Pirates flounder at Troy

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Troy jumped on visiting East Carolina for six runs in the first two innings and coasted behind superb pitching the rest of the way to an 8-2 win on Wednesday at Riddle-Pace Field.

Sophomore designate hitter Danny Collins was 2-for-3 with three RBIs to lead the Trojans offensively. His hits included a two-out single in the first that drove in freshman outfielder Jo-El Bennett to get the scoring going. Bennett had reached on a walk and moved to third on a balk by East Carolina starter Austin Chrismon.

A sophomore righthander, Chrismon (0-1) was chased in the midst of five-run outburst by Troy (7-5) in the second inning. The scoring explosion was ignited by a two-run double high off the centerfield wall by freshman centerfielder Clay Holcomb.

Junior righthander Cass Abercrombie (1-0) struck out five and gave up only three hits over six innings to earn the victory. Junior righthander Thomas Austin, junior southpaw Nate Hill and senior righthander Tyson Workman each pitched a perfect inning in relief.

East Carolina's only runs were of the fortuitous nuts and bolts variety. After managing infield singles to lead off the fourth inning, senior second baseman Tim Younger and senior third baseman Corey Thompson moved to second and third on a walk that loaded the bases, then came in one at a time on a groundout and a fielder's choice.

Next up for the Pirates (8-3) is a round-robin invitational tournament about three hours north of Troy in Tuscaloosa. East Carolina faces host Alabama in a 7:05 p.m. matchup on Friday on the first day of the DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic.

The Pirates' subsequent games in the Classic will be against Oral Roberts on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Oral Roberts on Sunday at 11 a.m.

PAGE UPDATED 03/08/12 04:02 AM.

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