Trojans Split Day Two of LSU Tournament

Saturday, March 4

Baton Rouge, La.

9 AM

Troy University

11-8

Illinois State

6-8

Illinois State

Troy

3/4/2017 3:46:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Grace Bolin

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana- Troy started day two of the LSU Tournament with a 5-1 win over Illinois State, but fell to Illinois 4-3 in nine innings in game two at Tiger Park. Troy now moves to 11-9 on the season.

Troy 5, Illinois State 1

A huge fourth inning for the Trojans earned them a 5-1 win over the Illinois State Redbirds in game one of Saturday's double header. Troy recorded all five of their runs in the bottom of the fifth as the Illinois State pitchers could not find the answers to the Trojans' hot bats.

In the third inning, a Redbird double and SAC bunt put Illinois State's first run on the board. After a scoreless fourth for the Redbirds, the Trojans quickly answered back.

Meg Willis led off the inning with a hard hit single to left field. Erica Davis got on base with a walk, and a SAC bunt from Kaylee Hussey advanced the runners to second and third. With two runners in scoring position, Madeline Porter hit an RBI single to the shortstop to tie the game at 1-1.

A base hit from freshmen Brooke Echols brought in two runs and Troy took a 3-1 lead with only one out in the fourth inning. The hits continued as Carli Kayler and Katie Webb each recorded a single to help the Trojans to a 5-1 lead before the Redbirds were able to find a way to end the inning after two pitching changes and working through the Troy lineup.

The Redbirds threatened with two base hits in the top of the sixth, but a clutch strike out and assist from Peyton Glover ended the inning and the Trojans walked away with their first win of the LSU Tournament.

Troy threw all three pitchers in game one as Claire Graves earned the start, and was relieved by Glover after 3.1 innings of work. Glover earned the win and moved to 2-3 on the season. Senior Rachel Rigney Brown came in in the final inning to close out the game. She faced four batters and threw one strikeout.

Troy 3, Illinois 4
A three run home run from Illinois in the top of the third gave the Fighting Illini a 3-0 lead until a few miscues from Illinois put Troy on the board in the bottom of the sixth.

Down 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Trojans stepped up to the plate needing a rally against Illinois. Carl Kayler led off in the bottom of the seventh and hit a single up the middle. Stephanie Snyder singled to shortstop to load the bases for Troy. A hit by pitch brought home a run to put Troy within one with one out. Davis launched a fly ball into centerfield to get the SAC and bring in the tying run. Another fly ball ended the inning for the Trojans as they headed into extras.

The Fighting Illini posted one hit in the eighth inning, but the Trojans did not allow the runner to score. Troy came back up to the plate with an opportunity to get the win, but weren't able to put runners on base.
In the ninth, an RBI single from Illinois put the Fighting Illini up 4-3. The Trojans came up to the plate and got a lead off hit from Katie Webb, but a few fly balls and put outs ended the game for the Trojans.

Rigney Brown pitched a complete game for Troy throwing two strikeouts. She leads the team with a 2.65 ERA and a 5-5 record.

NOTEWORTHY
• The Trojans went to nine innings for the first time this season against Illinois.
• Becca Hartley leads the team with a .328 average at the plate. She also leads in runs and is tied with Stephanie Snyder with 20 hits.
• Katie Webb has a team high current hit streak of three games.
• The Trojan defense recorded a season-high 27 put outs against Illinois.

QUOTABLE
"I thought we pitched and played defense well today," head coach Beth Mullins said. "We had a chance to come out with two wins today, but we couldn't get the timely hits in that last game. There is a lot of fight in this group, and we are going to get right back after it tomorrow against two quality opponents."

UP NEXT
Troy will face Illinois again tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., before closing out the tournament against host and SEC powerhouse No.13 LSU at 3 p.m.

For more on Troy softball, visit TroyTrojans.com and follow @TroyAthletics and @TroyTrojansSB on Twitter.