by Hunter Dawkins, Owner/Publisher – editor@thegazebogazette.com or hdawkins@supertalk.fm

MONTGOMERY (GG) — After winning eleven in a row, the #8 ranked Southern Miss baseball team fell behind early in their 9-6 loss to Troy.  Despite a ninth inning rally for the second straight game against the Trojans (32-28), the Golden Eagles (42-15) were plagued by weather at Dabos Park in Montgomery, Alabama, and saw the game delayed almost two hours at the start of the bottom of the seventh due to lightning.

Down 9-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Southern Miss catcher Tucker Stockman, who opened things with a single followed by a Seth Smith single to load the bases. Joey Urban base cleared with a triple and scored on a Kyle Morrison single. Southern Miss closed out by striking out.

How it Happened

Troy jumped out to an early advantage, scoring three times in the third by collecting four hits off Golden Eagle starter Camden Sunstrom. After a leadoff single by Houston Markham, and a double by Aaron Piasecki, Josh Pyne reached on a fielder’s choice as Markham was caught off third only to scramble back to the base to load things for the Trojans.

Blake Cavill then hit a chopper over Southern Miss Matthew Russo’s head into right to drive in the first run, before the Trojans added an infield RBI single from Jimmy Janicki and then completed the scoring on a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Drew Nelson.

The Golden Eagles cut the gap with a run of their own in the fourth. Russo singled down the third-base line and Ben Higdon collected a two-out single, before Stockman knocked in Russo with a single to right center.

Troy added to their lead with a two-run homer in the sixth for Pyne off reliever Thomas Crabtree, his eighth, to make the score 5-1. Southern Miss cut into that lead in the bottom of the frame with a solo run coming as Higdon plated Gillespie with a sacrifice fly. Gillespie reached on a leadoff double.

The Trojans quickly added to its lead again in the seventh with a single, a walk and a batter being hit by pitch, Aaron Piasecki tripled down the line to clear the bases and give Troy an 8-2 advantage.

Sean Darnell was responsible for the Trojans final run in the eight as he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Numbers Never Lie

Sunstrom (6-4) suffered the loss as he allowed four runs on eight hits over five innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Trojan starter Zach Crotchfelt (5-2) limited the Golden Eagles to a run on five hits over five innings with a walk and eight strikeouts to garner the win.

Next Up

Southern Miss and Troy will play in Game 2 of the semifinals at 9am Sunday, May 24.  The game will decide who plays in the Sun Belt Conference championship game at 1pm against Louisiana.