Trojans bullpen holds in 5-3 win over Samford

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TROY, Ala (troytrojans.com)  – With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth, Corey Childress fielded a ground ball and threw it to first for the final out to seal 5-3 victory for the Trojans on Tuesday night at Riddle-Pace Field.

Troy (17-13) has continued its success with answer innings and did the same tonight scoring four in the bottom of the third inning after Samford (16-13) took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the inning.

T.J. Binder tied the game with one swing of the bat with a leadoff home run to right field. The solo shot was his third homer of the season, and his third in the past four games. Justin Friend doubled to right center field, following Binder and advanced to third on a Tripp Calhoun single up the middle.

The next batter, Peyton Fuller, drove in Friend from third with a double off the wall in right center field that gave the Trojans a 2-1 lead. Chase Smartt lined out to right field, but Calhoun scored on the play and gave Smartt his 16^th RBI of the season. After a strikeout, Joey Denison hit his eighth double of the year and drove in Fuller and put Troy on top 4-1.

Samford answered in the fourth inning with an RBI double off the bat of Richard Greene. The Bulldogs threatened in the ninth inning down 5-2. T.J. Dixon loaded the bases with a one out single up the middle. The final run scored for the Bulldogs on a ground out to first immediately following the single. However, the nations leading home run hitter, Heath Quinn, was intentionally walked to load the bases once more with two outs in the inning.

Quinn finished the night 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout. Samford had eight pitchers pitch in the game, but Mikhail Cazenave (0-1) suffered the loss for the Bulldogs. He pitched two innings and gave up four runs on four hits.

Evan Hebert (3-2) earned the win for the Trojans. He pitched four innings, gave up two runs on five hits and struck out two. Marc Skinner was solid in relief with three innings pitched, two hits and two strikeouts. Trey Johns and Childress each pitched an inning. Johns allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout. Childress picked up his sixth save of the season and only allowed one hit.

Binder and Friend had two hits on the night with Binder having the lone RBI between the two. Denison was the only Trojan who had two RBIs on the night.

The win for the Trojans put an end to Samford defeating in-state opponents. The Bulldogs were 10-0 against teams in the state of Alabama before the loss.

Troy will return to the diamond on Friday at 6 p.m. as they play host to Appalachian State for a three-game conference series.