Troy University Athletics
Thursday, May 23
Montgomery, Ala.
4 p.m.
Troy University
37-21
5
vs
6
Southern Miss
39-18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Troy
1
0
3
0
0
1
0
0
0
5
7
0
Southern Miss
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
3
X
6
11
1
No. 3 Troy Baseball Falls Late to No. 2/22 Southern Miss, Returns Tomorrow Against App State
5/23/2024 9:15:00 PM | Baseball
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – No. 3 Troy baseball falls to No. 2/22 Southern Miss on a three-run rally in the eighth for its first loss of the Sun Belt Tournament, 6-5, Thursday night at Riverwalk Stadium. Troy returns to action in the double-elimination tournament tomorrow at 3 p.m. against No. 6 App State.
Troy (37-21) answered the bell first in the top of the first as Kole Myers earned his 61st walk on a full count – advanced to second on a groundout. With a 1-2 count, 'The RBI King' Brooks Bryan tallied his 85th of 2024, 1-0, with a single that blooped into right field, scoring Myers from second.
The Troy defense kept the Golden Eagles (39-18) silent in the bottom half with a flyout to Ethan Kavanagh and a double play from a Garrett Gainous strikeout, with Bryan catching Dalton McIntyre trying to steal second on a throw to Tremayne Cobb Jr.
However, the second inning went USM's way when Nick Monistere singled through the left side, and Matthew Russo brought him home the following at-bat with a 2-0 double to center field, 1-1. Seth Smith continued with a single through the left side on his first pitch to score Russo from second and take a 2-1 lead. A groundout to Cobb Jr. briefly stopped the runs but advanced Smith to second, allowing a 0-1 double down the left field line for Gabe Broadus to bring No. 3 home, 3-1.
A quick response followed in the top of the third for Troy with a Kavanagh single to left center on a 1-2 count. Then, 'The Meat Man' Will Butcher was up 2-1 in the count and hammered his pitch 348 feet over the right field wall to tie the game at three. The Trojans reloaded the bases four batters later with a 2-0 single up the middle for Cobb Jr., a 4-2 walk for Kyle Mock and a 0-1 single to the pitcher for Aidan Gilroy. Loaded bases allowed Ben Arnett to step into the batter's box and collect his 18th walk on a 4-1 count to score Cobb Jr. and take a 4-3 lead.
Gainous controlled Southern Miss from there, allowing just two hits in the following three innings while bringing his strikeout number to seven with zero walks before Clete Hartzog came in for relief.
Along the way, Troy tacked on some insurance at the top of the sixth, starting with a full-count walk for Arnett. Arnett was called out on a fielder's choice for Peyton Watts, and Myers reached on a fielding error for Southern Miss to put runners on first and second. USM put the second out on the board with a caught stealing, but Myers managed to reach second. After Kavanagh got HBP and he and Myers were placed in scoring position on a wild pitch, Butcher delivered with a 2-2 RBI single through the right side, 5-3.
The bottom of the eighth saw the tide flip with a pair of walks and a fielder's choice for Davis Gillespie. With runners on first and second, Russo doubled down the left field line, scoring both to tie the game at five.
Logan Ross struck one out after coming in to relieve Jay Dill (1-3), who intentionally walked Smith and battled with Broadus to a full count but gave up the walk to load the bases. On a 2-2 count, leadoff batter McIntyre tapped one back to Ross for the single, bringing the eventual winning run in, 6-5. Josh Och came in to close and finished the job, putting three straight batters down to finish the rally.
Head Coach Skylar Meade
"Credit to Southern Miss for being disciplined there late. There were a lot of close ones but no freebies in tourney baseball. Eventually, it'll get you. This one stings. I wish everyone everyone in college baseball knows what Gainous did today. He battled surgery last year and is such a professional. He's the ultimate winner, and there are not a lot of arms that can perform the way he did on the mound 14 months after surgery. I truly hope people understand what they saw. He's a real warrior and never makes excuses."
Up Next
The Trojans prepare for round two against App State tomorrow at Riverwalk Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.
Round Two Numbers
• Myers' walk to open the ballgame resulted in his 61st of 2024, trimming his way to just four away from tying for the most walks in Troy single-season history – Jorge Soto (65).
• Butcher delivered his 16th homer of the season with a 3-RBI game, moving him to three away from the top 10 list for homers in a season and marking his 15th multi-RBI game and 10th with three or more – second for Troy in multi-RBI games.
