Coming off a less-than-satisfying weekend in Gainesville, Fla., the Lady Trojans made their way out of the sunshine state and into the land of the peaches to take part in the Eagle Classic Tournament in Statesboro, Ga. and won 4-1 in the matches.
Troy began the tournament on Friday, Feb. 28, with a matchup against Middle Tennessee, a former Sun Belt team, where they announced their presence loud and clear with a 5-4 victory.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Trojans were staring up at a loss as they sat looking at a scoreboard that read 0-4, thanks to the Blue Raiders scoring in the first, second and fourth innings.
However, in the seventh, Troy came to life scoring all five of its runs and vaulting into the lead with junior outfielder Erica Davis hitting an RBI to score in freshman pinch hitter Mackenzie Kayler.
For their next game against Georgia Southern later that day, the Trojans were still moving with the momentum of their last win, and it would show when they took yet another victory, scoring 2-1 against Georgia Southern.
This victory was largely in part to sophomore pitcher Sara Mock, who gave up five hits, but threw six strikeouts.
For day two of tournament play on Saturday, March 1, Troy wasn’t ready to give up its winning vibes just yet as they dominated against Tennessee State, taking them down with a 7-0 victory.
The game may have started off a little slow for Troy, but by the time the team reached the bottom of the third inning, where the ladies took their first two runs, they were on fire.
They took three more runs in the next inning as Kayler knocked out her first career home run, and then another two in the inning following, all the while shutting out Middle Tennessee.
The winning streak could not hold true, and in their second game of the day, a rematch against Georgia Southern, the Lady Trojans finally took a loss, going a heartbreaking 2-0.
Georgia Southern had their first run in the fifth, and then added another in the sixth. Unfortunately, the Trojans took a no-hitter this game, and were unable to rally back as before.
Refusing to end on a loss, the Lady Trojans looked to Middle Tennessee once again for tournament beginning and ending victories, and with a 5-2 victory at the close, they got it.
The game began with Troy scoring a run, and then the Lady Trojans held Middle Tennessee without any runs at the bottom of the first. Troy hit again at the top of the second scoring two more runs.
Although Middle Tennessee did successfully score once in the bottom of the second, and once again in the bottom of the fifth, it just wasn’t enough with the Lady Trojans and their two runs picked up on a rally in the seventh.
The Lady Trojans will see independent play next as they take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Wednesday, March 5, at 3 p.m. Next they will travel to the UCF Knights Spring Fling in Orlando, Fla. for five games over the weekend.
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