Troy Comes Up Short in Sun Belt Championship

Sunday, May 27

Lafayette, La.

1 p.m.

Troy University

41-19

Coastal Carolina

42-17

Troy

Coastal Carolina

Troy Comes Up Short in Sun Belt Championship

5/27/2018 5:49:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Jace Sanders

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana – Troy baseball's bid for a Sun Belt Tournament Championship fell short as top-seeded Coastal Carolina beat the Trojans, 11-6, in the winner-take-all final at Russo Park Sunday afternoon.

Troy (41-19) rallied but were unable to overcome an early deficit as the Chants (42-17) swept the regular season and conference tournament titles.

After allowing five runs in the fifth inning, the Trojans saw themselves down 9-2, but were able to cut it to a three-run deficit in the eighth before Coastal launched back-to-back jacks to ice it away.

The climb back into the game started with a double off the bat of Rigsby Mosley – who drove in two runs in the game. Senior Brody Binder brought Mosley home with an RBI single shortly after.

All-tournament honoree Brandon Lockridge was responsible for the next big hit, as he ripped a double off the wall that was inches away from a homer – Drew Frederic scored on the play thanks to a throwing error.

Frederic led the Trojan bats with a 2-for-5 day that included an RBI and two runs scored. He was joined by Lockridge and Joey Denison as the three Trojans with multiple hits in the game.

The game got even more interesting when Cole Prestegard hit his second solo homer of the tournament to lead off the eighth inning. However, Seth Lancaster and Kevin Woodall, Jr., responded with back-to-back homers to seal the win for Coastal.

CJ Carter (8-5) was saddled with the loss, allowing four runs on just two hits in three innings on the mound. Zack Hopeck (6-4) earned the win with just two earned runs given up on eight hits.

Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"First of all, congrats to Coach Gilmore and Coastal Carolina on winning the championship. I'm really proud of my team; they fell down 9-2 in the fifth but we kept fighting and scratching and made it a game. We've not gone down without a fight yet this year and that's a sign of a good ball club.

I've been involved in over 1000 games in this uniform, and no team has represented what it means to wear this jersey more than this 2018 team; and that's including national championship teams. They played with grit, determination and pride all year long and I couldn't be prouder to be the head coach of these guys."

Notable
• Troy's five-run loss tied for the largest losing margin all season – losing by five at Florida State and against UT Arlington, as well.

• Sun Belt Player of the Year Joey Denison is now riding a career-high, 17-game hitting streak with two hits in the game – it was his 30^th multiple-hit game this season.

• Along with Brandon Lockridge; Matt Sanders, Andrew Crane and Daren Osby were handed all-tournament team honors following the game.

On Deck
Troy will now anxiously await the decision of the selection committee, as it will determine whether or not the Trojans receive an at-large big to the NCAA Regionals next weekend around the country. The selection show can be watched live on ESPNU at 11 a.m. Monday.