Baseball Wins Sixth Straight, Downs Kent State

Tuesday, February 27

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

8-1

Kent State

1-6

Kent State

Troy

Baseball Wins Sixth Straight, Downs Kent State

2/27/2024 10:17:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Garrett Gainous made another significant step in his return to the mound on Tuesday night as Troy ran its win streak to six straight games with a 6-2 win over Kent State at Riddle-Pace Field.

Gainous struck out four and allowed one run and one hit in 1.2 innings of work while ramping up his pitch count to 28. The one run he allowed was the leadoff hitter who reached on a wild pitch after striking out.

Troy (8-1) got production from its usual suspects, as Brooks Bryan drove in a pair, Will Butcher singled, doubled, stole a base and drove in a run, while Ethan Kavanagh scored twice, recorded a pair of knocks and made several solid defensive plays at second base.

The Trojans played spectacular defense around the diamond and have now turned in six straight errorless games, the longest such stretch since the 2013 season.

Butcher quickly erased Kent State's (1-6) early advantage with a ringing double to right center after Kavanagh doubled. A wild pitch moved Butcher into scoring position and Bryan cashed in with a sac fly.

The big inning came in the third, as the Trojans plated three more to extend their lead to 5-1. Bryan singled home Kavanagh; Kyle Mock followed with an RBI single and Bryan later scored on a wild pitch.

Michael Osmond (1-0) recorded his first win in a Troy uniform with two scoreless innings, including three strikeouts, before Luke Lyon shut the door over four innings, allowing just a wind-aided run. Noah Manning made just his third appearance of the season to record the final four outs of the game.

A wild series of events transpired in the bottom of the seventh inning as Kent State reliever Peyton Cariaco was called for three balks in the frame after Tremayne Cobb Jr. led off the inning with an infield single.

Kent State, which won 42 games last year, scratched a run across in the eighth following back-to-back triples from Jake Casey and Brody Williams. Benny Roebuck (0-1) was tagged with the loss for the Flashes after allowing five runs on four hits in 2.1 innings.

The teams wrap up their mid-week series Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Quotable – Head Coach Skylar Meade
"You have to be versatile as a baseball team on offense, and we knew coming in what the conditions were going to be, and we didn't shy away from it. You had to manufacture (runs), and you had to execute from the pitching staff, and we had only three walks, so I loved the competitiveness from those guys. Our defense was really good, some really nice plays, Kav (Ethan Kavanagh) had a couple of really good plays, and Shane (Lewis) with a really nice play down the line."

Notable
• Aidan Gilroy executed Troy's first sac bunt of the season in the second inning, moving two runners into scoring position.

• Troy has played six straight games without committing an error … the Trojans didn't go more than two straight games without an error last season. It marks the first time since April 2013 that the Trojans have played six straight games without committing an error.

• Kole Myers saw his 17-game hitting streak come to an end with an 0-for-4 day at the plate; he did extend his on-base streak to 27 games after drawing a walk.

• Troy pitchers have allowed two or fewer extra-base hits in seven straight games; in contrast, Troy hitters have collected three or more extra-base hits in 8-of-9 games and have four or more in six games.

• Tuesday's contest marked Troy's first without a home run this season after hitting 17 in the first eight games; the wind was blowing in from right field at 16-20 MPH throughout the game.

• Ethan Kavanagh extended his reached base streak to 21 games after picking up a pair of base hits.

• Troy drew eight walks in the game after entering the week ranked fifth nationally with 62 walks; it marked the eighth time in nine games this season the Trojans have drawn seven or more walks.

• Troy was hit by two pitches in the game, the sixth time this season that the Trojans have been hit by multiple pitches.

• Noah Manning has held opponents without an earned run in 13 of his last 14 appearances, pitching to a 1.13 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 16 innings.