Ty Ammons
Staff Writer
The Troy University baseball team traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, on March 25-27, losing all three games of the conference series against Little Rock.
The Troy Trojans lost 8-11, 3-4, and 9-10 in those games. In the first game, Troy jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Senior shortstop Peyton Fuller singled into left center field to score freshman second baseman Brandon Lockridge. Later in the inning, freshman catcher Chase Smartt singled through the right side of the field to score junior left fielder Trevor Davis and junior right fielder Joey Denison.
Little Rock came back in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs. Troy managed one run in the top of the third when junior third baseman T.J. Binder grounded out to second base to score Davis.
Little Rock kept scoring, putting up four more runs in the bottom of the third inning, and Troy made it interesting in the fifth inning when they plated four runs. That was not enough to pull even, however.
Little Rock topped off its win with two more runs in the seventh inning, when Gifford doubled to left field to score Thomas and Scott.
The second game was closer and lower scoring, but Troy ended up losing 4-3.
Fuller, Lockridge and junior first baseman Justin Friend all recorded one RBI apiece in the game, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a pair of throwing errors in the eighth inning, which gave Little Rock the lead.
In the third game, Troy jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Denison scored Fuller on a double to left field for the first run of the game.
Davis scored Denison on a single down the right field line, and Smartt single to center field to score Davis. In the bottom of the first, Little Rock scored two runs on a double by Knight to plate Gifford and Thomas.
Troy refused to surrender the lead, tacking on four more runs in the top of the second inning. Denison scored Pinnell on a double to left field for Troy’s fourth run.
Senior pinch hitter Cameron Sanders doubled to left field to score Davis and Denison, and then Sanders scored on a wild pitch.
Little Rock cut the lead to one in the bottom of the second, scoring four runs. Scott doubled down the right field line to score Owens and Martin, and then Thomas homered to score himself and Scott, making the score 7-6.
Little Rock picked up where they left off, plating three more runs in the third. Martin flew out to left field to score Knight, and then Scott singled down the right side of the field to score Kirk and redshirt junior designated hitter Matt McDowell.
Sophomore pinch hitter Brody Binder tied up the game for Troy in the top of the seventh on a double to left center field to score Smartt and Davis.
Little Rock took the lead back in the bottom of the seventh inning on a single to the left side by Baker which scored Gifford. The final score was 10-9.
Troy took on Alabama State on Tuesday, March 29, and tacked on their 14th win this year, beating Alabama State 8-0.
Troy started off quickly in the second inning, scoring three runs. The first run was scored on a walk to junior center fielder Steven Whitaker, and the walk scored Sanders.
The last two runs of the inning were scored on a double to right field by Brandon Lockridge that scored senior catcher Tripp Calhoun and Smartt.
Troy tacked on three more in the third, beginning with a fly out to left field by Joey Denison that scored Fuller. The next two runs came on walks to Binder and Calhoun, and the two runs were scored by Davis and Sanders.
Troy scored one more run in the sixth on a single to left field by Davis that scored Lockridge, and one more in the seventh on a double by B. Binder that scored Smartt.
Troy’s next series is against New Orleans at Riddle-Pace Field on April 1-3.
