Troy Falls in 11 on Walk-Off Slam

Wednesday, March 13

Jacksonville, Ala.

6:00 PM

Troy University

9-8

Jacksonville State

8-10

Troy

Jacksonville State

3/13/2019 11:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – With two outs and the bases loaded in the 11^th inning, pinch-hitter Nash Adams hit a walk-off grand slam to lift Jacksonville State past Troy, 9-5, at Jim Case Stadium Wednesday night.

The 145^th all-time meeting between the two rivals was definitely memorable, as they went back and forth in a nail-biter that came down to the last pitch. Both in-state foes left several opportunities to pull away on the base paths – combining for 25 runners left on base in the contest.

Following two, two-out walks in the frame, the Gamecocks (8-10) called on Adams to pinch-hit in a righty-lefty matchup against Troy (9-8) reliever Zack Moore. Adams sent the 0-1 pitch deep over the fence in left to end the barn-burner.

Jax State was able to force extras thanks to an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth, scoring on an RBI single. Gamecocks pitching then faced the minimum in the 10^th and 11^th innings to keep the game tied.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first, Troy scored a run in the second, two in the third and another in the fifth to build a 4-1 advantage. The two-run third was sparked by an RBI double from Rigsby Mosley, who then came in to score on a bases-loaded walk. It marked Mosley's ninth double of the season – he entered the game in the top 20 nationally in the category.

Both teams traded runs in the eighth inning, the Trojans' on a sacrifice fly from Chase Smartt – who finished the game 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in the contest. Smartt, Hunter Mercer and Austin Garofalo all turned in multi-hit games for Troy.

The Gamecocks' only two hits through the first 4.2 innings of the game were a couple of solo homers from Tre Kirklin in the first and third. Kirklin – who had not hit a home run in 2019 – finished the game 2-for-2 with three runs scored to lead JSU.

JSU's every-day closer Christian Edwards (1-2) picked up his first win of the season after two-innings of one-hit work with three strikeouts. Will Carnley (0-1) suffered the first loss of his career, despite allowing just one hit in his relief stint.

QUOTABLE – TROY HEAD COACH MARK SMARTT
"It was an exciting game, we just didn't play well enough tonight. Practice just doesn't seem to be translating to the games yet. We'll just have to take this bus ride home, regroup tomorrow and get ready for conference play. Tomorrow is a new day and we'll be back at it Friday."

SOUND "SMARTT" WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Wednesday marked just the fourth time in the Mark Smartt era that Troy lost the game when leading after eight innings – the Trojans are now 88-4 in such games.

NOTABLE
• Hunter Mercer continued his tear at the plate for the Trojans, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in the game. Mercer now has hit safely in six straight games, reached base safely in nine straight and was 5-for-8 at the plate on the midweek road trip.

• Troy added three more doubles to its season total that ranked 21^st in the country coming into the midweek contest. Rigsby Mosley leads the charge with nine of his own – ranking 17^th prior to Wednesday's game.

• With the win, Jax State swept the season series with Troy for the first time since the 2015 season. The Trojans fell to 0-4 in midweek games this season.

UP NEXT
Troy will transition into conference play, opening up its league schedule against Arkansas State Friday at Riddle-Pace Field. First pitch from Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week Levi Thomas is set for 6 p.m.