Troy Baseball Knocks Off No. 12 Coastal Carolina in Game One

Friday, April 26

Conway, S.C.

5 p.m.

Troy University

29-14, 12-7

Coastal Carolina

27-15, 11-8

TROY

Coastal Carolina

Troy Baseball Knocks Off No. 12 Coastal Carolina in Game One

4/26/2024 10:17:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

CONWAY, S.C. – A grand slam from Tremayne Cobb Jr. in the seventh, combined with lockdown showings from Logan Ross and Michael Osmond on the mound, led to Troy baseball knocking off No. 12 Coastal Carolina, 8-6, Friday night at Springs Brooks Stadium.

Garrett Gainous started strong for Troy, striking out Sam Antonacci swinging before earning a groundout to Peyton Watts. The Chanticleers ramped it up with Graham Brown earning the 4-1 walk and stealing second, setting up a Blake Barthol on a full count RBI single to right field, 1-0.

Brooks Bryan had the response for Troy half an inning later, 1-1, taking his fifth pitch and sending it 374 feet over the right field wall to tie the game.

A second strikeout swinging by Antonacci by Gainous was met with a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases. Gainous managed one more strikeout before being relieved by Clete Hartzog. The next three batters saw two walks and an HBP to bring the lead to three, 4-1, in the third.

Once again, Troy responded half an inning later in the top of the fourth. After two outs were put on the board, Cobb Jr. doubled to left field on his first pitch. Then, Kyle Mock trimmed the margin, 4-2, with a 1-1 single down the left field line. Aidan Gilroy nearly tied the game with a 2-1 double to right field but Mock got caught at home to end the inning.

The rally continued in the fifth, 4-3, when Ben Arnett secured his second homer of 2024 after the call was reversed for an HBP. Instead, he sent a 385-foot shot to left center, and it cleared the wall for Troy's 64^th of the season.

Inning No. 7 saw the rally culminate when Troy played the small ball game, allowing Watts to reach first when he forced the Coastal error on a bunt to third, Myers to single to shortstop and Ethan Kavanagh to single on a bunt and load the bases. Will Butcher tacked the first run on, 4-4, with a groundout to second, which brought Watts home. An intentional walk on Bryan reloaded the bases, and on a 2-1 count, Cobb Jr. seized the moment with his first grand slam over right center to take a four-run lead, 8-4.

The bottom half saw Antonacci hit the full count double down the left field line before Brown singled to right field to put runners on first and third. With a 2-2 count, a wild pitch got Barthol swinging, but Antonacci capitalized, 8-5. Bender trimmed the margin to two, 8-6, five pitches later on an RBI single to second base, bringing Brown home from second.

Logan Ross set himself up for heroics after he hit Sebastian Alexander, who stole second and ended on third with a failed pickoff attempt by No. 10. With no outs on the board and a runner of third, Ross picked the opposition off, taking down Jake Books, Dean Mihos and Antonacci swinging to maintain the 8-6 lead.

From one pitcher to another, Michael Osmond stepped onto the mound in the ninth and claimed the save. First, he forced the groundout to Cobb Jr., followed by a fly out to Lance Gardiner. Osmond closed out the 8-6 win, sending Barthol out swinging.

Head Coach Skylar Meade
"Heck of a fun ballgame here at Springs Brooks. We created some things that made it a little difficult on the mound. But the competition was through the roof, and it pushed us to win the ballgame. By no means is the work done. We need more intensity and execution to win the series tomorrow. Tre's grand slam was huge. I was unbelievably excited to see him rewarded with a crisp, clean swing. I was also incredibly impressed with Logan Ross. It seemed familiar to App State when he had to lock down and get out. Sometimes, when a pitcher gets a strikeout, it feels like scoring. And that's what that felt like."

Up Next
Game two of the Troy-Coastal Carolina series is scheduled for tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Springs Brooks Stadium.

Game One Numbers
• After starting the game 3-for-3, Mock pushed his streak of hits to nine – extended his game-hit streak to five, and reached base safely streak to 11.
• For the sixth time in 2024 and the second straight game, the Trojans hammered three-plus home runs (Kent State, South Alabama, Alabama State, App State, Georgia State).
• With a trio of homers, the Trojans total 65 in 2024, which ranks them tied for 36^th in the nation.
• Cobb Jr.'s grand slam put his RBI total for game one at four, marking the first of the season and second game with four-plus.
• Troy won game one despite being down 4-1 to start the fourth, coming back to score seven in the next six innings to mark the 12^th come-from-behind victory.