Troy Falls to Duke in Elimination Game at NCAA Athens Regional
ATHENS, Ga. – Troy raced out to a four-run advantage in the first inning at Foley Field, but Duke rallied for a 15-6 victory over the Trojans in an elimination game at the NCAA Athens Regional. Troy’s season ends with a 42-21 record following its seventh trip to the NCAA Division I Regionals.
The Trojans were forced into a difficult situation despite winning their first game of the Regional. Because of a lengthy rain delay and a four-plus hour game by Duke on Saturday, Troy’s scheduled game against Georgia was moved to Sunday afternoon. Troy lost to the Bulldogs forcing the Trojans to come back three hours later to face a rested Duke squad out of the loser’s bracket.
Things looked promising for the Trojans early as they sent nine batters to the plate in the four-run first. However, Duke (41-17) answered with three in the top of the second with two coming on the first of Chris Crabtree’s two homers in the game.
Rigsby Mosley put the Trojans back up two, 5-3, with an RBI single in the home half of the second, but the Blue Devils scored four times off two Trojan pitchers in the third to take the lead for good.
Playing for the final time in his Troy career, Sun Belt Player of the Year Joey Denison went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, two RBIs and two stolen bases. He finished the season with a school record 81 RBIs and 127 in his career, the 10th most by a player in school history.
Troy’s 42 wins finish as the sixth most in school history and the Trojans close out the season with a school record 30 triples. Figured to hear his name early in the upcoming MLB Draft, Brandon Lockridge went 2-for-4, while Drew Frederic homered for the second time of the day to go along with a double.
Duke starter Adam Laskey did not make it out of the first inning as he was charged with four runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning. Ethan DeCaster (6-0) weathered the storm for the Blue Devils with 4.1 innings and just two runs allowed to pick up the win.
Max Newton (2-1) took the loss for Troy after he allowed four runs on three hits in just a third of an inning.
Quotable – Troy Head Coach Mark Smartt
“This has been a wonderful team to coach and I’m proud of how they represented this program. We made a Regional as an at-large selection, won 42 games and have a lot to be proud of. At the end of the day, this group accomplished a lot of things that no Troy team has. We’ll have time to reflect on this season soon, but tonight these kids are hurting, they put their hearts and souls into this season.
“We weren’t very good tonight. We started quick and had the right energy entering the game, but we just didn’t pitch very well. We had to go to the bullpen early because Daren (Osby) had a hip issue and it went downhill quick.
“I’m really proud to be the coach of this team and what they accomplished.”
Sound “Smartt with Your Friends”
• Joey Denison extended his hitting streak to a career-high 20 games with a two-run single in the first inning. Denison finished the game 2-for-4 for his third multi-hit game of the Regional in three games and 33rd of the season – it was his fourth-straight multi-hit game dating back to the Sun Belt Tournament.
Notable
• Joey Denison stole second and third base in the first inning to give him 21 stolen bases on the season; Troy now has four players with at least 20 stolen bases – Frederic (28), Sanders (26), Lockridge (25), Denison (21).
• Brandon Lockridge finished 2-for-4 for his 22nd multi-hit game of the season and his second straight.
• Matt Sanders extended his hitting streak to a season-high 17 games with a leadoff single in first inning; his fifth hit of the NCAA Athens Regional. He finished his career just seven hits shy of tying Adam Bryant for the Troy career record of 276.
• Drew Frederic finished 2-for-4 with his seventh home run of the season and second of the day (hit a two-run homer against Georgia in Sunday’s opener) … it marked his 21st multi-hit game of the season.
• Rigsby Mosley drove in a pair of runs for his 12th multi-RBI game of the season; he had a sac fly in the first and a run-scoring single in the second.
Coastal Season Ends at NCAA Conway Regional
CONWAY - Top seed and NCAA Conway Regional host Coastal Carolina erased a one-run deficit to tie the game in the sixth inning, erased a three-run deficit to tie the game in the eighth and had the tying run on base in the ninth. However, Connecticut relief pitcher CJ Dandeneau managed to get a fly out and a strikeout to end the game and the Chanticleers' season as the second seeded Huskies held on for a 6-5 win in an elimination game Sunday afternoon at Springs Brooks Stadium.
The 13th-ranked Chanticleers end the 2018 season with a 43-19 record, marking the 15th time in CCU head coach Gary Gilmore's 23-year career at his alma mater that CCU has posted at least 40 wins. UConn, ranked 17th nationally, improves to 37-21-1 and will play #3 seed Washington in a region final Sunday night (6 pm).
In the ninth for Coastal, Cory Wood got a one-out single. Seth Lancaster nearly gave CCU a one-run lead as his fly ball to right field was caught at the wall. Dandeneau then struck out the final batter to improve to 2-1 on the season.
For the Huskies, all six of their runs came with two outs, including a solo home run in the seventh, a two-run home run in the seventh and the game-winning solo home run in the eighth.
