Box Score TROY, Ala. - Troy (17-4, 3-1 SBC) scored three runs in the bottom of the first and never trailed on its way to a 6-2 victory over the UALR baseball team (10-11, 2-2) on Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field. Troy starter Tyler Ray held the Trojans to one run and eight hits over 6.1 innings to improve to 5-0 on the year.
UALR starter Garret Graziano (2-4) retired the first two batters he faced on Friday, but Troy ripped off four-consecutive hits with two outs on the board, capped off by a two-run double by Drew Pritchard to take an early 3-0 lead. Troy extended its lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth as Ali Knowles reached on a leadoff single and came around to score three batters later on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Hannah.
Ray held UALR scoreless over the first five frames, but the Trojans managed to scratch across a run in the top of the sixth after senior Jason Houston opened the frame with a leadoff triple down the right field line. Houston scored from third on the following at-bat off a run-scoring base knock by senior Jake Rowell.
Troy answered in the bottom of the seventh, as a two-run homer by Adam Bryant gave the home team a 6-1 lead. Down by five, UALR had chances to trim its deficit in the seventh and eighth innings after loading the bases with one out in each frame, but came away empty handed both times.
UALR opened the seventh with back-to-back singles by sophomore Myles Parma and junior Greg Garcia, and then loaded the bases with one out as junior Sean Bignall was hit by a pitch from Ray. Troy called on Garrett McHenry after Bignall reached base, and the reliever struck out the next two hitters he faced to escape the jam and preserve the 6-1 lead.
Junior Nick Rountree led off the eighth inning with a solo homer to left (his third of the year) to make it a 6-2 ballgame. Senior Casey McCollum drew a one-out walk from McHenry, and Parma followed with a base knock to right to chase McHenry from the game. Troy's Tyson Workman took the mound in relief of McHenry with two runners on and one out. Workman allowed a single to the first batter he faced (Garcia) to load the bases, but induced an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play ball from the following batter. Workman then pitched a perfect ninth to close out the win and pick up his first save of the year.
UALR matched Troy with 11 hits in the game, but left 10 runners on base. Bignall, Parma and Garcia paced UALR with two hits apiece, while Bryant led Troy with a 3-for-4, two-RBI performance. Graziano was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs and nine hits over 6.0 innings.
UALR and Troy return to action Saturday night at 6 p.m. for game two of the three-game Sun Belt Conference series.
