Reaghan Oney swings the bat during Troy’s game against Central Michigan.
At the South Florida Showdown in Tampa, Florida, Troy softball went a combined 2-2 over the weekend. Against tough competition, the Trojans were able to scrape out two gritty wins – one over Power Four foe Wisconsin.
The 6-2 win over Wisconsin was Troy’s first win over a Power Four school under head coach Eric Newell. Troy also topped Kent State 6-4 in a comeback win.
“I really feel like we grew as a team today,” Newell said to Troy Athletics after Sunday’s games against Kent State and South Florida. “As a team, we really showed a lot of resilience today.”
Troy opened the tournament with a 10-0 run-rule loss to Michigan. The Wolverines used a huge six-run third inning to beat the Trojans while Troy was unable to capitalize with runners in scoring position.
Sissy Dunn finished the game 2-for-2 with two doubles. Taylor McKinney, Caiden Oliva and Reaghan Oney also had hits in the matinee.
The Trojans threatened to score early as McKinney slapped a single to center field. With two outs in the first inning, Dunn crushed a double to left-center field, but McKinney couldn’t score on the play.
Michigan scored one run in the second inning off back-to-back errors by the Trojans, taking a 1-0 lead.
The Wolverines broke the game open in the third inning, scoring six runs off three hits. They got to Troy with singles, walks and an error to take a commanding 7-0 lead.
The Trojans capped off the first day with a 6-2 win over Wisconsin – Alyssa Faircloth locked down the Badgers with Troy’s first complete game of the season.
Oney powered the offense with a 3-for-3 game, crushing a two-run home run in the sixth inning and hitting a two-RBI double in the fourth. Oney’s double was part of a three-run fourth inning that gave Faircloth all the run support she needed.
Against the Badgers, Faircloth turned in a career performance. She spun a complete game, striking out 10 batters to set a new career high. Although Wisconsin scored two in the seventh inning, neither of the runs were earned and the sophomore southpaw only surrendered three hits.
Faircloth’s complete game was the first of her career and Troy’s first since Libby Baker threw one on April 26, 2024.
The game was uneventful until the third inning, when Oney got the offense going with a single up the middle. After McKinnon Howard bunted safely, McKinney got Troy on the board with a single.
Troy added on in the fourth inning when Cassidy Boltz got it started with a double to right-center field. Sarah Beth Brake hit a single, and a Wisconsin error allowed Boltz to score on the next play.
Boltz had a three-hit game, her second of the season and her sixth total multi-hit game.
Oney rocketed a double into the right-center field gap to score two runs and give the Trojans a 4-0 lead. At the same time, Faircloth was settling into a lethal groove. She retired 12 straight batters after allowing a double in the third inning.
Following a one-two-three sixth inning from Faircloth, Oney added on in the sixth with her shot to right-center field. The true freshman hit her first career home run to put the game out of reach.
While the Badgers scored two runs in the seventh off back-to-back errors, Faircloth put the game away with a popout.
Staring down a 3-2 deficit in the sixth inning, the Troy bats got hot late to beat Kent State 6-4. The Trojans used a three-run sixth to beat the Golden Flashes in their first game of the day.
Following a 4-for-5 performance on Saturday, Oney had a perfect 4-for-4 game against Kent State to keep her momentum going. Boltz went 2-for-4, hitting a solo home run and an RBI single to fuel Troy’s offense in the slower early innings.
Faircloth surrendered three earned runs in 4.2 innings, but Esmee Ames earned the win after locking down the Golden Flashes in the late stages of the game. Although Ames allowed an earned run, the offense’s four runs in the last two innings gave her the run support she needed.
Kent State took an early lead, pushing across a run in the first inning. While Troy was able to get a few hits, it didn’t get on the board until the fourth inning.
After taking the first pitch of the at-bat, Boltz launched a ball to left-center field to knot the game up at 1-1. The Trojans loaded the bases off an Oney single and two walks but couldn’t take the lead in the frame.
Troy took the lead in the fifth inning – McKinney reached on an error, and Boltz punished the Golden Flashes with an RBI single to left field. However, Kent State fought right back in the bottom of the fifth with two runs to take a 3-2 lead.
Despite a single from Reese Green in the sixth inning, the Trojans were staring down a two-out situation with a runner on second base. McKinney came up clutch, igniting a rally with a single through the right side to tie the game at 3-3.
Troy added two more runs with RBI singles from Oliva and Dunn, taking a 5-3 lead. The Golden Flashes scored a run in the bottom of the sixth, but Mia Tidmore extended the lead back to two in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI single.
Ames shut the door in the seventh as Troy earned its ninth win of the season.
Although Troy dropped a 10-8 game to South Florida to end the tournament, the offense was still clicking and was simply outpaced by the Bulls.
Makaley Boswell, Boltz and Dunn all had two-hit, two-RBI games in the loss. Boltz hit her second home run of the day and Boswell earned her first multi-RBI game of the season.
The Trojans continue the season with another trip to Florida – Troy plays five games in Gainesville, Florida this weekend. The action starts at 9 a.m. on Friday morning against Western Michigan. Troy also has a chance to play No. 3 Florida in the tournament.
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