Troy softball continues fall ball slate

Troy softball continued its fall ball schedule with a 6-2 win against Faulkner at home Friday night at the Troy Softball Complex.  

The lowscoring affair allowed the Trojans to showcase their defensive talents, playing four pitchers who combined for seven strikeouts in the scrimmage. Leading that charge was sophomore Ella Cunningham, who recorded four of the teams' seven punchouts in two innings of work.  

“For the first time this fall we got pushed a little bit,” said head coach Eric Newell, “We needed that, so we’re going to learn from it and try to get better each and every day.” 

Faulkner did push the Trojans, holding Troy to only three runs through the first five innings of the game. The Lady Eagles also outhit the Trojans 10-7, but Troy’s stellar defense kept Faulkner at bay, only allowing two runs to cross home plate.  

“We needed to be pushed and we needed to feel what a pressure moment was,” Newell said. “There was one time we were up three and the bases were loaded and I thought, ‘man, this kid hits a grand slam and something silly can happen here’ but it’s good for us to plow through those moments.” 

The pressure moment found the Trojans in the top of sixth as the Lady Eagles loaded the bases while down 3-0. The grand slam never came for Faulkner though, as senior Esmee Ames led the Trojans out of the jam, only allowing one run to score.  

A slow start struck both teams Friday night with Troy getting on the board first with a Ella Cunningham ground out to score junior Mia Tidmore and end the inning 1-0 in favor of the home squad.  

Neither team found much offense again until the third inning, when senior Megan Loftis found herself on third following a single from Tidmore. After a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Dailynn Motes, the Trojans doubled their lead to 2-0.  

Tidmore found her way home once again, this time off a double steal with sophomore Mya Holt to push the Troy lead to 3-0 at the end of the third.  

In the fourth and fifth innings, Faulkner started to find their stride on defense, holding Troy hitless in both frames.  

The sixth inning would see both teams find a run, with Faulkner getting on the board. Troy found an immediate response, sparked by a Cunningham single. Freshman Jasmine Lawerence would come in to pinch run for the pitcher and immediately steal second.  

Junior Kyye Ricks followed up that steal with a bunt to advance Lawerence to third while a miscue by the Lady Eagles defense would allow Lawerence to score and Ricks to get to second.  

Lawerence would add one more run before the night was over, coming home on a single from junior Lydia Kirby to start the eighth inning scoring for the Trojans. Fellow junior Kalee Rochinski would get hit by a pitch to load the bases before a Presley Ivey single brought Loftis home for the Trojans’ final score of the night.  

The Lady Eagles would get one more run on the board before the Trojans took the win in the fall ball game 6-2. The game marks the second time this fall season that the Trojans have scored less than 10 runs.  

The game was a big change of pace for Troy, as the Trojans won their last two fall ball games by scores of 15-0 over Gulf Coast State and 21-2 over Tallahassee State College.  

Troy continues its fall schedule with two more games, a matchup with regional rival Columbus State on Friday, Oct. 24th at 5 p.m. and Coastal Alabama Community College on Wednesday, Oct. 29th at 5 p.m.