Troy Scores in Ninth to Trip Cajuns, 5-4

Chase Smartt's sacrifice fly scored Dalton Sinquefield with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as Troy defeated Louisiana 5-4 in the first game of their Sun Belt Conference series Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field.

Sinquefield led off the ninth with a single off Cajuns' reliever Brandon Young (0-3). Sadler Goodwin walked on a 3-2 pitch and pinch hitter Tyler Head sacrificed the runners to second and third.  Smartt then lofted a fly ball to right and Sinquefield narrowly beat the throw from Orynn Veillon to end the game.

Rush HIxon (2-1), who got the final out of the inning, was credited with the win.

The Cajuns (12-15, 3-4 Sun Belt) got on the board against Troy starter Levi Thomas in the first inning when Hayden Cantrelle led off with a walk and went to second on Brennan Breaux's single.  Todd Lott then doubled to left to score Cantrelle and extend his hitting streak to ten games.  Hunter Kasuls then doubled over the head of left fielder Rigsby Mosley to plate two more runs and give the Cajuns a 3-0 lead.

Troy (12-13, 2-5) answered against Cajuns' starter Jacob Schultz in the second when Smartt singled with one out and went to second on Manning Early's single.  Donovan Whibbs then hit a grounder to short to force Early, but beat the throw to first to keep the inning alive.  Mosely's single got the first run home.

The Trojans took advantage of Schultz' wildness in the second to plate another run.  Sinquefield led off with a single and after Goodwin struck out, Schultz walked three straight batters to make the score 3-2.  The Trojans opened the third with back to back singles by Mosley and Drew Frederic and Mosely scored on Sinquefield's sacrifice fly off Young to tie the game at 3-3.  After an errant pickoff throw, Goodwin's single scored another run to give Troy the lead.

Louisiana tied the game in the fifth off reliever Taylor Pridgen when Lott and Kasuls led off with singles.  Veillon greeted Lance Johnson with a single to score Lott and tie the game.  Handsome Monica walked to load the bases, but Johnson got three ground balls to keep the Cajuns from doing further damage.

Schultz was charged with six hits and four runs, three earned, over 3.0 innings.  He walked four and struck out three.  Young was charged with the loss despite 5.2 strong innings.  He gave up only two hits, walked four and struck out eight.

Lott and Kasuls paced the Cajuns' six hit attack with two hits apiece.  Cantrelle saw his hitting streak snapped at 14 after going 0-3.

The two teams will meet again Saturday at 3:00 pm.  Pre game show on NewsTalk 96.5 KPEL-FM begins at 2:30.