UConn looked as to start the scoring in the first inning, but Coastal made to big plays in the field. First, Kieton Rivers threw out a runner at third base on a Zac Susi single. Then, Hopeck picked off Susi at first, Hopeck's sixth of the year and 12th of his career to rank third on the CCU all-time list.
CCU designated hitter Zach Biermann rode that momentum in the top of the second, hitting a leadoff home run for a 1-0 lead. It marked the junior's 13th round-tripper of the year. When all was said and done, Biermann accounted for four of CCU's five runs as he was 3-for-4 with four RBI.
UConn grabbed a 2-0 lead in the fifth. With bases loaded and two outs, Isaac Feldstein lined a double in the right field corner to score Christian Fedko and Michael Woodworth, both whom had singled.
Coastal answered in the top of the sixth. Wood and Lancaster both singled. Then with two outs, Biermann found the hole in the left side of the infield to score Wood.
The Huskies regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh when Anthony Prato hit a two-out, solo home run to left-center field and, after a single by Zac Susi, Feldstein hit a two-run home run to give UConn a 5-2 lead.
Once again, Coastal answered and scored three runs in the top of the eighth to tie the game, 5-5. Matt Beaird drew a leadoff walk and, on a Wood ground ball, reached second on UConn error. With one out, Kevin Woodall Jr., walked to load the bases. Beirmann hit a 3-2 pitch through the right side of the infield to score pinch runner Michael Koenig and Wood. With two outs, Lee Sponseller drew a 3-2 walk to load the bases and, after working the count full, Parker Chavers walked to force home Woodall and tie the game.
However, with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Fedko hit a solo home run to put the Huskies up 6-5, which proved to be the difference.
Zack Hopeck started for the Chants, but did not figure in the decision. He scattered six hits and three walks over 5.0 innings while allowing two runs. Jay Causey (2-2) was saddled with the loss.
Unearned Runs Doom Troy in Loss to Georgia
ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia scored four unearned runs as the Bulldogs rallied past Troy, 11-7, in the winner's bracket of the Athens Regional on Sunday afternoon at Foley Field.
The game was originally scheduled to be played Saturday evening, but due to the NCAA curfew the game was moved to Sunday. Troy must now return at 6 p.m. (ET) to play a rested Duke squad in an elimination game. The Trojans defeated the Blue Devils, 6-0, in the Regional opener on Friday.
Troy (42-20), who was the home team in the game, took a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on Brandon Lockridge's second home run of the game. He entered the day with just two homers on the season and became the first Trojan to hit multiple homers in a game this season.
However, Georgia (39-19) responded with back-to-back home runs in the top of the sixth to pull within one, 6-5, before scoring three unearned runs in the seventh inning after a two-out error by the Trojans kept the inning alive.
Troy pulled back within one, 8-7, with a sac fly in the bottom of the seventh, but Georgia answered with two more in the eighth – one unearned – and one in the ninth to ice the game.
The Bulldogs hit four home runs in the game led by Michael Curry's two in a 3-for-5, 4-RBI afternoon. Lockridge finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored for the Trojans, while Drew Frederic and Joey Denison added a pair of hits; Frederic homered in a four-run Troy third inning.
CJ Carter (8-6) was saddled with the hard-luck loss for Troy after allowing five runs – one earned – in two innings of work. Freshman Levi Thomas struck out seven over 5.2 innings but fell victim to the small ballpark as he allowed all four Georgia homers.
Zac Kristofak (4-2) earned the win out of the Georgia bullpen allowing two runs on three hits in three innings after starter Kevin Smith was ineffective over 3.2 innings of work. Ryan Webb tossed 2.1 scoreless innings for his fourth save.
Quotable – Troy Head Coach Mark Smartt
"I'm disappointed in the way we played. We didn't play very well, and to beat a team like Georgia on their home field you have to play your best game, and we didn't do that. We didn't pitch well enough or field well enough down the stretch. This team is always going to fight, and we did that, you just have to execute at this stage of the season, and we didn't do that."
Sound "Smartt with Your Friends"
• Brandon Lockridge hit his third home run of the season to put Troy on the board in the second inning. Lockridge added his second homer of the game in the fifth inning for Troy's first multi-homer game of the season. After hitting just one home run in Troy's first 54 games of the season Lockridge now has three in the last eight games.
Notable
• Joey Denison extended his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games with a two-out single in the first inning. Denison finished the game 2-for-3 for his second multi-hit game of the Regional and 32nd of the season.
• Brandon Lockridge finished 3-for-4 for his 21st multi-hit game of the season and sixth three-hit game of the year, he has 63 and 14 in his career, respectively.
• Matt Sanders extended his hitting streak to a season-high 16 games with a one-out single in the bottom of the third inning; his fourth hit of the NCAA Athens Regional. He is now just eight hits shy of tying Adam Bryant for the Troy career record of 276.
• Drew Frederic blasted his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot, to tie the game at 3-all in the third inning. It was his first home run since April 29 against UT Arlington.
• Levi Thomas tied a career and season high with his seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work; it marked the fourth time this season he struck out seven batters in a game.