Troy Softball took another 2-1 series win over the weekend. The Trojans downed the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in games one and two before falling short of a sweep in game three.
With it being Easter weekend, the series saw its first pitch a day earlier on Thursday. It was a low-scoring affair, something the Trojans, who lead the conference in on-base percentage, are not used to.
Southern Miss got out front in the third inning, but Troy’s Cassidy Boltz quickly tied it back up in the fourth with her seventh home run of the season. Olivia Cato would come into the circle for Troy soon after and did not allow any more runs from Southern Miss. It took one extra inning beforeTaylor McKinney blasted one to left field for the walk-off home run to take the 2-1 victory.
Although McKinney only had one hit in her four at-bats, it was the only one that mattered.
“Taylor knew exactly what she was looking for and she took advantage of it,” head coach Eric Newell told Troy Athletics. .
Cato’s crucial performance didn’t go unnoticed.
“She hasn't pitched in a while, but her name was called, and she was ready,” said Newell. “She held them down and gave our offense a chance to figure some things out.”
Game two was a bit more of the Trojans’ typical style. They came out swinging and had back-to-back three run innings to secure the victory. Southern Miss would put up a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings, but Troy managed to keep the Golden Eagles grounded. Troy would win and clinched the series victory 10-4.
Jade Sinness had two runs and two RBIs off two hits. The batting success was contagious for the Trojans, as the team scored 10 total runs off 10 hits.
Although Troy clinched the series, more work was to be done on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Trojans, they were caught sleeping and fell in game three.
Troy started things off strong with a 1-0 lead after the second inning. It all fell apart after that, as Southern Miss had five runs in the third, four in the fourth and one more for good measure in the fifth. This secured the mercy rule win 10-1 for Southern Miss, to end the series on a high note before their trip back to Hattiesburg.
After another series win, Troy finds itself in third place of the Sun Belt standings. They trail behind two top-25 ranked teams in Louisiana and Texas State. The Trojans have a four-game road trip, playing Georgia Tech on Wednesday before heading to San Marcos, Texas looking to overtake Texas State for second place in the conference.
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