Myers Homers Twice, Troy Walks-Off Harvard in Series Opener

Friday, February 23

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

5-1

Harvard

0-1

Harvard

Troy

Myers Homers Twice, Troy Walks-Off Harvard in Series Opener

2/23/2024 10:07:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Kole Myers hit a pair of home runs, while Grayson Stewart and Luke Lyon combined to throw a 2-hitter as Troy defeated Harvard, 4-3, on a walk-off wild pitch in Friday's series opener at Riddle-Pace Field.

Myers, who homered three times in Troy's third game of the season, hit a pair of opposite-field solo shots – one to leadoff the bottom of the first and his second to tie the game at 3-all to leadoff the sixth inning.

Troy (5-1) loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth on a pair of hit batters and a four-pitch walk before a 1-0 offering to Blake Sutton skirted past the Harvard (0-1) catcher and to the backstop, allowing Shane Lewis to score the winning run, Troy's second walk-off victory in as many Friday contests.

Stewart allowed just two hits – both home runs – over six innings of work before Lyon (1-0) closed out the final three innings of perfect relief with four strikeouts. Lyon has struck out 11 and not allowed a hit in his first nine innings in a Troy uniform (over two outings).

Tyler Shulman gave the Crimson a 3-1 lead in the third after he cashed in a leadoff walk with a home run to right-center field. Ben Rounds hit a 1-out solo homer in the first to put Harvard on the board.

Troy pulled within one in the fifth without the benefit of a hit courtesy of a Mikey Bello bases-loaded walk, one of three in the inning coupled with one of three hit batters in the game by Harvard pitching – Troy entered the weekend eighth in the country having been hit by 13 pitches on the year.

Cole Cleary (0-1) took the loss for Harvard after allowing the run in the ninth. Sean Matson struck out five and walked six over four innings of 1-run ball, while Andrew Abler allowed Myers' second home run and struck out four in four innings.

The teams play game two of the three-game series on Saturday at 3:33 p.m. Logan Ross (1-0, 6.75) is scheduled to start for the Trojans, while Tanner Smith will make his first appearance for Harvard since 2022.

Quotable – Head Coach Skylar Meade
"You wouldn't have thought (low-scoring game) in BP with the way the wind was blowing as hard as it was. It's contradictory to what you would assume, but that is how Friday-night baseball can be. Their guy had a really good arm, and the kid they brought in afterward did an excellent job. We had times to maybe get the game broke open, and they made some quality pitches. You gotta win games like this, and sometimes your pitchers have to do their jobs too – our guys competed for nine innings with Stew and obviously with what Luke Lyon did the last nine batters."

Notable
• Kole Myers extended his hitting streak to 15 games and his on-base streak to 24 games after leading off the home half of the first inning with his fourth home run of the season.

• With Kole Myers' home run in the first inning, Troy has now scored in the first inning in five of its six games this season.

• Kole Myers scored twice and drew a pair of walks in addition to hitting his two home runs; he entered the game sixth nationally (one behind the leaders) with eight walks and led the country with 12 runs scored.

• Troy drew 11 walks in the game after entering the contest ranked 14^th nationally with 36 walks on the season (7.2 per game).

• Troy's victory on Friday night was its first win in a nine-inning game this season. The Trojans had three wins in seven innings and one in 10 innings.

• Troy improved to 19-10 in series openers under head coach Skylar Meade.

• Grayson Stewart has outlasted his opponent on the mound in 16-of-18 starts the last two seasons; the Trojans improved to 14-2 in those games with their win on Friday. Troy is 29-3 since the start of the 2023 season when its starting pitcher outlasts its opponent.

• Ethan Kavanagh extended his reached base streak to 18 games with a double in the fourth inning.