Category | Sports

Home opener loss

Published on March 3, 2009 by Justin Hobday

The Owls (1-3) took a 15-5 loss to the Troy Trojans (4-1) on opening night at Stillwell Stadium on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

The Trojans scored four runs in the fourth inning and six runs in the sixth behind the homerun hitting of Steven Felix and Ryan Ditthardt.

“It’s difficult, obviously, to give up 15 and win anytime,” said head coach Mike Sansing. “I thought we had some opportunities early, but we just haven’t been able to get that big inning.”

Ditthardt led the fourth inning off with a double off of the left-field wall. The next two Trojan batters connected for RBI singles before Felix delivered a three-run homerun over the right-field wall.

In the sixth inning, KSU relief pitcher Sean Fream hit the first batter he faced, and then gave up a two-run home run to Felix, his second of the game. Ditthardt came to the plate with two runners on base with two outs and connected for a three-run home run that widened the Trojans’ lead to 10-3.

KSU drew first blood in the bottom of the third inning when designated hitter Ric Bishop knocked in Martin Baker with a single up the middle. The Owls scored a run in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings to bring the score to 4-3, but the Trojans’ six-run sixth inning opened the flood gates.

Troy scored five runs over the final three innings, including two runs in the eighth inning off of a two-run homerun by Ditthardt. Both Felix and Ditthardt hit two homeruns, and each batted in five runs.

Starting pitcher Justin Edwards took the loss for the Owls. Edwards gave up four earned runs on seven hits while walking one batter and striking out another over four innings of work.

Martin Baker provided a bright spot for KSU at the plate, going 4-for-5 and scoring two runs while improving his batting average to .579 on the young season.

“I had a couple hits today but I wish I could have got that run in the first inning,” said Baker. “We can’t seem to get the runner in from third early on in the game and that comes back to bite us in the end.”

The Owls start their conference schedule against Campbell at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27. The Camels will visit Stillwell Stadium for a three-game set that will include a doubleheader on Saturday.