The Troy Trojan softball team hosted the Troy Classic last weekend, winning just one game, followed by splitting a Tuesday doubleheader with Florida A&M.
Troy went 1-4 at home in the Troy Classic, but captured a walk-off win against 19th ranked Pittsburgh.
The weekend started with an 8-6 loss in extra innings against Lipscomb on Friday. Troy was in control early on, building a 6-0 lead by the end of the third inning. After scoring a run in the fourth, Lipscomb used a three-run homer and an RBI single to bring the game to within one.
Lipscomb tied the contest in the sixth inning with a triple. Each team went scoreless in the seventh as the game entered an extra inning.
Lipscomb’s Peyton Ward drove in two runs with a single in the eighth. The Trojans put runners on the corners with one out before a short pop up followed by a groundout ended the game.
Troy’s first game of Saturday’s doubleheader came against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions and it dropped the contest 8-5.
The Lions struck first and took a commanding 6-0 lead in the top of the second. Troy answered in the bottom of the inning with a three-run shot by freshman Brooke Echols, the first of her career.
In the sixth, Troy plated two more runs on a passed ball and a Becca Hartley double to center field. A pair of singles by the Lions in the final inning gave Southeastern two insurance runs. Troy did not respond and dropped its second consecutive game for the first time this season.
The nightcap of the doubleheader came against a ranked Pittsburgh team. Troy used a little magic to capture the extra inning victory.
The Panthers plated two runs in the first inning that was answered in the bottom of the inning by Troy junior Erica Davis’ RBI double. Pittsburgh added another run with a solo home run in the fourth.
The Trojans responded again, this time with a home run of their own from senior Meg Willis. Echols batted in another run to tie the game at three.
Pittsburgh retook the lead in the fifth with a two-run RBI single and held the lead until the final inning. In the bottom of the seventh with two on and one out, Troy sophomore Madeline Porter hit an RBI single up the middle followed by sophomore Kaylee Hussey’s RBI single to tie the game at five.
After holding Pittsburgh scoreless in the eighth, Hartley went yard on the second pitch of her at bat to bring in the two game-winning runs. The win marked the Trojans’ first victory over a ranked opponent since May 2015.
Troy wrapped up the Classic with a pair of rematches against Southeastern and Lipscomb. The Trojans dropped both games, losing 4-2 against Lipscomb and 2-1 against the Lions.
Lipscomb became the 10th Troy opponent to draw blood first with two runs in the first inning. The Trojans scored a run in the bottom of the inning on a passed ball to make the score 2-1.
Echols tied the game in the fourth with an RBI double. Echols finished the weekend with five RBI’s. Lipscomb broke the tie with a run in the sixth and then added another in the seventh to seal the win.
In game two against Southeastern, each team went scoreless through two innings before the Lions scored a pair of runs in the third on a wild pitch and a passed wall.
Troy got on the board in the fifth with sophomore Stephanie Snyder’s RBI single. After a scoreless sixth, the Trojans faced their last chance in the bottom of the seventh.
With two outs and two on, freshman Katie Webb hit a single to load the bases. The rally fell short when Porter flied out in the next at bat to end the game.
The Trojans bounced back Tuesday afternoon, however, shutting out Florida A&M on the road. Troy scored all four of its runs in the first inning, highlighted by Madeline Porter’s two-run RBI double. Claire Graves got the win for Troy, holding the Rattlers to just two hits in the game.
The nightcap of the doubleheader in Tallahassee was much closer than game one as both sides traded scores up until the fifth inning. Echols plated Troy’s fifth run of the day to give her team a 5-4 lead, but FAMU’s Tahli Snider drilled a single up the middle that brought in two runs to give the Rattlers a lead and the win.
Troy returns to action this weekend with the LSU tournament in Baton Rouge, starting with an early morning Friday game against Minnesota.
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