Troy University Athletics
Thursday, May 16
Troy, Ala.
6 p.m.
Troy University
35-19, 17-11
10
vs
14
James Madison
31-20, 16-12
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5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
James Madison
2
3
0
0
5
1
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14
11
1
Troy
3
0
0
0
0
3
0
3
1
10
13
0
Troy Baseball Rally Comes Up Short Against James Madison
5/16/2024 11:11:00 PM | Baseball
TROY, Ala. – Troy outscored James Madison 6-1 in innings 6-8 and outhit the opposition 13-11 but fell short of a rally Thursday night at Riddle-Pace Field, 14-10.
The loss in game one for the Trojans (35-19, 17-11 SBC) puts them 1.5 games behind Southern Miss for the No. 2 seed for the Sun Belt Tournament while falling to just one game ahead of the Dukes (31-20, 16-12 SBC) for the fourth spot.
Both offenses shot out quickly in the first inning when JMU's Ryan Dooley opened with a 4-2 walk, allowing Fenwick Trimble to hammer both home over the left-center wall for a 2-0 lead.
However, the Trojans bounced back in the bottom half as Kole Myers singled to shortstop – advanced to third on a throwing error by JMU. The error allowed a 2-1 single to left center for Ethan Kavanagh to get Myers home, 2-1. Will Butcher continued with a first-pitch single to right center, which put Kavanagh on third. Brooks Bryan hit into a double play, but it allowed Kavanagh to race home and tie the game at two. With two outs on the board, Tremayne Cobb Jr. hit Troy's third single of the inning to center field, and Kyle Mock notched the fourth to secure the 3-2 lead – Mock got caught advancing to second to end the inning.
JMU's bats kept rolling into the second after Brendan O'Donnell got HBP, and Troy put two outs on the board with a pop-up to Aidan Gilroy and a strikeout by Garrett Gainous (2-4). Back-to-back singles from Dooley and Trimble brought O'Donnell home and put runners on second and third, with Mike Mancini stepping into the batter's box. Up 1-0 in the count, Mancini ripped a triple down the right field line, scoring two for the 5-3 advantage.
Gainous pitched two flawless innings before coming out for relief in the fifth, which allowed the Dukes to capitalize with a five-run inning, 10-3, on two singles, a double, a home run and a walk. They tacked one more on in the sixth, 11-3 after a wild pitch allowed Dooley to capitalize after he walked four batters earlier.
Troy began to fight back in the bottom half of the sixth when Butcher earned a 4-1 walk. JMU made a change at the mound, but Bryan kept the rally going with a 1-0 single to right field, and Mock earned the 4-1 walk to load the bases. After battling to a full count, Gilroy found the right-center gap for a three-RBI double, 11-6.
Beau Fletcher entered in the seventh and set a new tone at the mound, sitting down three straight on a flyout to Myers, a strikeout swinging and a groundout to Peyton Watts. He kept his dominance in the eighth, doing the same with three straight flyouts – totaled 21 pitches in two innings.
Fletcher's hold on the mound allowed Troy to keep the rally rolling in the bottom of the eighth when Mock singled up the middle, Gilroy earned a 4-0 walk and Mikey Bello tied his career-long hit streak (6) with a single through the left side. Watts looked for the sac fly as he flew out to left field, but Mock got caught tagging up for home for the double play. However, Myers ensured the runners wouldn't be left on base with a 377-foot home run over the right field wall, 11-9.
A HBP in the ninth and change at the mound allowed a 2-2 double for Coleman Calabrese to stall the Troy rally, 12-9. After O'Donnell was intentionally walked, Ike Schmidly pinch-hit a two-RBI double to right field to reextend the lead to five, 14-9.
Cobb Jr. got the final say in the ninth with a solo shot to right field, 14-10, but JMU got the groundout to first to take game one.
Head Coach Skylar Meade
"Major tip of the cap to JMU. They played better. They were coached better. And they were able to handle themselves in the big moments. Our offensive fight was good, but our pitching and defense just weren't enough—great job by those guys to be ready. We have to be better across the board, starting tomorrow. Fletcher came out and executed how he prepared. He's battled through a lot of stuff, and wholeheartedly, his belief is second to none. He's going to get the baseball a lot down the stretch. He might throw every inning for the rest of the year if he plays like he did tonight. We're in a position to make things happen. Now, we just need to bounce back and do a better job setting the tone."
Up Next
Game two of senior weekend between Troy and James Madison starts at 6 p.m. tomorrow at Riddle-Pace Field.
Game One Numbers
• Fletcher had a career performance through 2.1 innings with zero hits and walks and one earned run through eight batters faced.
• Myers and Gilroy had three RBIs on the evening, boosting their season numbers to 10 and seven, respectively.
• Myers joined Bryan and Butcher as the third Trojans with double-digit homers in 2024 with his three-run shot in the eighth.
• Troy hit multiple homers despite the loss, marking the 26th game with two-plus home runs – record sits at 28-12 when a bomb is hit.
• Tonight's loss marked just the fifth loss in 2024 and the 13th career loss for Meade when outhitting the opposition – outhit JMU 13-11.
The loss in game one for the Trojans (35-19, 17-11 SBC) puts them 1.5 games behind Southern Miss for the No. 2 seed for the Sun Belt Tournament while falling to just one game ahead of the Dukes (31-20, 16-12 SBC) for the fourth spot.
Both offenses shot out quickly in the first inning when JMU's Ryan Dooley opened with a 4-2 walk, allowing Fenwick Trimble to hammer both home over the left-center wall for a 2-0 lead.
