NEXT ROUND: Machine Pitch continues on in pool play Tuesday
Published 3:00 am Wednesday, August 5, 2015
The Troy Machine Pitch Team kept rolling on Tuesday morning in Myrtle Beach, S.C. by defeating Arkansas 10-0 to start the pool play session of the World Series 2-0.
After defeating North Carolina 16-6 in day shortened by the rain, Troy handled the lack of play well on Tuesday.
Just like in the opener against North Carolina, Troy was able to come out Tuesday morning against Arkansas and put up six runs early in the first inning to give Troy a comfortable lead.
“Like I said yesterday, I think we needed to knock some rust off,” said Troy Machine Pitch head coach Adam Brookins. “We have hit the ball as well or better than we have all summer. It’s a great time to do that.”
Kaneil Lewis started the game in the first inning with a single to left field to set things up for Troy early. Jackson Booth followed Lewis’ single with a triple to give Troy their first run of the game.
Booth came around to score on the very next at bat when Wes Braisted singled to center field sending Troy off to the races. Troy picked up base hits from Kade Brookins, Dawson Bradford and Jordan McBryde, which was followed by a double by Pruitt Vaughn. All of them came around to score in the inning to give Troy the commanding 6-0 lead over Arkansas.
Troy tacked on three more runs in the second ining after shutting down Arkansas in the top half of the inning.
Booth led off the inning with a triple to left center, his second triple of the game. He once again was driven in by the very next batter, Braisted.
Kade Brookins followed Braisted’s single with one of his own, and they both scored on hits from Bradford and McBryde.
A common theme for Troy during the whole tournament season was strong play on defense, and that was on display again as they were able to shut out Arkansas.
“We played defense like we did in Tuscaloosa,” Adam Brookins said. They hit a lot of ground balls and we were in great position to make plays.”
With Troy firmly in the lead heading into the fourth inning, they put one final nail in the coffin and ended the game in a 10-run rule.
Carter Nelson led off the inning with a base hit to left field, followed by another single to left off the bat of Lewis.
Booth ended the game with his third extra base hit of the game, a double driving in Nelson.
Troy ended the game with 16 hits on Monday. Eleven out of the 12 batters ended the game with at least one hit.
Booth led Troy in hitting going a perfect three for three at the plate, all three of them being extra base hits.
Lewis, Braisted, Bradford and McBryde all finished the game with two hits apiece.
“Jackson is hitting the ball really well right now,” Brookins said. “Kaneil is doing a great job leading off for us. Both games he’s started the game off with a hit and we’ve jumped out to big leads in the first inning of both games.”