Baseball loses to Troy, 8-2

Saturday, February 21

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

2:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

1-2

Troy

1-1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Troy	0	0	2	0	0	0	5	1	0	8	11	2
Southern Illinois	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	10	3

02/21/2009 | 12:00:00 | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 21, 2009

Box Score

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Troy University (1-1) rallied for five runs in the seventh inning en route to handing Southern Illinois (1-2) an 8-2 loss earlier today in the Caravelle Resort Tournament at BB&T Coastal Field.

Troy took an early lead in the third inning and never looked back, as the Trojans put their leadoff man on base in each of the last six innings.

Troy led, 2-0, before sending 10 men to the plate in its big seventh inning. Four of the first five Trojans hit safely, with Blake Martz starting things off with a double down the left field line. Bart Pettus, Steven Rosado and J.R. Myers followed with one-out singles after that, pushing two runs across.

Michael Precise then reached on a fielder's choice and Daryl Otwell was hit by a pitch. Prior to being hit by Saluki reliever Daniel Etienne, Otwell had a three-run homer waved off after it was initially ruled fair. Moments after the call was overturned, Ryan Ditthardt knocked in two runs on a single to center and Charley Williams plated one on a base hit to left, giving Troy a 7-0 lead.

SIU answered with two runs in the bottom of the seventh when Wade Dutton belted an RBI-triple off the right field wall and later scored on Aaron Roberts' groundout to short.

That, however, wasn't enough as the Trojans tacked on one final run in the eighth to put the finishing touches on the 8-2 win.

Freshman Tyler Ray (1-0) earned his first collegiate win after striking out six and walking none in six scoreless innings. Ray also gave up five hits in his sparkling debut.

Junior Nathan Forer (0-1) suffered the loss, giving up nine hits and five runs in 6.1 innings. Forer struck out three and walked one, as well.

Offensively, Troy outhit SIU, 12-10. Myers (2), Precise (2), Ditthardt (2) and Pettus (3) each turned in multiple-hit performances to lead the way.

Chris Serritella led the Dawgs with three hits, while Chris Murphy and Roberts followed with two apiece. In addition, Mark Kelly's hitting streak ended at 12 games after he went 0-for-5 on the day.

SIU was outscored by a combined 24-5 in its two losses after putting up 19 runs in its season-opener Friday.

The Salukis conclude play in the Caravelle Resort Tournament against Troy Sunday. First pitch is set for Noon, ET. Lefthander Jimmy Cornell will start on the mound.