Combined Reports
(March 7, 2010)

It took much longer than anyone thought it might, but Troy University baseball coach Bobby Pierce picked up his 250th victory as the Trojans mentor on Saturday night as Troy ended a five-game losing skid with an 18-2 win over Bethune-Cookman.

The two teams will play the rubber game of their weekend series on Sunday, with the first pitch slated for 1 p.m. at Riddle-Pace Field.

For the Trojans (4-5), the game was never really in doubt after plating six runs in the first two innings against BCU starting pitcher Rayan Gonzalez (1-2). But, it was after scoring those early runs that Troy’s bats went back into the deep freeze for the next four innings.

“We were able to score a lot of runs tonight, and that is something we have been looking for,” Pierce said. “But we also didn’t do enough with the chances we had early in the game. They threw some young guys out there late and we were able to do some things against them, but we have to do a better job in those situations at all points in the game.”

Troy finally broke the game open in the seventh inning, scoring five times against the Bethune-Cookman (4-8) bullpen. The Trojans padded their advantage even more in the eighth, scoring seven more runs.

The six early runs were more than enough for Troy freshman left-hander Shane McCain (2-1), who allowed just two runs on four hits through 5.1 innings of work. He walked two and struck out six.

Were it not for ending the losing skid and Pierce’s milestone win, the story of the game very likely might have been the pitching debut for Troy of senior Bart Pettus.

A shortstop by trade, Pettus has been hampered by a knee injury he suffered last year. With his mobility compromised, he has been working on making a return to the mound, where he was a standout in high school.

“Bart was a top quality pitcher in high school, and he has been wanting to do anything he can to help this team in his last year,” Pierce said. “With his bad knee, he can’t play shortstop, so we wanted to give him a look on the mound.”

If Saturday’s performance is any indication, the experiment is a success. Pettus came into a 6-1 game with a pair of runners on base. He surrendered a ground ball single to score a run on his first pitch. He retired the next four batters he faced before a two out error put a runner on base. He responded with a strikeout, his third, to end the seventh inning.

Jordan Mathers and Thomas Austin both also made their season debuts on the mound, both pitching scoreless innings to close out the Troy win.

Southern Poly sweeps AUM

Southern Polytechnic State University completed a weekend sweep of the Auburn University at Montgomery Senators with 7-0 and 9-1 wins at the AUM Baseball Complex.

Blake Mainor (5-0) and D.J. Nordquist combined for a four-hit shutout in game one, allowing the Senators only four singles in the contest.

Gary Owens hit his second homerun of the series in game one and added two RBI.  Joe Wilson had three hits and an RBI while Mason Heller and Brandon Chastain added two hits each in the 11-hit attack.

AUM’s only hits came from Todd Cherry, Brooks Glover, Micahel Dugan and Sam Judah.

Robby Davis (2-2) was the starter and loser for AUM.  He pitched five and a third giving up seven hits and five runs with two strikeouts.

Game two saw SPSU jump out to a 9-0 lead after three innings.  The fourth-ranked team in the nation scored four runs in the first, three in the second and two more in the third, before AUM’s pitchers settled down.

Heller and Owens completed big weekends at the plate with two hits and two RBI in game two.  Jake Barrow had two hits and scored two runs while Josh Grooms had two doubles, driving in one.

Greg Hendrix (2-1) was the winner, pitching four and a third only allowing three hits.  Tucker Stone finished the game allowing three hits and the one run.

Jacob Salter had two hits in the game for AUM and the Senators avoided the shutout on a two-out single from Cody Chizmar in the bottom of the seventh scoring Derek Webster.

Brent Ambrun (1-1) only lasted a third of an inning in picking up the loss.  He allowed two hits and gave up a walk while allowing SPSU to score four runs.

The Senators are now 9-11 overall and 2-4 in conference action.  SPSU pushes its record to 21-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference.  AUM will be back in action Tuesday, March 9th, when they travel to Columbus State University.  The game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

Tide shuts out CofC

MT. PLEASANT, S.C.  – The Alabama baseball team got a strong pitching performance from a trio of right-handers and the Tide manufactured enough offense for a 4-0 win over the College of Charleston on a sunny afternoon at Patriots Point Stadium.

Junior right-hander Jimmy Nelson fired six shutout innings with a career high 11 strikeouts, while the bullpen tandem of sophomore right-hander Tyler White and junior right-hander Brett Whitaker blanked the Cougars over the final three innings, giving the Tide its first shutout since a 12-0 win over Alabama A&M on March 18, 2009.

Tigers handle Miami, Ohio

AUBURN. - The Auburn bats pounced on the Miami (Ohio) pitching from the get-go, scoring seven runs on nine hits over the first three innings and rode the arms of Grant Dayton and Stephen Kohlscheen to a series-clinching 13-5 win on Saturday afternoon at Plainsman Park. The win extended Auburn’s winning streak to five games and moved Auburn’s record to 8-2 on the year.

"The tone was set real early by Grant Dayton. Grant went out there and retired the first 10 hitters of the game and when you can do that and play solid defense, it’s a real good formula to getting off to a good start," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said.

Dayton, who had not earned a win since March 13, 2009 at Tennessee, found his groove with the first hitter of the game and cruised for the first three-plus innings, retiring the first 10 hitters he faced, six on strike outs. His shutout was spoiled with a fourth-inning RBI single but the junior lefty didn’t let it faze him as he rolled through 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven, his most strike outs in his last six outings.

"My arm felt great today and I was able to utilize my fastball better and hit my spots," Dayton said. "Pitching with a lead is a whole lot easier to do than pitching from behind."

Hunter Morris had a powerful day at the plate, smacking four hits in five at bats, including his first home run of the season, a two-run laser off the batter’s eye in center with one out in the sixth. The four hits were the most for Morris in a game this season and marked the second time in his career he has had a four-hit game. Coupled with a pair of doubles, Morris drove in two and scored three from his three-hole position.