Michael Shipma
Staff Writer
The Troy softball team lost two out of three games in its series at Texas State on Saturday, April 11, and Sunday, April 12.
The losses Troy suffered in the final two games snapped a seven-game win streak for the Trojans (25-19, 8-7 Sun Belt), who are currently fifth in the Sun Belt standings.
The Trojans forced a split in the doubleheader on Saturday against the Bobcats (24-19, 8-6 Sun Belt), who were on a three-game losing streak headed into the series.
The Bobcats drew first blood in the first game, with senior pinch runner Alli Akina stealing home on a throwing error in the bottom of the third inning.
Troy responded quickly, though, when senior first baseman Michelle Phelps hit an RBI double to tie the game 1-1 in the fourth.
Phelps scored later in the same inning on a dropped fly ball that was hit by junior left fielder Amanda Winters.
Phelps came back in the fifth inning with an RBI single to left field, making the score 3-1 in favor of Troy. It retained this lead for the remainder of the game.
Senior pitcher Jaycee Affeldt pitched another solid game, allowing only one run on two hits and recording eight strikeouts.
Freshman pitcher Randi Rupp struck out a grand total of 14 Trojan batters, but gave up five hits, enough for Troy to hold on to the victory.
Troy took this momentum into the second game of the doubleheader, and looked as if it might come away with another win early in the game.
Phelps hit a two-run bomb over the left field wall to put the Trojans up in the top of the first, but Texas State responded with two runs of its own in the same inning to make it 2-2.
Freshman second baseman Erica Davis hit a solo homer in the second inning to reclaim the lead for the Trojans, making the score 3-2. It was the last run the visiting Trojans scored in the game.
The Bobcats exploded offensively in the next four innings, scoring nine unanswered runs to end the game an inning early via mercy rule.
Seven different players recorded a hit against the Trojans, who struggled to find an answer for the steady stream of runs scored by Texas State.
When it was all said and done, the scoreboard read 11-3 in favor of the Bobcats, snapping Troy’s win streak.
The Trojans again looked as if they might come away with a win in the final game of the series, but were just shy of victory due to the hitting of Texas State.
Junior shortstop Kate Benton brought in the first run of the game with an RBI single to put the Trojans up in the second inning.
Sophomore center fielder Kimberlin Naivar responded for the Bobcats with an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning.
Freshman center fielder Carli Kayler hit an RBI double in the third inning that brought in two runs for the Trojans to go up 3-1.
Texas State clawed its way back into the game, however, with two runs in the sixth inning, which tied the game at 3.
A walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the seventh from freshman shortstop Ariel Ortiz completed the comeback.
The Trojans returned to action on Tuesday, April 14, when they traveled to Tallahassee, Florida, and beat Florida A&M 2-0. Head to tropnews.com for the full story on Troy’s Tuesday game.
Troy stays on the road to face off against Georgia Southern on April 18 and 19.
