South Alabama uses big fifth inning home run to rout Troy, 9-1 in conference game

For four full innings the Troy Trojans went toe-to-toe with the No. 12/13 ranked South Alabama Jaguars. But a fifth inning three-run home run by South’s Amanda Minihan pushed the Jags to a 6-1 win over Troy Wednesday night at the Troy Softball Complex.
Troy (14-19-2) trailed 1-0 before a disastrous two-pitch sequence in the fifth inning. Reliever Rachel Rigney’s first pitch was deemed illegal by third base umpire Timothy Porter, and a second Jaguar run came home. Rigney’s next offering was belted over the left field wall by Minihan.
“Jaycee (Affeldt, Troy pitcher) made some uncharacteristic walks and the capitalized on them in a big way,” said Troy head coach Melanie Davis.  “That’s what good teams do, and you have to give them all the credit in the world.”
Troy’s lone run of the game came on a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of Erica Davis scoring Kacie McAllister. McAllister tripled to right field earlier in the inning.
South Alabama (26-3) picked up an insurance run in the sixth inning on single by Alex Breeden. The Jaguars scored three more runs in the top of the seventh.
The Jags scored two runs on a throwing error by Troy second baseman Michelle Phelps and picked up the other on a triple from Amanda Herron that plated Chloe Rathburn.
The loss for Troy is its fourth straight to open Sun Belt Conference play and the Trojans have lost nine of their last 10 games, something Davis is not happy with.
“I’ll be honest, if I did have visor right now I would pull a Steve Spurier,” said Davis. “It is totally unacceptable for us not to be able to compete for our great fans and the folks that have come before us. I promise you that we will be working as hard as the NCAA will allow us to get ready for Georgia State this weekend.”
Troy hosts Georgia State at the Troy Softball Complex this weekend looking to turn things around.
The Trojans and Panthers will play a three-game set this weekend, featuring a Saturday doubleheader.
First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 1:30 P.m. Sunday’s game will get underway at noon.