Softball falls to Georgia Southern in conference series at home

Trojans drop two straight after winning series opener

The Troy softball team fell to Sun Belt Conference leader Georgia Southern in a series over the weekend. Despite a game one win, the Trojans dropped the final two games of the series as the Eagles turned in strong pitching performances.

Annie Orman shined at the plate during the series, going 4-for-7, crushing two home runs and driving in three runs. The senior outfielder also hit two doubles and drew two walks.

In the past 10 games, Orman has hit six home runs. She started the season slow before kicking into gear with a heroic game-tying, two-out homer in the seventh inning against ULM.

Taylor McKinney also had a strong weekend, hitting two home runs of her own in a 4-for-9 series. The Trojans star has a 29-game on-base streak going, which is Troy’s longest since 2016.

Additionally, McKinney took sole possession of fifth place for Troy career home runs over the weekend. Her solo shot in game one gave her that honor, but also gave the Trojans a crucial insurance run.

In the first game of the series, a one-hit shutout from Alyssa Faircloth gave Troy a 2-0 win. Orman and McKinney’s home runs gave Faircloth all the run support she would need, as she struck out five batters.

“It was a big win tonight, Georgia Southern came in tonight on top, [of the Sun Belt standings] and we really just challenged our girls to play good softball tonight,” said head coach Eric Newell. “We pitched it well; we defended well; and we executed when we needed to.

“Obviously we’re not going to be happy too many times with three hits, but when two of those three hits are home runs and you hold the other team scoreless, you’re going to be pretty happy with that.”

Following the game one win, Troy came out flat in a 6-1 loss on Saturday. After scoring a run in the first inning, the Eagles scored six unanswered runs as the pitching staff held Troy in check.

Makaley Boswell – who finished the game 2-for-4 – led off the bottom of the first inning with an opposite field triple. Cassidy Boltz drove her in a few batters later to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead.

Both Boswell and Boltz turned in multi-hit games in the loss and are second and third on the team in multi-hit games. Boswell has 11 multi-hit games, while Boltz has 12.

Although Troy was already down by five runs, Kate Peters had a solid outing in mop-up duty. She threw 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits.

In Sunday’s rubber match, Troy fell in an 8-4 game. A three-run fifth inning from the Eagles broke a 3-3 tie, and Georgia Southern scored in the sixth and seventh innings to get insurance runs.

Both Orman and McKinney hit home runs in the game, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Eagles, who scored five runs in the final three innings.

“It was a disappointing day for sure, there were a couple mental mistakes defensively and a lot of passed balls and wild pitches,” Newell said. “We let the ball get to the backstop a little bit too much.

“Hats off to Georgia Southern, there’s a reason they’re top of the conference.”

Following a midweek matchup against UAB, the Trojans hit the road for a series against Texas State. The Bobcats sit with Georgia Southern atop the Sun Belt Conference standings.

The series against Texas State starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday and runs through Saturday.