Pretty entertaining first and last games. I was glad to be there. Troy's odds of winning the Sun Belt Tournament may not be high, especially with injuries and no legit bye, but the Trojans won't be an easy out for anybody.
Meanwhile, this is the story in the Sunday Dothan Eagle. It can be found on dothaneagle.com HERE and you can check out the box score HERE.
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BY DREW CHAMPLIN | dchamplin@dothaneagle.com
TROY – Troy players got the message before Saturday’s regular season finale with South Alabama that they had clinched a spot into the Sun Belt Tournament, but the Trojans still went out and played with a purpose.
Troy got clutch home runs from Tyler Hannah and Jakob Nixon and some quality pitching and beat South Alabama 8-5. The Trojans (26-29, 14-16 Sun Belt) go into the Sun Belt Tournament as the No. 6 seed, and will play third-seeded FIU on Thursday.
It’s a round robin tournament, so Troy will play No. 2 Arkansas State on Friday and No. 7 Middle Tennessee on Saturday. The two pool winners play Sunday in the championship.
Troy also won its fourth straight series to close the regular season, and fifth out of the last six. Assistant coach Mark Smartt told the team during batting practice that a tournament spot was cemented after Arkansas-Little Rock lost to Arkansas State earlier Saturday.
“I could see the happy sigh of relief, like some weight was taken off of them,” Troy head coach Bobby Pierce said. “A lot of people would characterize it as Little Rock lost and we got in. I say we won our last five (of six) series and that’s how we got in.”
Troy was down 2-0 after one-half inning, but got a run in the first and took a 4-2 lead in the third on an RBI double from Logan Pierce and RBI singles from Danny Collins and Chase Mathis.
Hannah’s two-run homer in the fourth gave Troy a 6-3 lead, and after South Alabama (21-33, 15-15) closed the gap to 6-5 in the seventh, Nixon hit a two-run shot in the eighth for the final margin.
Hannah, one of four seniors, had a big night. He went 3-for-5 with his fifth home run of the season, had two RBIs, scored three runs and made a leaping catch on a liner to end the fifth after South Alabama had put together a two-out rally. Hannah was also part of two infield double plays.
“I still wanted to go out with a bang,” Hannah said. “I was hoping to get a couple of hits, of course win and make some plays. I think I accomplished that tonight. I felt great about the night.”
Troy starter Ryan Brady got the win, throwing five innings and giving up seven hits and four earned runs. Brady got out of a jam in the first inning, holding the Jaguars to just two runs.
A.J. Howard, a senior from Houston County, pitched a scoreless sixth. USA got two hits and a run off Ivan Carter in the seventh, but with one out in the seventh and runners on second and third, Troy called on relief ace Nate Hill for the third straight night, and he did the job.
Hill got the win Thursday, but gave up four runs in one inning Friday in an 11-3 loss. The junior left-hander wanted to pitch an inning Saturday to work out some kinks. He did just that, throwing 2 2/3 innings of hitless ball to get his fourth save.
Hill (6-2, 3.91 ERA) leads Troy with 33 appearances and is second with 71 1/3 innings and 66 strikeouts. He credited athletic trainer Sean Boland for getting his arm durable enough to pitch that much.
“Sean gets me right before the game,” Hill said. “I went over to the training room before the game and got ice and all that good stuff. It’s a combination of that and I don’t have to throw max effort because I’m throwing so much offspeed (pitches).”
The Sun Belt Tournament game times will be announced today. The tournament begins Wednesday, but Troy has a bye and won’t play until Thursday.
Troy got clutch home runs from Tyler Hannah and Jakob Nixon and some quality pitching and beat South Alabama 8-5. The Trojans (26-29, 14-16 Sun Belt) go into the Sun Belt Tournament as the No. 6 seed, and will play third-seeded FIU on Thursday.
It’s a round robin tournament, so Troy will play No. 2 Arkansas State on Friday and No. 7 Middle Tennessee on Saturday. The two pool winners play Sunday in the championship.
Troy also won its fourth straight series to close the regular season, and fifth out of the last six. Assistant coach Mark Smartt told the team during batting practice that a tournament spot was cemented after Arkansas-Little Rock lost to Arkansas State earlier Saturday.
“I could see the happy sigh of relief, like some weight was taken off of them,” Troy head coach Bobby Pierce said. “A lot of people would characterize it as Little Rock lost and we got in. I say we won our last five (of six) series and that’s how we got in.”
Troy was down 2-0 after one-half inning, but got a run in the first and took a 4-2 lead in the third on an RBI double from Logan Pierce and RBI singles from Danny Collins and Chase Mathis.
Hannah’s two-run homer in the fourth gave Troy a 6-3 lead, and after South Alabama (21-33, 15-15) closed the gap to 6-5 in the seventh, Nixon hit a two-run shot in the eighth for the final margin.
Hannah, one of four seniors, had a big night. He went 3-for-5 with his fifth home run of the season, had two RBIs, scored three runs and made a leaping catch on a liner to end the fifth after South Alabama had put together a two-out rally. Hannah was also part of two infield double plays.
“I still wanted to go out with a bang,” Hannah said. “I was hoping to get a couple of hits, of course win and make some plays. I think I accomplished that tonight. I felt great about the night.”
Troy starter Ryan Brady got the win, throwing five innings and giving up seven hits and four earned runs. Brady got out of a jam in the first inning, holding the Jaguars to just two runs.
A.J. Howard, a senior from Houston County, pitched a scoreless sixth. USA got two hits and a run off Ivan Carter in the seventh, but with one out in the seventh and runners on second and third, Troy called on relief ace Nate Hill for the third straight night, and he did the job.
Hill got the win Thursday, but gave up four runs in one inning Friday in an 11-3 loss. The junior left-hander wanted to pitch an inning Saturday to work out some kinks. He did just that, throwing 2 2/3 innings of hitless ball to get his fourth save.
Hill (6-2, 3.91 ERA) leads Troy with 33 appearances and is second with 71 1/3 innings and 66 strikeouts. He credited athletic trainer Sean Boland for getting his arm durable enough to pitch that much.
“Sean gets me right before the game,” Hill said. “I went over to the training room before the game and got ice and all that good stuff. It’s a combination of that and I don’t have to throw max effort because I’m throwing so much offspeed (pitches).”
The Sun Belt Tournament game times will be announced today. The tournament begins Wednesday, but Troy has a bye and won’t play until Thursday.
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