Baseball Falls to Southern Miss in Series Finale

Saturday, March 30

Hattiesburg, Miss.

1 p.m.

Troy University

18-11, 4-5

Southern Miss

18-10, 6-3

Troy

Southern Miss

Baseball Falls to Southern Miss in Series Finale

3/30/2024 4:47:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Following a Friday night filled with late-game heroics, Troy baseball couldn't come up with the big hit late in the game, falling 5-3 to Southern Miss in the series finale on Saturday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park.

Troy (18-11, 4-5 SBC) loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the eighth inning down by two but couldn't plate any runs.

Southern Miss (18-10, 6-3 SBC) got things going on offense early, as they scored three runs in the bottom of the first on a Slade Wilks RBI double and a two-run home run by Carson Paetow. Brady Fuller got the start for Troy and, outside of the first inning, had a clean performance.

The Trojans responded in the top of the second with a home run by Kyle Mock – his second of the series. Mock finished the day going 2-3 from the plate and extended his hitting streak to nine games and his on-base streak to 12 games.

Neither team scored until the top of the sixth inning when Brooks Bryan saw a first-pitch breaking ball and crushed it down the right field line to even things up at 3-3. Bryan was the hero for Troy on Friday night after he knocked in the go-ahead run with a two-RBI triple.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Golden Eagles took the lead on an RBI single by Dalton McIntyre. On the same play, a second runner scored on a throwing error by Blake Sutton to make it 5-3. Southern Miss would not relinquish the lead again despite Troy getting runners in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings.

Troy's Logan Ross (2-2) was credited with the loss. He pitched 3.1 innings, allowed three hits, two runs — one earned — and struck out two. Fuller had a no-decision after pitching 4.1 innings. He surrendered three hits and three runs — all unearned — and struck out three.

Chandler Best (1-0) got the win for Southern Miss. McCarty English had a two-inning save.

Quotable – Head Coach Skylar Meade
"We know we missed our opportunity in a couple of different ways. We just have to rectify our mistakes – and that goes on us. We've got to coach better on certain things, and I know that we will. It's on us to get better product distribution in certain areas. Our fight was awesome. The fight all weekend was awesome. We got it stuck to us a little bit on Thursday night, but that happens. No one is immune to it. It may not be the last time it happens, but you've got to fight and get right back up. I appreciate the way we got after it. Certainly wish today went different, and it probably should have went different. But you've got to deal with the consequences of certain things, and I know that we will. I am excited that we get to go back out there and compete on Tuesday."

Up Next
Troy now turns its focus to a pair of road midweek games. On Tuesday, they will travel to Montgomery to take on Alabama State before heading to Jacksonville State on Wednesday night.

Notables
• Kyle Mock went 2-3 on Saturday to extend his hitting streak to nine games and his on-base streak to 12 games. He went 6-10 in the series with two home runs.
• Brady Fuller started for Troy and received no decision. He pitched 4.1 innings, allowed three unearned runs and struck out three.
• Troy's three runs scored are its fewest in a conference game this season. It's just the fourth time this season Troy has scored three runs or fewer.
• Troy moves to 14-24 all-time against Southern Miss.