Troy tops UAB

A productive evening on the mound from six different pitchers propelled No. 20 Troy to a 7-4 victory over UAB at Riddle-Pace Field on Wednesday.

The Troy pitchers combined for nine hits and nine strikeouts, holding the Blazers to four runs and just two across the first eight innings of the ballgame. Lefty Jacob Roettgen opened the game with a pair of scoreless innings in his season debut before turning it over to Kelly Crumpton, who recorded his first career victory. Crumpton struck out one UAB hitter in the third, allowing one hit and one run.

Freshman southpaw Chase Cartron was sharp in two innings of work, racking up the first three strikeouts of his career and allowing one run. Sophomore Colton Walls made his season debut with two scoreless innings and one hit, while Colby Frieda pitched a scoreless eighth inning with a pair of strikeouts. Chase Nelson entered with a five-run lead in the ninth and allowed two runs, but prevented the tying run from coming to the plate with a strikeout to end the game.

At the plate, the Trojans tallied just six hits, their fewest this season, but took advantage of their opportunities with four runs in the third inning and three in the fourth. Sean Darnell got things going with an RBI triple over the centerfielder’s head, while Brooks Bryan drove in two with a double before Dillon Kuehl brought in another on a single.

In the fourth, Darnell and Bryan each drew a walk with the bases loaded, while Kuehl brought in the Trojans’ seventh run with a sacrifice fly.

The Trojans improve to 8-1 on the season and have racked up five straight victories after the weekend sweep over Northwestern State and the 6-5 victory at No. 15 Mississippi State on Tuesday.