However, the Trojans bounced back in the bottom half as Kole Myers singled to shortstop – advanced to third on a throwing error by JMU. The error allowed a 2-1 single to left center for Ethan Kavanagh to get Myers home, 2-1. Will Butcher continued with a first-pitch single to right center, which put Kavanagh on third. Brooks Bryan hit into a double play, but it allowed Kavanagh to race home and tie the game at two. With two outs on the board, Tremayne Cobb Jr. hit Troy's third single of the inning to center field, and Kyle Mock notched the fourth to secure the 3-2 lead – Mock got caught advancing to second to end the inning.
JMU's bats kept rolling into the second after Brendan O'Donnell got HBP, and Troy put two outs on the board with a pop-up to Aidan Gilroy and a strikeout by Garrett Gainous (2-4). Back-to-back singles from Dooley and Trimble brought O'Donnell home and put runners on second and third, with Mike Mancini stepping into the batter's box. Up 1-0 in the count, Mancini ripped a triple down the right field line, scoring two for the 5-3 advantage.
Gainous pitched two flawless innings before coming out for relief in the fifth, which allowed the Dukes to capitalize with a five-run inning, 10-3, on two singles, a double, a home run and a walk. They tacked one more on in the sixth, 11-3 after a wild pitch allowed Dooley to capitalize after he walked four batters earlier.
Troy began to fight back in the bottom half of the sixth when Butcher earned a 4-1 walk. JMU made a change at the mound, but Bryan kept the rally going with a 1-0 single to right field, and Mock earned the 4-1 walk to load the bases. After battling to a full count, Gilroy found the right-center gap for a three-RBI double, 11-6.
Beau Fletcher entered in the seventh and set a new tone at the mound, sitting down three straight on a flyout to Myers, a strikeout swinging and a groundout to Peyton Watts. He kept his dominance in the eighth, doing the same with three straight flyouts – totaled 21 pitches in two innings.
Fletcher's hold on the mound allowed Troy to keep the rally rolling in the bottom of the eighth when Mock singled up the middle, Gilroy earned a 4-0 walk and Mikey Bello tied his career-long hit streak (6) with a single through the left side. Watts looked for the sac fly as he flew out to left field, but Mock got caught tagging up for home for the double play. However, Myers ensured the runners wouldn't be left on base with a 377-foot home run over the right field wall, 11-9.
A HBP in the ninth and change at the mound allowed a 2-2 double for Coleman Calabrese to stall the Troy rally, 12-9. After O'Donnell was intentionally walked, Ike Schmidly pinch-hit a two-RBI double to right field to reextend the lead to five, 14-9.
Cobb Jr. got the final say in the ninth with a solo shot to right field, 14-10, but JMU got the groundout to first to take game one.
Head Coach Skylar Meade
"Major tip of the cap to JMU. They played better. They were coached better. And they were able to handle themselves in the big moments. Our offensive fight was good, but our pitching and defense just weren't enough—great job by those guys to be ready. We have to be better across the board, starting tomorrow. Fletcher came out and executed how he prepared. He's battled through a lot of stuff, and wholeheartedly, his belief is second to none. He's going to get the baseball a lot down the stretch. He might throw every inning for the rest of the year if he plays like he did tonight. We're in a position to make things happen. Now, we just need to bounce back and do a better job setting the tone."
Up Next
Game two of senior weekend between Troy and James Madison starts at 6 p.m. tomorrow at Riddle-Pace Field.
Game One Numbers
• Fletcher had a career performance through 2.1 innings with zero hits and walks and one earned run through eight batters faced.
• Myers and Gilroy had three RBIs on the evening, boosting their season numbers to 10 and seven, respectively.
• Myers joined Bryan and Butcher as the third Trojans with double-digit homers in 2024 with his three-run shot in the eighth.
• Troy hit multiple homers despite the loss, marking the 26th game with two-plus home runs – record sits at 28-12 when a bomb is hit.
• Tonight's loss marked just the fifth loss in 2024 and the 13th career loss for Meade when outhitting the opposition – outhit JMU 13-11.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mozoki, Todd (5-1)
L: Gainous, Garrett (2-4)
Batting:
2B: Trimble, Fenwick 1 ; Peifer, Wyatt 1 ; Calabrese, Coleman 1 ; Schmidly, Ike 1
3B: Mancini, Mike 1
HR: Trimble, Fenwick 1 ; O'Donnell, Brendan 1
RBI: Trimble, Fenwick 3 ; Mancini, Mike 2 ; Peifer, Wyatt 3 ; Calabrese, Coleman 1 ; O'Donnell, Brendan 2 ; Schmidly, Ike 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Dooley, Ryan 3 ; Trimble, Fenwick 3 ; Mancini, Mike 1 ; Schiavone, Jason 2 ; Peifer, Wyatt 1 ; Calabrese, Coleman 1 ; O'Donnell, Brendan 3
SB: Schiavone, Jason 1
HBP: Schiavone, Jason 1 ; O'Donnell, Brendan 1
Batting:
2B: Gilroy, Aidan 1
HR: Myers, Kole 1 ; Cobb Jr., Tremayne 1
RBI: Myers, Kole 3 ; Kavanagh, Ethan 1 ; Cobb Jr., Tremayne 1 ; Mock, Kyle 1 ; Gilroy, Aidan 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Myers, Kole 2 ; Kavanagh, Ethan 1 ; Butcher, Will 1 ; Bryan, Brooks 1 ; Cobb Jr., Tremayne 2 ; Mock, Kyle 1 ; Gilroy, Aidan 1 ; Bello, Mike 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
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5
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3
RBI
3
AB
5
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2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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RHP
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INF
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