Troy Wins Elimination Video games With South Alabama, Southern Miss at SBC Tournament

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – No. 4 seed Troy received two elimination video games within the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Saturday, sending residence No. 5 seed South Alabama within the morning earlier than avenging Friday’s loss with No. 1 seed Southern Miss within the afternoon.

The Trojans (32-28) had a fast turnaround to Saturday’s 9 a.m. begin after Southern Miss’ walk-off grand slam at 11:07 p.m. on Friday, and Troy did the unbelievable with an 11-10 defeat of the Jaguars (34-23) earlier than a 9-6 win over the No. 8 nationally ranked Golden Eagles (42-15). 

Troy narrowly escaped Saturday morning’s loser-leaves-town sport with South Alabama after getting into the ninth inning main 11-4. The Jaguars put up six runs towards three Trojan arms within the body, profiting from a stroll and an error whereas tallying 4 hits, together with three doubles. Drew Nelson, who started the inning in proper discipline, stranded the tying run on second with a strikeout to leadoff man Brennon Wright. 

The first eight innings have been easy crusing on the mound. Hayden Smith cruised via the primary three innings earlier than issuing two unearned runs within the fourth. A one-out error led to a fielder’s selection and three straight singles to push two runs throughout. Smith completed with three strikeouts to no walks in 5 innings, permitting 5 hits with out an earned run.

Freshman Matt Dill adopted with three innings whereas issuing six hits – all singles – because the Jaguars scored a pair of runs. Dill’s solely stroll of the sport got here was the final hitter he confronted with one out within the ninth.

Troy knocked out South Alabama starter Tyler Smith with a three-run second inning. The Trojans drew a stroll and picked up 4 hits within the body, with Sean Darnell, Jabe Boroff and Aaron Piasecki gathering RBI singles. 

The Trojans stored their foot on the fuel towards a South pitching workers that used 9 totally different arms. Troy totaled 15 hits, drew six walks and was hit by two pitches. Darnell led Troy with three hits, whereas Piasecki, Boroff, Jimmy Janicki, Drew Nelson, and Houston Markham every had two. Boroff delivered what would grow to be the decisive blow with a 419-foot, two-run blast within the eighth. 

Zach Crotchfelt made his first begin as a Trojan towards the Golden Eagles within the afternoon, placing collectively a profession efficiency. Crotchfelt had thrown 67 pitches throughout 4 innings with out an earned run because the successful pitcher towards South Alabama on Thursday, and adopted it up Saturday with a career-high eight strikeouts throughout 5 innings, permitting only one run within the fourth inning.

The Troy bats tallied eight hits with a pair of walks towards USM starter Camden Sunstrom in his 5.1 innings of labor. The Trojans struck first with a three-spot within the third as Blake Cavill and Janicki picked up a pair of RBI singles earlier than Nelson legged out what was initially referred to as an inning-ending double play earlier than a profitable Troy problem to attain one other.

Sunstrom exited with one out within the fifth with a runner on first as Boroff led off with a stroll, and Josh Pyne adopted with a two-out, two-strike, two-run blast off Thomas Crabtree. Troy tacked on three extra within the seventh with a bases-clearing triple down the suitable discipline line.

A one-hour, 57-minute climate delay struck when Troy took the sector within the backside of the seventh. The Trojans trotted out Cooper Ellingworth after the delay, and he responded to final evening’s walk-off grand slam with a pair of 1-2-3 innings within the seventh and eighth. Troy added an insurance coverage run within the eighth on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch as Drake Meeks issued a single and three free passes within the body.

Ellingworth retired the primary two hitters of the ninth earlier than the Golden Eagles started to rally. After a stroll and three straight hits, together with a triple by Joey Urban, USM had gotten the lead inside three with a runner on base. Troy turned to Tommy Egan for his first reduction look of the season, and he struck out Davis Gillespie to finish the ballgame.

Notables – South Alabama

• Troy received 4 video games in a single season towards South Alabama for the primary time since 2011.
• Troy’s 15 hits have been its most in an SBC Tournament sport since gathering 18 hits in a 9-6 loss to Arkansas State in 2021.
• Sean Darnell recorded his first three-hit sport of the season.
• Jabe Boroff hit his fifth homer of the season within the eighth inning. It traveled 419 ft with an exit velocity of 112 MPH. 
• Hayden Smith pitched 5 innings with out an earned run. On the season towards the Jaguars, Smith has pitched 11 innings with out an earned run. 

Notables – Southern Miss

• Troy’s win over the No. 8 Golden Eagles was its second over a top-ten opponent. The Trojans beforehand defeated then-ranked No. 8 Georgia on February 25. 
• Troy prolonged its residence run streak to 11 video games. It’s the Trojans’ first time homering in 11 straight video games since April 1-16, 2023. 
• Josh Pyne’s two-run homer within the sixth inning was his eighth of the season, which is a career-high for the redshirt senior. It traveled 372 ft with an exit velocity of 97 MPH.
• With an RBI in every sport, Jimmy Janicki now has a Sun Belt-leading 73 RBIs this season. He is now tied with Tom King and Will Butcher for the fourth-most in a single season by a Trojan.
• Zach Crotchfelt’s 5.0 innings matched his profession excessive. It was his longest look since tossing 5.0 innings towards Southeastern Louisiana throughout his freshman season at Auburn in 2023.
• Crotchfelt’s eight strikeouts have been a profession excessive. His earlier profession excessive of seven got here towards Louisiana on April 17.
• Tommy Egan earned his first profession save. It was additionally his first profession look within the ninth inning of a sport. 

Quotables
Head Coach Skylar Meade
“That is a culture day that only happens when you have incredible buy-in. I know there are things we can do better. I know there are things that I can certainly do better. Anyone who doesn’t know that has no concept about what is going on in this sport. That was the most amazing thing to witness.”

LHP Zach Crotchfelt…

It actually simply comes all the way down to that feeling of yesterday and understanding how a lot this group means to one another. Knowing how a lot this season means to us. We’ve acquired 16 seniors – me being considered one of them. I simply needed to battle for them – give every part I had.”

Third baseman Josh Pyne…

“Last night was a heartbreaker. In baseball, games aren’t over until they’re over. Everyone thought we had that game won. It didn’t go our way, but to be able to bounce back, pick up a win this morning, and come back and compete with them like that – it’s a gritty team. We’re led right. We’ve got good leaders on our side.”

Next Up

Troy and Southern Miss meet once more at 9 a.m. on Sunday at DABOS Park within the semifinal. The winner will tackle the winner of Saturday evening’s matchup between No. 6 seed Texas State and No. 7 seed Louisiana within the championship sport on Sunday afternoon.