The Troy baseball team lost two of three games to South Alabama in an emotional, competitive rivalry series. Despite the tough weekend, the Trojans were able to recover with two straight wins after avoiding the sweep on Sunday and beating Florida A&M at home on Tuesday.
“There are some things we’re harping on that continue to come up, both good and bad,” said head coach Skylar Meade on the team’s recent games. “My job is to keep coaching, I can’t just hope things happen.”
Friday night’s game started off right, with Brooks Bryan hitting a towering three-run shot to right-center field in the first inning. The middle innings did not go as smoothly.
After jumping out to the early lead, Troy surrendered seven unanswered runs, including a four-run fifth inning for the Jaguars. Reeling, the Trojans looked for a response in the bottom of the fifth.
Tremayne Cobb Jr. was in the midst of an at-bat when home plate umpire Stephan Hagan called a strike on a pitch that appeared to be outside the zone. Meade stormed out of the dugout, defending his player while hurling obscenities towards Hagan.
Hagan quickly threw Meade out of the game, and the Troy skipper threw his clipboard on the turf before leaving the field. While the 7-3 deficit facing Trojans looked bleak, the team wasn’t done yet.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Troy offense came alive after Blake Sutton, Shane Lewis and Aidan Gilroy all reached base to turn the lineup over. Kole Myers stepped up to the plate and delivered an RBI single to make it a 7-4 game.
Second baseman Ethan Kavanagh – who leads Troy in batting average – sent the partially dormant Riddle-Pace field into a frenzy with an opposite-field double to score two more runs. While Troy narrowed the deficit to one run, the umpiring would again prove controversial in the top of the ninth.
The Jaguars posted a five-run frame to put the game away in the ninth, but the Trojans had more to tell the umpires after Hagan called interference on catcher Blake Sutton to give South Alabama a crucial run. Jaguar right fielder Ethan Melton ran over Gilroy while rounding third, allowing the Trojans to throw him out at home. However, the catcher’s interference call allowed the run to score.
Troy pitcher Garrett Gainous was ejected after the call, and boos rained down upon the umpires. Ultimately, Sutton’s two-run home run in the ninth inning didn’t help Troy win as they dropped the game 12-8.
Saturday, Troy lost another close contest by a score of 10-8. Pitchers Clete Hartzog and Ryan Pettys struggled as the Trojans stared down a 7-0 deficit entering the fifth inning.
Troy put together another furious comeback, scoring one run in the fifth off a Kavanagh sacrifice fly and five runs in sixth inning. However, Jaguars second baseman Brennan Holt – who finished 3-5 with three RBIs – hit a pivotal two-run home run in the eighth inning.
The Trojans nearly came back, ending the game with the bases loaded, but it wasn’t enough. Troy has not won a series against South Alabama since 2019.
“I don’t question our competitiveness,” Meade said. “We just didn’t execute and finish innings.”
Troy avoided the sweep on Sunday with a gritty 4-3 win. The Trojans won without getting a single extra-base hit.
Small ball was a huge part of the game, as the Trojans scored two in the second inning from bases-loaded walks. They made it 3-0 after Gilroy laid down a sacrifice bunt to put Mikey Bello in scoring position. Kole Myers collected his second RBI on a single to bring the run home.
“[Small ball] was definitely a little bit of the game plan, because we have to be versatile enough to do it,” Meade said. “Home runs and extra base hits are going to happen in our program because we’re very strong, but we have to be able to score every way possible.
“It was nice to see us start to implement that more.”
Brady Fuller and Noah Manning were excellent on the mound for the Trojans. Fuller threw 4.1 innings of no-hit ball, and Manning came on to pitch the final four innings of the game.
Tuesday, Troy faced Florida A&M in a rematch of a 13-2 Trojan win in February. The Trojans earned a 12-2 win behind Cobb Jr. and two big innings.
Troy jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning after a two RBI single from Cobb and a two RBI double from Kyle Mock. Cobb added a solo home run as part of a five-run fifth inning.
After hitting a few line drives that ended up as unlucky outs over the weekend, Cobb finally got some to fall.
“Tre has just got to stay with his approach, and baseball will work itself out,” said Meade on Saturday after Cobb had three hard hit outs. “I’m really proud of the way he’s been playing on both sides of the ball.
“He just has to have the same approach and success will follow.”
Troy travels to Hattiesburg, Mississippi for a conference matchup against Southern Miss. The three-game series against the Golden Eagles starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday and runs through Saturday afternoon.
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