MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama and Troy split a Sun Belt Conference doubleheader on Friday at Stanky Field with the Jags winning the opener 5-2.
Leif Moore started his first conference series by going 6.0 innings and scattering three hits. He also struck out a pair and walked a pair.
Jackson Boyd came on for a third of an inning and allowed a run on two hits before
Zach Willingham came in to record the final two outs of the inning.
Grant Wood pitched the eighth giving up one run (unearned) on one hit, before
Colson Lawrence came on in the ninth to record his third save.
The Jags jumped on top early with a pair of runs in the second and never trailed as it pounded out nine hits and drew 12 walks.
Erick Orbeta led the way at the plate, finishing 2-for-4, while
Trey Lewis also picked up a pair of hits in the series-opening win.
In the nightcap, Troy (30-14, 11-9 SBC) used a pair of home runs to jump out to an early lead and they held to even the series with South Alabama (22-21, 10-10 SBC) with an 8-1 victory.
Mitchell Heer (3-2) suffered the loss after working 6.0 innings and allowing five runs on seven hits, while also striking out five.
Gallery: (4-28-2023) BSB vs Troy
How It Happened (Game 1)
- (B2) Tyler Borges drove in Joseph Sullivan with a sacrifice fly to right after the sophomore stole second and reached third on an error before Orbeta drove in Diego Altamirano with an RBI single through the left side, South Alabama 2-0.
- (B3) Sullivan lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center to score Will Turner from third, South Alabama 3-0.
- (T7) Ethan Kavanagh scored on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Donovan Whibbs with one out in the inning, South Alabama 3-1.
- (B7) Micah Morgan drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in Lewis, South Alabama 4-1.
- (T8) Tremayne Cobb, Jr. drove in Caleb Bartolero from third to trim the deficit, South Alabama 4-2.
- (B8) Borges lifted a ball to shallow right field that fell in to score Ryan Storey from second, South Alabama 5-2.
How It Happened (Game 2)
- (T1) Bartolero hit a two-out, three-run home run to give the Trojans the early lead, Troy 3-0.
- (T5) Shane Lewis hit his 20th home run of the season to right center to plate a pair and extend the lead, Troy 5-0.
- (B5) Cole Ketzner scored on a wild pitch after reaching bases on a two-base error, Troy 5-1.
- (T8) Cobb hit a two-strike, two-out three-run home run to right center to extend the lead, Troy 8-1.
Up Next
The two teams will have the day off tomorrow due to weather and will meet in game three of the series on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1 pm.
Quotable, head coach Mark Calvi
Tale of two games …
"We left way too many on base in the first game which has been a trend over the last few weeks. I will give them a lot of credit, but we shouldn't strike out 10 times against a two-pitch guy. He is a good pitcher; I give him credit. We had soft hitters in game two, that's on me, I am the head coach. We were soft in game two, their pitchers were tougher than our hitters in game two."
One more game on Sunday with a day off …
"We are going to work out tomorrow.
Jeremy Lee is going to be going for us on Sunday, we just need to be tougher at the plate than we were in game two."
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