Central Michigan Claims Series Finale over Troy

Sunday, February 19

Troy, Ala.

11:00 a.m.

Troy University

Central Michigan

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

Central Michigan Claims Series Finale over Troy

2/19/2012 4:27:00 PM | Baseball

By: Adam Prendergast

BOX SCORE

TROY, Ala. – Central Michigan rode a six-run first inning to a 14-7 victory over Troy in the series finale Sunday at Riddle-Pace Field. The Trojans won the series after taking the first two games of what was originally scheduled as a four-game set but was shortened to three games due to rain.

The Chippewas jumped out to a 7-0 lead after their first two at-bats of the game. Nate Theunissen opened the scoring with a two-run single after back-to-back singles and a Troy error loaded the bases to open the game. A grounder and wild pitch allowed two more runs to score and Eric Wrozek capped the opening frame with a two-run double to left.

Danny Collins put the Trojans (2-1) on the board with his first home run of the season with two outs in the third. Tyler Hannah kept the inning alive with single to right-center field and Boone Shear hammered the first pitch he saw from Rick Dodridge out of the park in left field to close the gap to 7-3.

Collins finished his opening weekend as a Trojan 6-of-13 (.462) at the plate with a pair of doubles to go along with the homer. Logan Pierce, who hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning, had two hits and four RBIs in the contest – he hit .417 (5-for-12) for the weekend. Hannah finished with three hits and three runs scored as Troy's 3-4-5 hitters were a combined 7-for-12 in the game.

Central Michigan (1-2) answered Troy's three-run third with a single run in the fourth and sixth innings and three runs in the seventh. William Arnold hit a pair of home runs in the contest and finished the afternoon 3-for-5 with four runs scored and four RBIs to pace the CMU offense. Jordan Dean added four hits in six at-bats and Theunissen finished with three hits and five RBIs.

Pierce lined a double off the wall in right field in the bottom of the seventh to drive home Hannah after he singled to center to open the frame. After CMU added two runs in the top of the ninth, Hannah led off the ninth with a single, Shear walked and Pierce crushed a ball to right for his first home run of the year.

Dodridge (1-0) tossed 5.2 innings to pick up the win for the Chippewas. He allowed three runs on five hits while issuing five walks and striking out six.

Adam Purdy (0-1) was tagged with the loss for the Trojans after he allowed six runs – two earned – on five hits in one inning of work.

The Trojans travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., for a three-game series against No. 29 Southern Mississippi this upcoming weekend. The series opens Friday at 6 p.m., continues on Saturday at 2 p.m. and wraps up on Sunday at 1 p.m.

For complete coverage of Trojan baseball, follow @adprende_TROY and @Troy_Baseball1 on Twitter and become fans of the Trojans on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TroyAthletics.