Gilley pitches Blue Raiders to 9-4 win

Sunday, April 18

Troy, Ala.

1:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

Troy

4/18/2010 3:52:00 PM | Baseball

By: MT Athletic Communications

TROY, Ala. - Junior Eric Gilley pitched a complete game on Sunday guiding the Blue Raiders to a 9-4 win and the series. Gilley allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits in the first complete game of his career as he improved to 4-1 on the season. "Eric is a slow starter but he got stronger and stronger as the game went on. His fastball had as much pop 7th inning as it did earlier in the game. I talked to him and Drew about what kind of fastball Eric had and about finishing the game. He convinced me he wanted to go out and was very strong in the last three innings," head coach Steve Peterson said. Junior Tyler Burnett hit the second grand slam by a Blue Raider in as many games breaking open the game for Middle Tennessee. Burnett ended the day 2 for 5 with four RBI. "It was a big blow by Tyler Burnett and put a big dent in their armor. He is a character and is having fun playing in the clean-up role," Peterson said. Junior Justin Miller led the Blue Raiders in hits with three as the team recorded 14 on the day, three of which were for extra bases. Seniors Zach Hudson and Justin Jones along with sophomore Justin Guidry each had two hits on the day. Hudson drove in two runs while Jones' two-run home run in the fourth tied the game at three. "Justin Jones had a really good day and in his last at-bat did a good job of not chasing the ball and drew a walk. It was a very big series win for Middle Tennessee." The Blue Raiders have now won all three of their away Sun Belt series and all but one of their six league series overall. Troy put the first run on the board after a single to short scored Bryant, who tripled. Then a single to right by McRae brought in Whitley from second adding another run to the board. The Trojans took a 2-0 lead on four hits in the bottom of the first. The Trojans added another run in the second to take an early 3-0 lead. Hudson hit a solo home run to left field in the third cutting the Troy's lead to two, 3-1. The Blue Raiders tied the score at 3 in the fourth with a two-run home run by Jones to left field. After not hitting a grand slam in over a month, the Blue Raiders hit two in as many games. Burnett hit a two-out grand slam in the fifth to break the tie and put Middle Tennessee up by four, 7-3. The Blue Raiders return to Reese Smith Jr. Field for a five-game home stand beginning with Tennessee Tech on Tuesday, April 20 at 6 p.m.