Offensive Explosion Clears No. 12 Coastal Carolina for Series Victory

Saturday, April 27

Conway, S.C.

1 p.m.

Troy University

30-14, 13-7

Coastal Carolina

27-16, 11-9

Troy

Coastal Carolina

Offensive Explosion Clears No. 12 Coastal Carolina for Series Victory

4/27/2024 5:51:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

CONWAY, S.C. – Nine runs through the first three innings propelled Troy baseball over Coastal Carolina, 11-4, Saturday afternoon in Springs Brooks Stadium to secure its second series victory in Conway, S.C.

Troy struck first in game two as the nation's leader in walks Kole Myers moved into a tie for the third most walks in a single season as a Trojan with his 51^st of 2024 – Ethan Kavanagh followed with a full count walk. With two runners on, Brooks Bryan secured his 16^th homer of 2024 and second of the weekend, 3-0, sending a three-RBI, 380-foot shot over right field.

Kyle Mock continued the offensive outburst as he earned the third walk of the inning, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Aidan Gilroy cashed in, 4-0, with an RBI double to right field.

The Chanticleers were primed to strike in the bottom of the second after Luke Lyon sat down Zack Beach swinging. Sebastian Alexander followed with a 2-2 double down the left field line and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt. A full-count walk put runners on first and third with one out, and Dean Mihos sent one right to Gilroy, who started the 5-4-3 double play for Peyton Watts and Butcher.

The offensive explosion continued into the third as a 4-0 walk by Mock and a pair of singles to left field by Gilroy and Arnett loaded the bases with no outs. Coastal served a pair of runs, 6-0, with an HBP on Myers and a 4-1 walk on Kavanagh. With the bases still loaded, Butcher claimed his second double of the game, scoring Myers and Arnett, 8-0, on a 2-2 shot to right center. The run raid continued as Bryan seized his fourth RBI of the game, 9-0, despite grounding out to third base.

Coastal trimmed the margin to six, 9-3, through the fifth and sixth. Inning No. 5 saw Jake Books walk, pinch hitter Ty Dooley single to center field and Sam Antonacci get HBP to load the bases. Caden Bodine brought one in on a sac fly to center field before Graham Brown singled to third base for a second. Jay Dill entered in the sixth to relieve Lyon and forced Books into a 4-6-3 double-play. However, the next at-bat for Dooley saw him force the error on the Trojans to bring Beach home.

Bodine kept marching for Coastal, 9-4 after two outs were put on the board in the eighth. Then, Dooley singled to first base, and Antonacci drilled a 0-0 single to right field to put two runners on. No. 17 took his chance with a 2-1 RBI single to right field. Michael Osmond entered for the second time of the weekend, getting Troy out of the inning with a 2-1 flyout to Myers.

Gilroy and Arnett finished it with some insurance home runs in the ninth to push the win to 11-4. First, Gilroy sent a solo shot 367 feet into right field for his fourth of 2024, and Arnett followed suit with a 341-foot bomb to right for the punctuation mark.

Head Coach Skylar Meade
"Certainly a great day. We came out ready to go in the first inning. Brooks hit a big home run, and Lyon set the tone in the first. Then, we made some great plays, with Gilroy starting the double-play in the six-hole. All four guys, from pitch to finish, were executed well. We played with a lead for the most part, and our defense played well. And thankfully, we were able to tack some more on there at the end. We might have a couple of errors on the board, but I thought we played solid defense, and that's what it takes to win on the road. We did that, and now we have to bring in more hunger tomorrow. Part of the hunger is to enjoy the moment, and we've played really good baseball. Our best is still yet to come."

Up Next
Troy looks to sweep No. 12 Coastal Carolina tomorrow at noon at Springs Brooks Stadium.

Game Two Numbers
• Myers' walk to open the game was his 51^st of 2024 – grabbed his 52^nd in the seventh, moving him above Wendell Stephens for the third-most walks in a single season at Troy.
• The victory for Troy marks its 30^th of the season and third 30-plus win season for Meade (3-for-3). Troy has won 30-plus games in eight of the last 10 seasons.
• Bryan hit a new season and career-high mark for reached bases and hitting streaks, bringing his numbers to 12 and 13 straight, respectively.
• With his 16^th homer of the season, Bryan extends his streak to four straight games with a home run, marking the first since Shane Lewis, with his five straight from April 28 – May 6, 2023.
• For the seventh time in 2024 and the third straight game, the Trojans hammered three-plus home runs (Kent State, South Alabama, Alabama State, App State, Georgia State, Coastal Carolina (2x)).