By KEVIN ECKLBERRY

Daily News

A lock-down pitching performance combined with some clutch hitting helped the Troup Tigers collect their first win of the season.

Senior Jackson Knox threw five shutout innings, and Carson Garner finished things off with two scoreless innings as Troup blanked Upson-Lee 5-0 to improve to 1-2.

Senior catcher Cooper Doughman led the offensive effort with a solo home run and a sacrifice fly.

Cade Garner had an RBI single, Colton Webb knocked in a run with a groundout, and Caleb McCurry scored on a wild pitch after reaching on an error.

Colby Williams had a pair of hits from the leadoff position, including a double, McCurry and Webb each had a double, and Ryan Key and Trace Meadows each had hits.

It was a complete effort for the Tigers, who played a full game for the first time in 11 days.

Troup’s game with Callaway last week was postponed in the fourth inning.

The Knights had some opportunities early to break through against Knox, but they were unable to push any runs across.

Knox settled in and had a dominant outing, holding Upson-Lee to four hits with seven strikeouts in his five innings.

“My off-speed wasn’t working, but after that first and second inning I finally got it to work,” Knox said.

While Colby Williams is the staff ace, Knox could end up being the number two guy in the rotation with the loss of Garrett Casey to a shoulder injury.

Knox, who has signed with Marion Military Institute in Alabama, looked like an ace in Tuesday’s game.

“He’s got to step up, and I feel like he can fill that role,” said Doughman, Knox’s catcher. “I feel like he proved himself tonight.”

The Tigers scored what turned out to be the only run they’d need in the bottom of the second inning.

Caleb McCurry led off with a double, and after Cade Garner reached on an error and Bryce Haynes got down a sacrifice bunt, McCurry scored on a wild pitch to make it a 1-0 game.

The Tigers tagged on two more runs in the third inning.

With one out, Doughman got a pitch he could handle, and he drove the ball off the scoreboard beyond the left-field fence for the solo home run.

“It was just right there, and I tried to put a good swing on it,” Doughman said.

Webb followed with a double, and he came around to score on a Cade Garner base hit that was just out of reach of a diving shortstop, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

Troup added another run in the fourth inning.

Key, Williams and Trace Meadows each had hits to load the bases, and Webb had an RBI groundout to push the lead to 4-0.

Troup capped the scoring with a single run in the sixth inning.

Williams led off with a hard-hit double to right field, and Meadows followed with a sacrifice bunt. Next up was Doughman, and his fly ball to left field brought in pinch-runner Daniel Martin with the fifth and final run.

Troup will visit Harris County today before hosting Heard County on Thursday.

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