By Mike Hensley

In the final mid-week game of the season the Trojan bats fell silent, and poor defense led the way to a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Wednesday night.

It was the second time this season the Trojans were shut out in front of their home fans.

“We just got off to a bad start, starting with the catchers interference to begin the game,” head coach Bobby Pierce said. “Corey (Childress) could never find what he was trying to find and they had their way with him.”

With leadoff hitter Jared Walker in a 0-2 hole, Walkers bat made contact with Trojan catcher Brody Binder’s glove sending the speedy Walker to first base.

It was down hill from there for the Trojan right hander, Walker stole second base and later scored on a base hit from Ryan Kennedy giving the Rattlers an early 1-0 lead.

An infield hit and an error later FAMU’s Michal Birdsong cleared the bases with a three-run homerun easily clearing the wall in right field.

That ended Childress’ night on the mound after pitching 1/3 of an inning and allowing six runs, five of them earned.

“Karma is a crazy thing we didn’t seem prepared to start the game both defensively and offensively,” Pierce said. “When that’s the case bounces don’t go your way. That has been proven time and time again.”

Midweek games continue to give the Trojans trouble. After Wednesday’s loss the Trojans are just 2-7.

After the rough first inning the Trojans bullpen contributed to shut out the Rattler offense the rest of the game.

The Trojan offense however, could not get anything going, they ended the night with just five hits.

Ricky Page started the game pitching five innings allowing only three hits.

The Trojans will now look forward to a pivotal three games match up with Georgia State starting on Friday night.

The Eagles sit in second place in the Sunbelt Conference with a 14-8 conference record. The Trojans enter the series behind them with a 14-10 record within the conference.

“We are going to have to recover from today’s game. That was a pretty bad effort all the way around,” coach Pierce said. “This is a very good Georgia State team. They can pitch and swing the bats. It’s going to be a mighty challenge and we are going to have to be at our very best.”

First pitch for Friday’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m.