Softball falls in three straight close games

Brady Fitch photo

Makaley Boswell jogs to first base after taking a walk.

On a road trip to ULM, the Troy softball team was swept by the Warhawks. In the three losses, the Trojans lost by a combined margin of three runs as ULM had two walk-off wins.

Makaley Boswell went 5-for-10 over the series, recording her first career three-hit game in game two of the series. The Troy second baseman finished the weekend with four RBIs and smacked her third career home run against the Warhawks.

The Trojans hit a total of four home runs over the series and have hit seven in the last seven games.

In game one, Troy fell 2-1 in a pitcher’s duel. The game went scoreless until the sixth inning, with Alyssa Faircloth and Warhawks pitcher Maddie Nichols squaring off in a fierce battle.

Faircloth went six innings, punching out four batters and allowing only five hits, three of which were in the sixth inning. The Warhawks finally broke through in the sixth, sending a two-run homer to center field to take a lead. While Caiden Oliva smacked a solo shot of her own in the seventh, it wasn’t enough for Troy to tie the game back up.

Reaghan Oney had a 2-for-3 game to open the series, logging the sixth multi-hit game of her freshman campaign.

The Trojans took an early lead in game two of the series, scoring three runs in the first inning of the 6-5 loss. However, ULM clawed its way back into the game, taking a lead in the middle innings before Boswell tied the game 5-5 in the fifth inning with her two-run homer.

It looked like the Warhawks walked it off on a Troy error, but after a long review and a consultation with the rulebook the call was overturned and the Trojans had second life. ULM ended up walking it off soon after on an RBI single.

Savannah Money had a strong outing out of the bullpen, spinning three innings and holding the Warhawks scoreless until the seventh inning. From the plate, Taylor McKinney had a two-hit game – she ran her hit streak to 15 games in the series.

The Trojans were walked off yet again on Sunday, with ULM taking an 8-7 win off an RBI single. McKinney went 1-for-2 with two walks in the game, launching a two-run homer in Troy’s four-run first inning.

The Trojans got to Nichols early on in the contest, knocking her out of the game before she recorded a single out. Following the quick start from Troy, ULM fought back into the game, taking a 6-5 lead in the fourth inning and bolstering it with an insurance run in the sixth.

When it looked like Troy was out of the contest – the Trojans were down to their last out in the seventh – Annie Orman teed off on a pitch, hitting a pinch-hit, two-run homer to tie the game back up.

The Warhawks staged a rally in the bottom of the inning to walk it off with a single through the right side.

Following a midweek doubleheader at West Georgia, the Trojans look to improve their Sun Belt Conference record at home against Louisiana. The weekend series against the Ragin’ Cajuns begins at 6 p.m. on Friday.