Troy Downs Central Michigan 7-3 Behind Solid Pitching in Season Opener

Friday, February 17

Troy, Ala.

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

Central Michigan

Photo by: Edward Fieder

Troy Downs Central Michigan 7-3 Behind Solid Pitching in Season Opener

2/17/2012 9:35:00 PM | Baseball

By: Adam Prendergast

BOX SCORE

TROY, Ala. – Four Troy pitchers combined to strike out 13 batters in the Trojans' 7-3 season-opening victory over Central Michigan in front of an opening-night record crowd Friday at Riddle-Pace Field.

The crowd of 1,648 was the highest attended season opener in Riddle-Pace Field history (records are only available for Troy's Division I era).

All-American Tyler Ray (1-0) extended his NCAA-best win streak to 13 games after tossing six innings of two-hit ball. The right-hander struck out eight and allowed just two runs – one earned – for his 28th career victory. Thomas Austin struck out one, Nate Hill fanned two and Tyson Workman earned the save with a pair of strikeouts over 1.2 innings of work.

“I certainly appreciate our fans coming out and supporting our team,” Troy head coach Bobby Pierce said. “I can't remember an opening day quite like that. We talked about it yesterday with our club that you never know what to expect on opening day so just be ready for anything. I thought we would come out and do a little bit more offensively, but on the flip side I thought we pitched pretty well and other than a couple of little defensive mistakes we made some nice defensive plays.”

The Trojans (1-0) took advantage of nine walks, four hit batters and four errors by the Chippewas (0-1) to score five unearned runs.

Jakob Nixon, who made a highlight-reel defensive play at second base, drove in a pair of runs for the Trojans, while Tyler Hannah, Boone Shear and Brandon Brown each finished the game with one RBI. The game featured just six combined hits and only one hit which drove home a run – a solo home run by Central Michigan's William Arnold in the sixth.

Troy scored three key insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning after Central Michigan pulled within one, 4-3, in the top of the frame. Nixon beat out a ground ball with the bases loaded to score pinch runner Clay Holcomb for the first run of the inning. Three batters later, with the bases loaded again, Hannah was hit by a pitch and Shear drew a walk to stretch the Troy lead out to the final 7-3 margin.

Arnold put the Chippewas on the board in the top of the first inning with an RBI grounder to score Jordan Dean after he reached on an error to open the game.

Logan Pierce scored the first run of the season for the Trojans on a throwing error by the Chippewas' third baseman with the bases loaded. Nixon followed with an RBI ground out to second and Brown drove home the final run of the inning with comebacker to the pitcher.

Josh McDorman extended the Troy lead out to 4-1 in the fifth when he scored on a dropped fly ball after he led off the inning with a single back up the middle. Collins had the other hit for the Trojans which was also a grounder back up the middle.

Zach Cooper (0-1) took the loss for Central Michigan after he was charged with four runs – one earned – on just two hits over six innings. The senior right-hander struggled mightily with his control as he walked six, hit one and threw a pair of wild pitches.

The teams continue their four-game series Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. at Riddle-Pace Field. The start time has been moved up two hours due to the threat of impending inclement weather.

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