Trojans Pull Away Late To Defeat Ragin’ Cajuns, 8-4

TROY, Ala. – Brooks Bryan’s two-run single in the fifth inning broke a 2-2 tie while pinch-hitter Mikey Bello’s RBI single fueled a two-out, three-run rally in the eighth to give Troy an 8-4 win over No. 18-ranked Louisiana in the second game of a Sun Belt Conference series on Saturday at Riddle-Pace Field.

Bryan and Kyle Mock each hit solo homers as Troy (34-14, 16-7 SBC) won its eighth straight game and moved to within one game of Louisiana (33-15, 17-6 SBC) in the league standings.

The final game of the series is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with fans able to listen to the game in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.

Both teams battled through a scoreless duel between Louisiana’s Chase Morgan and Troy’s Luke Lyon for the first three innings before the Ragin’ Cajuns took the lead in the fourth.

Kyle DeBarge led off the frame with a double off the wall in left field and scored two batters later when Caleb Stelly singled up the middle to give Louisiana a 1-0 lead.

Troy would answer in the bottom half of the inning when Bryan hit a game-tying, opposite-field homer off Morgan – the first allowed by the freshman southpaw in his first 56.0 innings on the mound.

The tie was quickly broken by Louisiana in the fifth as Jose Torres hit a solo homer to left off Lyon for his second of the season.

Ben Arnett would reach on a one-out single in the fifth for the Trojans before Peyton Watts hit a hard single back to the mound to put the tying run in scoring position. Two batters later, Ethan Kavanagh drew a walk to load the bases and Arnett would eventually score on a wild pitch.

Bryan would give the Trojans a 4-2 lead two batters later when he singled off the wall in right field, scoring Watts and Kavanagh.

Mock, who drove in seven runs in Friday’s opener for Troy, led off the sixth with a homer off LP Langevin for a 5-2 lead before the Ragin’ Cajuns whittled away at the lead.

Trey LaFleur’s RBI single up the middle would drive in Torres from second before a single by DeBarge and RBI single by John Taylor put runners on the corners and chased Troy reliever Logan Ross and cut the lead to 5-4.

Jay Dill, who pitched the final 2.1 innings for his first save of the year, would get Duncan Pastore to hit a hard shot back to the mound to end the inning.

Troy scored three insurance runs in the eighth after Langevin struck out the first two hitters of the inning. Back-to-back walks to Mock and Aiden Gilroy allowed Bello to single through the right side to give Troy a 6-4 lead before Watts doubled off the wall in center to drive in a pair.

Lyon (7-2) pitched 5.0 innings and allowed five hits and a pair of runs to earn the win for Troy. Watts went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the Trojans while Bryan was 2-for-4 and drove in three runs.

Morgan (4-2) took the loss for the Ragin’ Cajuns after scattering six hits and allowing four runs in 4.2 innings. Langevin pitched the final 3.1 innings for Louisiana and gave up four hits and four runs with three walks and four strikeouts.

DeBarge and Luke Yuhasz led Louisiana’s 10-hit attack with a pair of hits. Pastore added a sixth-inning single for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who stranded eight runners on base.

Single-game tickets are available by visiting the Louisiana Athletics Box Office at the Cajundome or purchasing by visiting Account Manager. For more information call the Louisiana Athletics Box Office at the Cajundome at (337) 265-2104.

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