Baseball Closes Out Regular Season at South Alabama

TROY, Alabama – Bragging rights and valuable Sun Belt Tournament seeding positions are on the line when Troy and South Alabama tangle for three games at Stanky Field in Mobile. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday with the series finale set for 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Troy (27-26, 14-13 Sun Belt) has won six of its last seven Sun Belt series and finds itself a game behind South Alabama (29-23, 15-12) for second place in the Sun Belt East Division; Georgia Southern sits at the top of the division with a 16-11 mark and has the advantage of playing last-place Georgia State (14-39, 5-22) this weekend.

A series victory by the Trojans would be enough to secure at worst a second-place standing in the East. Troy has won four of the last five three-game series between the two schools and eight of the past 11.

Cory Gill (7-2, 3.86) has transformed into one of the most dominant starters in the Sun Belt over the past two months with the Trojans winning seven of his eight starts and Gill posting a 7-1 record with a 3.65 ERA and 42 strikeouts in those games. Troy has won six of the last seven series openers with the lone loss coming by one run at Little Rock.

Going in game two for the Trojans will be sophomore right-hander Levi Thomas (6-2, 4.59) who is 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 21 strikeouts over his last four starts. Southpaw Max Newton (2-4, 5.75) is slated for the finale in his first weekend start since the opening league series against Arkansas State.

During Troy's run of Sun Belt series victories, the bats have turned in a .320 batting average with a .403 on-base percentage, 43 doubles, 27 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the 18 games of those series.

Troy's corner outfielders have provided the offensive spark with left fielder Rigsby Mosley ranking second in the league batting at a .347 clip while right fielder Dalton Sinquefield leads the league with a .413 batting average in conference games. Catcher Chase Smartt continues to be one of the hottest hitters in the country as he has improved his batting average 58 points over his current 16-game hitting streak in which he is batting .455 (30-of-66) with 11 doubles, five home runs and 21 RBIs.

Scouting South Alabama
South Alabama saw its eight-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday with an 11-1 loss at Tulane, but the Jags have won seven straight Sun Belt games to move from 8-12 in the league to 15-12. Freshman Ethan Wilson leads the Sun Belt with 17 home runs, four triples and 58 runs scored. South Alabama's pitching staff ranks fourth in the league with a 4.79 staff ERA while Thursday starter Drake Nightengale leads the league with a .200 opponent batting average against.

BROADCAST INFO
Online: USAJaguars.com
Radio: WTBF 94.7 FM
            Online: TroyTrojans.com/Showcase
Live Stats: TroyStats.com

SERIES HISTORY
South Alabama (29-23, 15-12)
Overall Series: 40-47
            At Mobile: 15-27
Streak: South Alabama, W1
Last: 2018, Troy won series 2-1 (3-0, 11-1, 5-8)

PITCHING MATCHUPS (Troy vs. South Alabama)

Game One
RHP Cory Gill (7-2, 3.86) v. Drake Nightengale (5-2, 3.66)

Game Two
RHP Levi Thomas (6-2, 4.59) vs. Patrick McBride (3-2, 3.78)

Game Three
LHP Max Newton (2-4, 5.75) vs. TBA

Baseball Closes Out Regular Season at South Alabama

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Players Mentioned

Cory Gill

Rigsby Mosley

Max Newton

Dalton Sinquefield

Chase Smartt

Levi Thomas

Troy University Athletics