Troy clobbers Little Rock 12-2 in Super Regional baseball opening game
TROY, Ala. (WAKA) – A record 6,426 fans witnessed Troy defeat Arkansas-Little Rock 12-2 in game one of the Troy Super Regional baseball series at Riddle-Pace Field.
Troy scored four home runs during last night’s game.
Little Rock struck first with a double and an RBI single in the first inning, but a five-run second inning broke things open for Troy. Steven Meier started a three-hit day with a single, and Troy native Drew Nelson tripled off the right field wall to knock him in before scoring on a Sean Darnell sac fly.
The power surge began as shortstop Aaron Piasecki followed a Houston Markham with a two-run blast over the Trojan wall in right field. Riddle-Pace Field exploded the following at-bat as Josh Pyne lasered a solo homer to left.
Little Rock pulled righty Brannon Westmoreland with one out in the fourth after the Trojans added another in the third on an RBI groundout by Nelson. Westmoreland finished with six runs and five earned runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out two.
The final six runs came off the bat of Jabe Boroff, who hit his second multi-homer game of the postseason, giving him six homers in the NCAA Tournament. Boroff started with a two-run blast off of Gage Haley in the sixth before a grand slam put Troy up 12-2 in the eighth.
Haley had loaded the bases on two singles and a walk before Little Rock turned to sidearm righty Blake Van Cleve. Van Cleve worked a 1-2 count before Troy called an offensive timeout. After Boroff met with associate head coach Ben Wolgamot, he deposited a grand slam 396 feet over the left field wall.
On the mound, Troy got six strong innings from left-hander Benjamin Stubbs, who limited Little Rock to two runs on six hits and struck out five without a walk. The Troy pitching staff combined for seven strikeouts without a walk as lefty Zach Crotchfelt tossed a pair of scoreless innings before freshman righty Matt Dill threw a scoreless ninth.
Troy is one win away from becoming the third Sun Belt Team to reach the College World Series. They’d join 2000 Louisiana and 2025 Coastal Carolina.
Game two of the Troy Super Regional is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday at Riddle-Pace Field. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
— Information from Troy University Athletics
