Amy Austin
Staff Writer
For the first road series of the season, the Troy baseball team lost the series against Southern Mississippi, 2-1.
“Our team competed hard and if that’s what we gain out of losing a series, I think that’s gonna bode very well for us for the remainder of the season,” said head coach Bobby Pierce.
Troy took a 3-1 loss against USM on Friday, Feb. 28. Senior pitcher Tanner Hicks pitched seven innings for the Trojans. He had three earned runs and six strikeouts.
Troy scored only one run. It came off a single from junior outfielder Trevin Hall as he knocked in senior second baseman Garrett Pitts who had previously hit a double.
USM’s Connor Fisk had 13 strikeouts against the Trojans in seven innings. Troy had a scattered five hits throughout the game.
“They won the Friday night game 3-1,” Pierce said. “Tanner Hicks pitched a heck of a ballgame for us. But they really handled our offense with Fisk on the mound.”
Game two of the weekend was Troy’s only win as the Trojans blanked USM. Troy defeated USM 5-0, on Saturday, March 1, with senior pitcher Shane McCain receiving the win.
McCain pitched seven innings on Saturday, having just four hits off him and six strikeouts. Junior pitcher Jeremy McGowan came in to keep the Golden Eagles from scoring and also received the save.
Troy had 11 hits throughout the game, three from both senior shortstop Tyler Vaughn and junior outfielder Trevin Hall.
Saturday’s shutout was the second of the season for the Troy baseball team. This total matches the complete total of last year’s season.
“Saturday we came back with a great effort starting with Shane McCain on the mound,” Pierce said. “Jeremy McGowan also pitched very well in that game. We got a 5-0 shutout win.”
In a tough game that rallied back and forth, the Trojans lost 7-6 to Southern Mississippi on Sunday, March 2, to end the series.
USM scored early on Troy. Within the first inning, the Golden Eagles scored four runs. Troy answered the deficit in the third.
In Sunday’s game, Pitts extended his hit streak to six games and his on-base streak to 12 games. Junior third baseman Nick Masonia had two homeruns in the game and three RBIs.
Senior pitcher Will Starling started the game for the Trojans, but was soon replaced by junior pitcher Ben Tidwell. Tidwell pitched five innings to keep the Trojans in the game, allowing only two runs on four hits and had three strikeouts.
“Sunday, rubber game, winner of that game wins the series,” Pierce said. “Get down 4-0 in the first, and so we are going to find out a lot about our team here. I think we scored four in the third and got back in it. Take the lead 6-4 and they came back and won the game late.”
The Trojans faced off against the Samford Bulldogs on Tuesday night, March 4. Troy lost to Samford 11-9.
Troy will be back at home on March 7-9 to host New Orleans in a three game series. First pitch will be Friday night at 6 p.m.
