by Logan Pittman
Troy traveled this past week to Arkansas, where the team would play a three-game series against conference opponent Arkansas State; however, Troy played host to Alabama at home before they could fill the buses.
Against Alabama, Troy started out slow on the defensive and offensive end. They stayed scoreless through the fourth inning and couldn’t put a run on the scoreboard until the fifth inning with a Donovan Whibbs solo home run.
Ryan Pettys started for the Trojans and silenced the Tide in the first inning, but he was quickly pulled out in the second inning after allowing two runs on two hits. Troy would rely on its bullpen for the rest of the game, but its efforts could not stop the Crimson Tide as Alabama would go on to score six more runs in three innings.
Troy lost to Alabama 10-2 after allowing two more runs to the Crimson Tide and only finding one more of its own in the sixth.
Troy bounced back from its out-of-conference loss with a game one victory, 6-5, against Arkansas State.
Both lineups managed to push a run through in the first before going silent until the fourth inning, where Troy would take a one-run lead. Neither team could score again until the seventh inning, where each team seemed to find their bats.
Troy scored three runs to give them a four-run lead, but Arkansas State rallied back with a four-run inning to tie the ball game at five each.
The game remained tied until the ninth inning when Troy decided to call in pinch hitter Parker Sessions with two outs and two runners on base. Sessions hit a single back up the middle, allowing a runner to score and give them the one-run lead.
Arkansas State had a chance to tie the game, but Ben Thompson held them in check and earned his third win of the season.
Troy rolled into game two without missing a step, dominating Arkansas State in an 8-1 beatdown.
Logan Ross started on the mound for the Trojans and held the Red Wolves scoreless with five strikeouts. He came out in the third inning and was replaced by Zach Fruit who allowed Arkansas States’ only run, but he would go on to strike out nine batters and record his team-leading fifth win of the season.
The bats were hot for the Trojans, especially for Caleb Bartolero, Donovan Whibbs, and Kole Meyers who all finished with multiple RBIs. Meyers launched his eighth home run of the season and Whibbs went 3-for-3, which included his second home run of the week and three RBIs.
Troy could not keep the momentum rolling into the final game of the series as the squad would allow 17 runs to cross home plate, losing the game 17-7.
The Trojan’s bats remained hot with five different players recording RBIs. Shane Lewis hit a home run and recorded three RBIs, and Bartolero launched a homerun of his own. Despite having a good day at the plate, the Trojans bullpen could not find the catcher’s mitt.
Troy was leading 7-6 in the eighth inning when everything fell apart on the mound. Arkansas State would score 11 runs in the eighth off five different pitchers. The inning started with seven straight walks with the last two batters reaching after a hit by pitch.
Troy returns home to Riddle-Pace Field on April 11, as the Trojans will welcome in-state opponent Samford for a midweek clash.
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