but Johnson would strikeout two of the three batters afterward. Coastal looked to capitalize off an early lead, but the Trojan offense had other plans. Troy quickly put three runners on base and did not waste the scoring opportunity. Two hits later, the Trojans found themselves up 4-1 in the bottom of the first. Troy would put two more runs on the board in a hit heavy first inning.
Coastal Carolina would complete a vigorous comeback, however. The Chants proceeded to put five unanswered runs on the board to tie the game 6-6 in the top of the fourth inning. McKinney would break the tie with a sacrifice fly to center field allowing Natalie Turner to score.
In the bottom of fifth inning, Libby Baker homered to left field to add more of cushion putting the score at 8-6. This two-run lead did not last long after Coastal’s Diamond Williams hit a home run to bring the Chants closer to a comeback win.
This comeback was halted by the Trojans’ defense in the top of the seventh inning. Johnson recorded the final out of the game off a line drive hit, reaching above her head and snagged the ball out of the air to close out the game and clinch the series.
“That was a good test for us,” head coach Eric Newell said in his post-game interview. “Coastal Carolina showed a lot of resilience, and I liked the way we responded.”
Troy softball will continue its season Wednesday April 12, against Auburn, a team that beat Troy 11-0 earlier in the year. Troy’s conference games continue at Sun Belt newcomer James Madison next weekend.
