Troy Baseball Takes Down Southern Miss, 9-8, in Thriller

Friday, March 29

Hattiesburg, Miss.

6 p.m.

Troy University

18-10, 4-4

Southern Miss

17-10, 5-3

Troy

Southern Miss

Troy Baseball Takes Down Southern Miss, 9-8, in Thriller

3/29/2024 11:30:00 PM | Baseball

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Following a ten-run loss on Thursday night, the Troy baseball team answered in big fashion on Friday night as it scored three runs in the top of the ninth to defeat Southern Miss, 9-8, in a thriller at Pete Taylor Park.

Troy (18-10, 4-4 SBC), which trailed 7-6 going into the final frame, scored the go-ahead run on a Brooks Bryan two-run triple to right field. Southern Miss (17-10, 5-3 SBC) jumped ahead 7-6 after scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth but could not hold onto the lead.

The Golden Eagles made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, plating one run. Noah Manning fought through the jam to record the final out and give the Trojans a chance at the series win on Saturday.

Southern Miss jumped ahead 2-0 in the second inning on a two-run home run by Nick Monistere, which was the only score of the game through the first four innings. Troy starter Garrett Gainous had a good performance, going 4.0 innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs and four strikeouts. He finished the night with a no-decision.

In the top of the fifth, Troy answered back with two runs of their own. Blake Sutton stole home on a double steal before Shane Lewis scored on a throwing error to tie things up. The tie game didn't last long, as Southern Miss tallied two runs in the bottom half of the inning to regain its two-run lead.

Kyle Mock responded immediately for Troy, as he crushed a two-run home run 410 feet over the right field wall to even things back up. The Trojans took their first lead of the series in the top of the eighth inning on a Mock single that scored Will Butcher for his third RBI of the night. On the very next pitch, Bryan scored from third on a Golden Eagles balk to make it a 6-4 Troy lead.

In the bottom half of the eighth, Southern Miss scored three runs on a Davis Gillespie solo home run and a two-run single by Ozzie Pratt.

Following Bryan's heroics in the top of the ninth, Manning looked to shut the door for Troy. He surrendered one run but came up with the necessary three outs to give Troy one of its biggest wins of the season. Manning (4-0) was credited with the win.

Colby Allen (3-1) picked up the loss.

Quotable – Head Coach Skylar Meade
"It's one of those games where it feels like a regional with all the fans here. There was a lot of intensity on both sides. There are some things that we could probably handle better in the moment. I have to do a better job with that – just making sure our guys know the best time to celebrate is on the 27th out. But I love how much juice we played with. I do love the passion. We will learn to harness some of that a little bit better. Just a great job. Kyle Mock, I think his swing is one that, perhaps, gets lost in the game because of the way the runs went back and forth at the end."

Up Next
The rubber match of the series is set for a 1:05 first pitch on Saturday afternoon. Fans can follow all the action on ESPN+, Troy Sports Radio Network and Troystats.com.

Notables
• Kyle Mock went 2-5 on Friday night, extending his hitting streak to eight games and his on-base streak to 11 games.
• Noah Manning continues his undefeated season, as he moved to 4-0 on the year after picking up the win on Friday.
• Kole Myers, who had three hits on Friday, has now recorded two or more hits in six of the last seven games.
• Bryan Brooks snapped his four-game hitless streak after recording two hits in Troy's win.
• Blake Sutton recorded a steal of home in the victory.
• Troy moves to 14-23 all-time against Southern Miss.