Baseball Opens Longest Road Trip in Three Decades at Northwestern State

TROY, Ala. – Riding the nation's seventh-longest winning streak at seven games, Troy hits the road for just the second time this season as the Trojans embark on a 12-game road trip, its longest regular season trek since 1993, beginning with a three-game series at Northwestern State this weekend.

What: Troy (9-1) at Northwestern State (2-7)
Date: March 1 | March 2 | March 3
Time: 6:30 p.m. | 6:30 p.m. | 1 p.m.
Location: Natchitoches, La.
Radio: Troy Sports Radio Network - 94.7 FM (G2, G3) | TroyTrojans.com (G1)
TV: ESPN+

PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS (Troy vs. NSU)
Friday – RHP Grayson Stewart (0-0, 6.97) vs. RHP Chase Prestwich (1-1, 8.46)
Saturday – LHP Logan Ross (2-0, 3.00) vs. RHP Dawson Flowers (0-0, 4.91)
Sunday – RHP Clete Hartzog (2-0, 0.96) vs. RHP Dylan Marionneaux (0-1, 1.29)

Troy (9-1) has won the majority of its games via the run rule this season, ending five of their nine wins after seven innings, but three of their other wins have had a flair for the dramatic, winning on three walk-offs, including Wednesday's dramatic come-from-behind win over Kent State.

The Trojans trailed 10-4 after the sixth and entered the ninth inning down 11-8. Facing a 98.85 win probability for the Golden Flashes after the first two batters of the frame struck out, Troy followed with doubles from Shane Lewis and Blake Sutton, a single by Kyle Mock, a walk and a hit batter before Ethan Kavanagh's game-winning single back up the middle.

Troy enters the weekend ranked among the nation's leaders in multiple offensive categories – doubles (1st), runs (3rd), hits (3rd), on-base percentage (4th), sac flies (5th), walks (5th), hit by pitch (7th), slugging percentage (8th), home runs (9th) and batting average (15th).

Individually, Kole Myers leads the country in walks (15) and runs scored (20), while ranking third in home runs (6), 9th in stolen bases (7), 11th in slugging percentage (1.121) and 14th in on-base percentage (.660). He ranks second in the country (behind UGA's Charlie Condon) in wRC with 20.

Prior to game two against Kent State, when the Trojans threw seven different pitchers, head coach Skylar Meade's staff had dazzled in the previous six outings, holding opponents to a .150 batting average while pitching to a 1.76 ERA as a staff.

The Demons (2-7) split a pair of games last weekend, knocking off a Stony Brook team that beat LSU during the weekend. Northwestern State is coming off a pair of mid-week losses to in-state Sun Belt foes, ULM (9-2) and Louisiana (14-4).

Northwestern State finished 2023 over the .500 mark with a 29-27 overall record and made a run in the Southland Conference Tournament, winning a pair of games. The Demons were picked to finish eighth in the league in the Southland Preseason Poll anchored by preseason all-league selections in catcher Bo Willis and Friday starter Chase Prestwich.

Notable
• Troy's 12-game road trip is the longest since ending the 1997 season with 12 straight games on the road (also included the NCAA Tournament) ... this is the longest in-season road stretch since a 13-game run in 1992 (only two of those games were true road games, with 11 at neutral sites).

• Troy's 1-2 punch in the lineup ranks 1-2 in the country in runs scored ... Kole Myers is first with 20 runs and Ethan Kavanagh ranks second with 18 runs scored.

• Will Butcher leads the country with eight doubles and 24 RBIs, while Brooks Bryan is ninth nationally with 17 RBIs.

• On the mound, Luke Lyon enters the weekend with a 0.46 WHIP, the 12th lowest in the country, in addition to ranking eighth, allowing 2.08 hits per nine innings.

• Troy played six straight games without an error from the series finale against SIUE through game one against Kent State; it was the longest such streak by a Troy team since 2013.

• Troy has hit multiple home runs in seven of its last eight games, the one game it didn't (G1 vs. Kent State), the wind was blowing in at 20+ MPH from right field.

• Troy pitchers have allowed two or fewer extra-base hits in seven of the last eight games; in contrast, Troy hitters have collected three or more extra-base hits in nine of its 10 games and have four or more in seven games.

• Troy has scored 6-plus runs in an inning five times this season.

• Among active DI players, Will Butcher ranks fifth in career RBIs (156), eighth in games played (188) and 35th in home runs (31). Tremayne Cobb Jr. checks in 19th in career stolen bases (51), while Garrett Gainous and Grayson Stewart are tied for 29th with 15 career wins.

• Not counting his rain-shortened outing in the NCAA Regional, Grayson Stewart outlasted his opponent on the mound in 16-of-18 outings the last two seasons, Troy is 14-2 in those games.

• Troy closer 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.

• Troy batters have been hit by multiple pitches in 7-of-10 games ... coupled with walks, the Trojans are averaging 9.8 free base runners per game.

Baseball Opens Longest Road Trip in Three Decades at Northwestern State

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Players Mentioned

Brooks Bryan

Will Butcher

Tremayne Cobb Jr.

Garrett Gainous

Clete Hartzog

Ethan Kavanagh

Shane Lewis

Luke Lyon

Noah Manning

Kyle Mock

Kole Myers

Logan Ross

Grayson Stewart

Blake Sutton

Troy University Athletics