TROY, Ala. ? Troy took the lead with a four-run first inning, then added on six more runs in a 10-4 win over the University of South Alabama in Wednesday’s opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship at Riddle-Pace Field.
“Troy just outplayed us tonight,” head coach Steve Kittrell said. “They swung the bats really well and got good pitching from (Travis) Burge. We’re still not dead. We’ll have to show up tomorrow and win the game, then come back and win the double headers Friday and Saturday.”
The Jags (25-29) got on the board with a manufactured run in the top of the first. Clint Reynolds led off with an infield single and stole second base. He advanced to third on Adam Heisler’s flyout to right, then scored on a Zach Grichor sacrifice fly to put USA on top 1-0. However, the lead was short-lived.
Charley Williams and Trevor Tyre hit back-to-back doubles, and after Ryan Ditthardt reached on an infield single, Brett Henry put the Trojans on top 4-1 with a three-run homer against Jag starter Miles Ethridge (4-4).
Miles Hoyle followed with a single, and one out later Ethridge walked Steven Felix. Greg Johnson was summoned from the bullpen and got a fielder’s choice groundout to escape the jam with the Jags trailing by three.
Ryan Bohanan led off the second with an infield single, and two outs later Nathaniel Lami drew a walk to set up Brandon Brown’s two-run double that cut the deficit to 4-3. Troy starter Travis Burge (6-2) struck out Reynolds to keep the Trojans in front, then shut down the Jags until the seventh inning.
Johnson held Troy scoreless in the second and third, but the Trojans plated single runs in the fourth and fifth to extend their lead to 6-3. They used a three-run sixth to put the game out of reach. Chad Watson singled, Tyre brought him home with a double, and Ditthardt added another run with a RBI triple. Henry’s RBI groundout ended Johnson’s night, and Phillip Byrd came out of the bullpen to end the inning by striking out Hoyle.
Lami singled with two outs in the seventh, ending a string of 12 straight batter set down by Burge. Brown delivered another RBI double to cut the Troy lead to 9-4, and Reynolds put runners on the corners with an infield single, chasing Burge from the game.
Brown finished the game 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBI, and Reynolds was the only other Jag with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a pair of infield singles and a stolen base.
Burge got the win by allowing four runs on eight hits with one walk and two strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Johnson worked 5.0 innings of relief for the Jags and allowed five runs on seven hits.
Tim Wheeler came on in relief and escaped the inning with a fielder’s choice groundout, and the Trojans added an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning against Byrd.
USA didn’t threaten again, as Wheeler combined with Robby Loew to hold the Jags hitless over the final two frames. Jarrett Bailey worked the final 1.1 innings for the Jags, striking out the side in the eighth.
USA meets Louisiana-Monroe at 12:30 p.m. Thursday in an elimination game. The Jags took both games of a rain-shortened series on the Warhawks’ home field earlier this season. Matt Jackson is slated to start on the mound against Louisiana-Monroe’s Justin Anderson.
Notes: USA’s streak of 11 consecutive games with at least 10 hits was snapped after the Jags recorded eight hits against Trojan pitching ... Adam Heisler (career-best 11 games), Clint Reynolds (eight games) and Ryan Bohanan (five games) all extended hitting streaks ... Heisler (22 games) and Reynolds (20 games) both extended their career-best streaks of games reaching base safely ... Jake Overstreet’s career-best hitting streak was snapped at 11 games. He was the eighth Jag to record a hitting streak of 10 or more games this season ...
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).
