Troy tops Southern Miss 9-6 in Sun Belt baseball tournament

Montgomery, Ala. — Troy edged Southern Miss 9-6 Saturday at DABOS Park in the Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament. The Golden Eagles, ranked eighth nationally, saw their 11-game winning streak snapped with the loss.

The game was delayed nearly two hours at the start of the bottom of the seventh due to lightning and rain. Despite the weather, Troy built an early lead and held off a late rally by Southern Miss.

Troy scored three runs in the third inning off Golden Eagle starter Camden Sunstrom, then added two more in the seventh to push their advantage to 8-2. The Trojans also scored a run in the eighth, while Southern Miss made a late push in the ninth.

In the bottom of the ninth, Troy’s Sean Darnell was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing in their final run. Southern Miss mounted a rally with two outs, with Joey Urban hitting a triple and Kyle Morrison adding a single to cut the deficit to three. However, Davis Gillespie struck out to end the game.

Southern Miss (42-15) will face Troy again Sunday at 9 a.m. The winner will advance to the Sun Belt championship game against the winner of the Louisiana-Texas State contest later that day.

Arizona native Zach Crotchfelt earned the win for Troy, improving to 5-2, while Sunstrom took the loss, falling to 6-4. Troy outhit Southern Miss 13-10 in the game.

Source: Original Article