MOBILE, Ala. ? Daryl Otwell’s RBI double proved to be the difference as Troy salvaged one game of a three-game series with a 12-7 win over the University of South Alabama Saturday at Stanky Field.
The loss dropped the Jags to sixth in the Sun Belt Conference standings, setting up a rematch with Troy in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship Wednesday at Riddle-Pace Field in Troy, Ala.
“Beating them twice with the pressure on, like we did, was huge for us,” head coach Steve Kittrell said. “But, they’ll be on their home turf, so it’s kind of neutralized. We’re in a good bracket, so we’ve just got to show up and play well every game.”
Troy (32-21, 18-10 SBC) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead for the second consecutive game. J.R. Myers singled leading off the third inning, and one out later Steven Rosado put the Trojans on top 1-0 with a RBI double. Charley Williams followed with a two-run homer to extend the lead to 3-0.
USA (25-28, 13-16 SBC) answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Matt Drake hit a one-out single, and Chris Davis followed with a two-run homer. Clint Reynolds followed with a walk, then stole second base to set up Zach Grichor’s game-tying RBI single.
Adam Heisler moved Grichor to third with a single, and Ryan Bohanan gave the Jags the lead when he brought Grichor home with an infield single.
The Jags added an insurance run in the fourth when Derek O'Reilly singled, stole second and third base, then came home on a RBI single from Reynolds to give USA a 5-3 advantage.
O’Reilly finished the game 2-for-3, raising his batting average to .426 in conference games, enough to make him the league batting champion in conference play. He moved ahead of Middle Tennessee’s Bryce Brentz, who finished the season at .420.
Troy regained the lead with five runs in the top of the fifth. Myers was hit by a pitch, and Jag starting pitcher Brandon Sage threw the ball away when he tried to get Myers at second on Shohei Fujita’s sacrifice bunt. Rosado followed with a two-run single to tie the game at 5, and four batters later Brett Henry gave the Trojans a 7-5 lead with a two-run single.
Sage handed the ball to Greg Johnson, who allowed the RBI double to Otwell that put the Trojans on top 8-5.
Troy added four more insurance runs in the eighth against Jag relievers Jarrett Bailey and Michael Raia.
USA attempted to rally in the bottom of the eighth, but it could manage just two runs before Grichor lined out to right field with two outs and the bases loaded.
Jake Overstreet doubled, O’Reilly walked, and Drake followed with a RBI single. Chris Davis walked to load the bases, and Reynolds brought in a run with an infield single before Grichor’s liner was snared on the run by Williams.
Overstreet, Drake, Reynolds, O’Reilly and Heisler had two hits each to lead the Jags to 13 hits. It was the 11th consecutive game in which the Jags have recorded a double-digit hit total.
Heisler singled leading off the ninth, but David Doss was retired on a flyout, and Bohanan’s sharp liner to third was caught to start a game-ending double play as Heisler was thrown out going back to first.
Sage took the loss to fall to 3-6 on the year, while Drew Hull improved to 3-3 by getting the win in relief.
The Jags depart for Troy, Ala. Monday evening. They’ll practice at Riddle-Pace Field Tuesday morning, then play tournament-host Troy at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Notes: The game was delayed for exactly one hour at 2:12 p.m. due to lightning in the area ... USA has recorded 10 or more hits in 11 straight games and 19 of the last 20 ... David Doss’ career-long streak of 25 straight games reaching base safely was snapped, but Adam Heisler (21 games) and Clint Reynolds (19 games) both extended their career-best streaks ... Jake Overstreet has reached base safely in 11 straight ... Overstreet’s sixth-inning single gave him a new career-long 11-game hitting streak ... Heisler (10 games), Reynolds (seven games), Zach Grichor (four games) and Ryan Bohanan (four games) all extended hitting streaks ... USA’s eight seniors were honored before the game ... The Jags lead the all-time series with Troy 30-18.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
