Ty Ammons
Staff Writer
The Troy Trojans softball team went to the Bulldog Invitational this past weekend in Athens, Georgia, but won only one out of the four games it played.
The Trojans played Elon first, on Friday, Feb. 13. The starting pitchers were junior Ashley Rainey for Troy, and sophomore Alli Burdette for Elon.
Elon took an early 2-0 lead off a single from junior third baseman Emily Cameron, who singled to left field. Freshman center fielder Kara Shutt and sophomore catcher Emily Roper scored, and both runs were unearned.
Troy struck back with a run of its own on a homer from sophomore Meg Willis, who was the designated player for this matchup. No more runs were scored until the fifth inning, when Troy put four across the plate.
Junior second baseman Kate Benton scored on a sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Michelle Phelps. Junior Khadija Neely pinch-hit in the fifth, and allowed two teammates to cross home plate after a dropped pop fly.
Neely reached third on the error, and then scored on a wild pitch. Sophomore shortstop Becca Hartley scored on a fielder’s choice by Phelps in the sixth inning. Troy won the game 6-2.
Troy played SIU-Edwardsville Friday as well, but it did not go so well. Starting pitchers were junior Sara Mock for Troy, and junior Haley Chambers for SIU-Edwardsville.
SIU-Edwardsville scored in the first inning on a double by junior first baseman Rachel Keller, and it scored one run in the second inning off a fielder’s choice from freshman third baseman Haley Adrian. The Cougars also scored one run in the third inning on a single from junior center fielder Jordan LaFave.
LaFave contributed to another run in the fifth inning with a single, which put senior shortstop Alex McDavid across the plate. The Cougars scored two runs in the sixth inning off a single from Keller and a triple from McDavid.
SIU-Edwardsville topped it off with a grand slam in the top of the seventh from Adrian.
Troy scored no runs in the game, getting only two hits the entire game. The final score was 10-0.
The Trojans looked for redemption on Saturday, Feb. 14, as they played SIU-Edwardsville again. The starting pitchers were junior Ashley Rainey and freshman Baylee Douglass.
Troy jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on fly out by junior right fielder Amanda Winters, which put junior catcher Hannah Day across the plate. Day went 2-3 at the plate. Winters contributed to another run in the third inning when she hit a sacrifice fly, which scored Benton.
SIU-Edwardsville struck back in the fourth inning with a run of its own with a single by sophomore shortstop Amy Hunt, allowing McDavid to score. LaFave contributed to two runs in the fifth with a single up the middle.
Sophomore second baseman Allison Smiley flew out to center field to score Chambers, and Keller grounded out to third base to score LaFave in the fifth inning. Troy lost the matchup 5-2.
In the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday, Troy faced the Georgia Bulldogs. The starting pitchers were Mock for Troy, and junior Chelsea Wilkinson for the Bulldogs.
Georgia jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning on two doubles, a single, and an error. The Bulldogs didn’t stop, scoring four more runs in the second inning off two doubles and an illegal pitch from Mock.
Troy tried to fight back in the fourth as it scored six runs off three errors, two walks, and a single. Georgia scored two more runs in the sixth, off a single from freshman designated player Savannah McHellon.
McHellon went 2-4 at the plate with four RBIs. Freshman second baseman Cortni Emanuel went 3-4 with one RBI, and sophomore Maeve McGuire went 1-3 as a pinch hitter/catcher with two RBIs.
Troy lost the game 12-6. Mock gave up 10 runs on eight hits and pitched for only two innings.
Troy was supposed to play Georgia again on Sunday, but the game was canceled due to bad weather.
The softball team’s next matchup is the Trojan Invitational starting on Feb. 20. The Trojans were going to play Alabama State next, but bad weather moved the game to Feb. 24.
