Troy Athletics

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA-Troy saw a late rally fall short as No. 3 Florida State took game on of the series, 7-3, Friday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium.

“Their starter was excellent, we couldn’t do anything with him,” said head coach Mark Smartt. “Andrew (Crane) competed well, they caught a few lucky breaks against him. It was important to score those runs in the ninth, our team showed some real competition doing that.”

Troy (4-2) was held scoreless until a three-run ninth inning but it was to no avail. The Trojans were held to four hits, all singles by Matt Sanders, Manning Early, Hunter Kamplain and Drew Frederic. Frederic drove in a run with a single as a part of the ninth-inning rally– Rigsby Mosley recorded an RBI on a sacrifice fly, as well.

Andrew Crane (1-1) saw the first blemish on his 2018 record after allowing six runs– five earned– on six hits around three strikeouts in six innings of work. Crane’s regular season scoreless inning streak of 46.1 innings ended with a sacrifice fly in the third inning.

Jackson Cofer was a bright spot for the Trojans in the loss. He threw 2.1 innings of two-hit, scoreless work to close the game out on the mound – Cofer also drove in a run in the ninth.

Starter Cole Sands (2-0) was lights out on the mound for the third-ranked Florida State (5-0), working six solid innings of scoreless work while scattering just two hits around five strikeouts.

The Seminoles were aided by a four-run sixth inning that proved to be the difference in the game. The biggest blow came on a three-run homer by Jonathan Foster that glanced off the foul pole in left field.