Boston College Bounces Troy from NCAA Regional

Sunday, June 4

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

2 p.m.

Troy University

40-22

Boston College

37-19

Boston College

Troy

Boston College Bounces Troy from NCAA Regional

6/4/2023 5:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 24 Boston College eliminated Troy from the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional on Sunday with a 4-1 victory over the Trojans at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Troy's second season under head coach Skylar Meade ends with 40 wins and the Trojans' third NCAA Regional bid since 2013.

"Just one of those games that was going to be decided on one play the way both guys were pitching today; that's the nature of tournament play," Meade said. "I appreciate our guys' fight today. Grayson (Stewart) and Zach (Fruit) executed the plan well. Our offense was dynamic all year, and it just wasn't meant to be today. I couldn't be more proud of the season we put together.

"We think we're on a rocket ship, and we're going fast," Meade said when asked about the program's future. "We as coaches have zero patience; this (NCAA Regional berth) is what we expect to do, this is not a shock, this is what we've envisioned and there's a lot more to come."

What figured to be an offensive battle quickly turned into a pitchers' duel, with Troy's Grayson Stewart and Boston College's John West battling after both had short outings in the Regional opener on Friday due to the lengthy rain delay.

Stewart (9-3) allowed just one run over six innings with five strikeouts, while West pitched 4.1 scoreless frames with five punchouts before Eric Schroeder tossed the final 4.2 innings allowing just one run to earn the victory for the Eagles (37-19), who advance to the Regional final where they will have to defeat host-Alabama twice.

Barry Walsh was responsible for the only blemish on Stewart's ledger, hitting the third pitch of the game over the wall in right field. That was the game's only run until the top of the eighth inning when Boston College took advantage of a pair of defensive miscues by the Trojans to plate three runs.

A failed squeeze bunt resulted in a run after the throw to the plate was offline, and then a misplay on a potential inning-ending grounder resulted in two more runs for the Eagles.

In his final at-bat as a Trojan, senior catcher Clay Stearns hit his sixth home run of the season with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to put the Trojans on the board.

Troy (40-22) stranded nine base runners in the game and twice had the bases loaded with just one out but could not produce a run. Kole Myers and Caleb Bartolero had a pair of hits each as the Trojans out-hit the Eagles by an 8-5 margin.

Despite the loss, the season was full of positives for the Trojans, with a third-place finish in the nation's No. 5 rated conference, sophomore outfielder Shane Lewis set the program single-season home run record with 27 blasts and Troy made its return to the postseason for the first time since 2018. Additionally, the Trojans set a program record with 636 strikeouts while the 108 home runs rank as the third most in program history.