Baseball Stays Home to Face Florida A&M

Tuesday, March 26

Troy, Ala.

3:33 p.m.

Troy University

Florida A&M

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3/25/2024 2:39:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Troy remains in the friendly confines of Riddle-Pace Field for SBC-SWAC midweek action against Florida A&M on Tuesday at 3:33 p.m.

Game Information
Location: Troy, Ala. – Riddle-Pace Field
The Matchup: Troy (16-9, 3-3 SBC) vs. Florida A&M (9-15, 4-2 SWAC)
Date: March 26
Time: 3:33 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Troy Sports Radio Network - 94.7 FM | TroyTrojans.com
Live Stats: TroyStats.com

Game Two
The brief home stretch continues for the Trojans (16-9, 3-3 SBC) with their fourth straight game at RPF, where they hold a 9-3 record after the weekend series against South Alabama. Tuesday also marks the fifth midweek of 2024 and the second against the Rattlers (9-15, 4-2 SWAC), sitting at 2-2 and 1-0, respectively.

The weekend series against South Alabama saw an offensive explosion through the first two games on both sides before becoming a small ball matchup in game three. After USA claimed games one (12-8) and two (10-8), the Trojans rebounded in game three, 4-3.

Game one saw Troy open hot with a three-run homer from Brooks Bryan in the first. But South kept Troy silent over the next six innings while scoring seven of their own. An eighth-inning comeback for Troy was met by a four-run ninth inning by South to solidify game one, 12-8. Game two saw Troy play comeback after falling into a 7-0 hole through the first four innings. Over the next five, Troy outscored USA 8-3 but fell short in the ninth.

Brady Fuller led the redemption story of game three against the in-state rival, pitching 4.1 innings for two strikeouts and keeping South without a hit. That allowed the Troy offense to capitalize on the Jaguars' mistakes to take a 3-0 lead early. Despite USA narrowing it to 4-3, 'The Ringer' Noah Manning finished the Jaguars off in the final two innings for the win.

After the Troy-USA series, Manning jumped to fourth in the SBC and 87^th in the nation with his third victory of 2024. Meanwhile, Kole Myers' impressive showing with three multi-hit games jumped his batting average to .379 to rank sixth in the conference and tie for the lead with teammate Ethan Kavanagh for hits (36).

Tuesday marks the second game of the Troy-Florida A&M midweek series after a dominant performance by the Trojans on Feb. 20, winning 13-2 after outhitting the Rattlers 12-4. The third inning highlighted the game, where Troy scored six runs while Kavanagh and Kyle Mock got a pair of homers.

Since the loss to Troy, Florida A&M's gone 8-13 but has found more success on the road with a 4-5 record, as opposed to a 2-8 home record. Their most recent series saw a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Bethune-Cookman. The Rattlers did redeem themselves in game three with a defensive showing, 3-2, limiting the SWAC opponent to two runs after giving up 13 through the first two games.

Janmikell Bastardo is an extra base threat for the Rattlers, ranking second (first in SWAC) in the country in triples with four. He also leads the team in batting average (.308), runs (20), hits (28) and total bases (45).

Midweek Numbers
• Troy has been successful getting a runner home from third with less than two outs 69.6 percent of the time (55-of-79), while holding opponents to a 59.7 percentage ... Brooks Bryan is 10-for-11 scoring runners in this situation, while Ethan Kavanagh is 9-for-11

• Troy has several players hurt by BABIP early this season (the mean is typically .300), with Mikey Bello (.233) and Peyton Watts (.148) below the average mark ...Kyle Mock has improved from .233 to .327 the last two weeks.

• Three Trojans enter the week with OPS marks over 1.000 -- Will Butcher (1.173), Ethan Kavanagh (1.027) and Kole Myers (1.215).

• Troy has attacked opponents starting pitching, with 15 HR and 21 doubles against the starters, forcing them to an 7.90 ERA ... 11 of Troy's 38 home runs this season have been hit in the first two innings of the game.

• Troy's first inning OBP of .473 is its highest mark of any inning ... the Trojans are batting .305 in the first inning (not the highest - .318 in the 6th) and have drawn 25 walks and been hit by seven pitches.

• Troy is 1-4 when it is not hit by a pitch and 5-8 when hit by one or fewer pitches; the Trojans are 11-1 when hit by two or more pitches.

• Will Butcher leads the Trojans with 11 2-out RBIs this season, while Brooks Bryan and Ethan Kavanagh are close behind with nine.

• Troy's bullpen has not allowed an earned run in nine games this season; the pen has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 12 games.

• Will Butcher entered the week ranked 39th nationally with a 1.91 WAR (wins above replacement), fifth-ranked first baseman.

• Ethan Kavanagh entered the week ranked 10th nationally among second basemen with a 1.53 WAR, while Kole Myers ranked 11th among first basemen with a 1.66 WAR.

• Shortstop Tremayne Cobb Jr. ranked 13th nationally among shortstops, with 3.51 defensive runs saved, entering the week.

• Troy players have combined for 67 multi-hit games this season, paced by 12 each from the 1-2 spots in the lineup, Ethan Kavanagh and Kole Myers.

• The Trojans have a combined 47 multi-RBI games this season, led by nine from Brooks Bryan and six each from Ethan Kavanagh and Will Butcher.

• The top of Troy's order has not featured much change with Myers and Kavanagh locking down the 1-2 spot in all 25 games, while Butcher, Bryan and Cobb in 3-4-5 have been in place for 17 straight games.