TROY, Ala. – William Sullivan's solo home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning capped a three-run rally and helped Troy defeat the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, 4-3, in a Sun Belt Conference Baseball game on Saturday at Riddle-Pace Field.
Troy (13-5, 2-0 Sun Belt), which won its seventh consecutive game, trailed 3-1 after seven innings before hitting three solo home runs in its final six plate appearances to earn the improbable win.
Sullivan hit the game-winner for Troy when he deposited a 1-and-2 pitch from Jacob Schultz (2-1) over the right-center field wall. The Trojans, who entered the series with a combined eight home runs before hitting six in the first two games against Louisiana (9-9, 0-2 Sun Belt), got a pair of solo home runs in the eighth inning from pinch-hitter Seth Johnson and Trey Leonard.
Louisiana broke open a scoreless game in the fourth inning when Montgomery, Ala., native Tyler Robertson belted his first home run of the season – a solo shot over the right-field wall – off Troy starter Brady Fuller.
The Ragin' Cajuns increased their lead to 3-0 in the fifth after Julian Brock led off with a walk and Warnner Rincones reached on an infield single. After both runners advanced on a wild pitch, Fuller caught Will Veillon looking at the called strike before Kyle DeBarge's sacrifice fly to left scored Brock and Carson Roccaforte's RBI single through a shift on the right side scored Rincones.
Troy chased starter Brandon Talley in the fifth inning as Brandon Schrepf's two-out, RBI single through the left side scored Donovan Whibbs.
Louisiana put a runner in scoring position with two outs in the ninth after Rincones doubled off the wall in right field and Veillon drew a walk, but Troy reliever Grayson Stewart (3-1) got DeBarge to pop up on the first pitch to end the inning.
Roccaforte and Rincones each recorded two hits to lead Louisiana, which stranded eight runners in the game. Heath Hood went 1-for-4 with a fourth-inning single to extend his hitting streak to eight games for Louisiana while Roccaforte extended his hit streak to six.
Talley, in his third career start, scattered five hits and struck out three through 4.2 innings for Louisiana. Bo Bonds tossed 2.2 innings and allowed a pair of hits with a career-best six strikeouts for the Ragin' Cajuns while Chipper Menard went 0.2 innings with a strikeout.
The final game of the three-game series is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with fans in the Lafayette area able to listen to the game on KPEL-FM (96.5) and on the #GeauxCajuns app. Louisiana will send right-hander Jeff Wilson (1-0, 2.95 ERA) with Troy countering with right-hander Bay Witcher (1-1, 8.10 ERA).
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