Sean
Trawick, staff writer
posted
on April 13, 2006
The Troy Trojans baseball team continued its winning ways this week
as the Trojans extended their winning streak against the Western
Kentucky Hilltoppers and the Kennesaw State Owls.
The Trojans, having won 17 of their last 20 games and 13 in a row,
traveled to Bowling Green, KY over the weekend to face their intra-conference
opponent Western Kentucky.
The Hilltoppers entered the series in need of some conference wins
after losing three out of four games against Arkansas-Little Rock.
The Trojans entered play with an undefeated record of 3-0 in conference
play, placing Troy in first place in the league.
After spotting the Hilltoppers six runs in the first inning, the
Trojans were able to cut into the lead by two runs before the game
was postponed due to rain the third inning.
Because of Sun Belt rules, the game was allowed to be restarted
in third inning on Saturday with Western Kentucky leading by four
runs.
The Trojans would not be intimidated by that deficit, however, because
Troy tied the game in the fourth inning after run scoring hits from
Mike Felix, Josh Blackwell and Jared Keel.
The Trojans lost the lead again in the bottom of the fourth inning
after giving up four more runs, giving the Hilltoppers a 10-6 lead.
However, Troy would have one more offensive outburst, as the Trojans
scored seven runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Troy would add another run in the top of the seventh inning, giving
the Trojans a 14-10 lead that would not be relinquished.
The win was picked up by Troy reliever Jonathan Sabat (2-1) and
the offense was led by Felix, who had three hits and five RBI.
Troy played its second game against the Hilltoppers later that day,
and the Trojans needed more offensive firepower to erase another
early deficit.
By the second inning the Trojans were down 8-2 after early pitching
troubles from Jon Gianquitti and Pete Van Horn.
The Troy offense wasn’t having any difficulty, however, as
the Trojans were able to take the lead 10-8 after a six-run fourth
inning.
Troy sealed the victory after a solid eight innings of relief pitching
from J.J. Whetsel that saw 10 strikeouts and no runs given up.
The final tally saw the Trojans win 15-8, pushing their win streak
to 11 games.
The game was also record-setting, as the Trojans had 11 doubles,
breaking team and Sun Belt records.
The third game of the series had just as much offensive production
as the other two, but the Trojans never trailed and took the win.
Troy led 3-0 early, but after giving up a run in each of the first
three innings, the Trojans found themselves tied with the Hilltoppers
going into the fifth.
The offense got going, though, and Troy took a lead of 9-3 into
the bottom of the eighth inning.
Troy won the game by a score of 11-5, giving Joe Hallahan his third
win of the season.
The three-game sweep gave Troy a perfect conference record of 6-0,
a season record of 24-9 and the Trojans sixth series sweep of the
year.
“You never go into a series expecting a sweep,” said
Troy coach Bobby Pierce. “Especially when it’s an away
series.”
On Tuesday the Trojans traveled to Kennesaw, Ga. to finish up a
home-and-away series with the Kennesaw State Owls.
Troy defeated the Owls earlier in the year 4-1 and looked to take
its hot hitting into a warm-up game for this weekend’s match
up with Florida International.
The Trojans never trailed in this game, taking an early lead of
3-0 in the second inning.
Troy tacked on more runs throughout the game, scoring in all but
the first, third and eighth inning.
The win was the third of the season for Stephen Morelock, who pitched
four strong innings.
Troy pitcher Tony Falls also made his first appearance of the season,
working a scoreless fifth inning, after undergoing Tommy John’s
Surgery in June, 2005.
“It’s great to see Tony out there again,” said
Pierce. “He’s got a great work ethic and he’s
worked hard to get back.”
The game was highlighted by a record-setting Tom King double in
the seventh inning.
The double was the 23rd of the season for King, breaking the old
Troy record of 22 doubles.
The win over Kennesaw State leaves Troy tied with Notre Dame for
the longest current win streak in the country at 13 games.
“Our bullpen is really coming around, defensively we’ve
been playing better, and offensively we continue to roll,”
said Pierce. “That’s how we’ve been able to keep
this win streak going.”
Heading into the upcoming home series with division rival Florida
International, Troy’s record is 25-9 and 6-0 in conference
play.
Florida International is 25-13 on the season and 6-3 in conference
play, placing them second behind Troy.
“FIU has played very well,” said Pierce. “We’re
very fortunate have this game at home where we’ve played very
well.”
As Troy looks to continue its record-setting pace and its chase
for a first-ever at large bid to the NCAA tournament, the baseball
team hopes for more fan support.
“I would love to see our students become attached to this
team who continues to do great things,” said Pierce.
Troy’s Tom King also looks to set another record this weekend,
as he needs to hit safely in Friday and Saturday’s games to
tie a conference record 30-game hitting streak.
If King hits safely in those two games, he will have a chance to
break the record on Sunday.
Troy is scheduled for 6 p.m. games on Friday and Saturday night,
with the last game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
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