• Gainous tied his season-high for strikeouts with seven Ks through 83 pitches and walked zero to mark the first time a starting pitcher gave up no walks since Luke Lyon in game two against Texas State and 10th time in 2024.
• Despite the loss, Troy remains steady when hitting a homer at 30-13, opposed to 7-8 when it doesn't.
• Mock and Kavanagh extended their season-long reached bases streak to 26 and 21, respectively.
Troy (37-21) answered the bell first in the top of the first as Kole Myers earned his 61st walk on a full count – advanced to second on a groundout. With a 1-2 count, 'The RBI King' Brooks Bryan tallied his 85th of 2024, 1-0, with a single that blooped into right field, scoring Myers from second.
The Troy defense kept the Golden Eagles (39-18) silent in the bottom half with a flyout to Ethan Kavanagh and a double play from a Garrett Gainous strikeout, with Bryan catching Dalton McIntyre trying to steal second on a throw to Tremayne Cobb Jr.
However, the second inning went USM's way when Nick Monistere singled through the left side, and Matthew Russo brought him home the following at-bat with a 2-0 double to center field, 1-1. Seth Smith continued with a single through the left side on his first pitch to score Russo from second and take a 2-1 lead. A groundout to Cobb Jr. briefly stopped the runs but advanced Smith to second, allowing a 0-1 double down the left field line for Gabe Broadus to bring No. 3 home, 3-1.
A quick response followed in the top of the third for Troy with a Kavanagh single to left center on a 1-2 count. Then, 'The Meat Man' Will Butcher was up 2-1 in the count and hammered his pitch 348 feet over the right field wall to tie the game at three. The Trojans reloaded the bases four batters later with a 2-0 single up the middle for Cobb Jr., a 4-2 walk for Kyle Mock and a 0-1 single to the pitcher for Aidan Gilroy. Loaded bases allowed Ben Arnett to step into the batter's box and collect his 18th walk on a 4-1 count to score Cobb Jr. and take a 4-3 lead.
Gainous controlled Southern Miss from there, allowing just two hits in the following three innings while bringing his strikeout number to seven with zero walks before Clete Hartzog came in for relief.
Along the way, Troy tacked on some insurance at the top of the sixth, starting with a full-count walk for Arnett. Arnett was called out on a fielder's choice for Peyton Watts, and Myers reached on a fielding error for Southern Miss to put runners on first and second. USM put the second out on the board with a caught stealing, but Myers managed to reach second. After Kavanagh got HBP and he and Myers were placed in scoring position on a wild pitch, Butcher delivered with a 2-2 RBI single through the right side, 5-3.
The bottom of the eighth saw the tide flip with a pair of walks and a fielder's choice for Davis Gillespie. With runners on first and second, Russo doubled down the left field line, scoring both to tie the game at five.
Logan Ross struck one out after coming in to relieve Jay Dill (1-3), who intentionally walked Smith and battled with Broadus to a full count but gave up the walk to load the bases. On a 2-2 count, leadoff batter McIntyre tapped one back to Ross for the single, bringing the eventual winning run in, 6-5. Josh Och came in to close and finished the job, putting three straight batters down to finish the rally.
Head Coach Skylar Meade
"Credit to Southern Miss for being disciplined there late. There were a lot of close ones but no freebies in tourney baseball. Eventually, it'll get you. This one stings. I wish everyone everyone in college baseball knows what Gainous did today. He battled surgery last year and is such a professional. He's the ultimate winner, and there are not a lot of arms that can perform the way he did on the mound 14 months after surgery. I truly hope people understand what they saw. He's a real warrior and never makes excuses."
Up Next
The Trojans prepare for round two against App State tomorrow at Riverwalk Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.
Round Two Numbers
• Myers' walk to open the ballgame resulted in his 61st of 2024, trimming his way to just four away from tying for the most walks in Troy single-season history – Jorge Soto (65).
• Butcher delivered his 16th homer of the season with a 3-RBI game, moving him to three away from the top 10 list for homers in a season and marking his 15th multi-RBI game and 10th with three or more – second for Troy in multi-RBI games.
• Gainous tied his season-high for strikeouts with seven Ks through 83 pitches and walked zero to mark the first time a starting pitcher gave up no walks since Luke Lyon in game two against Texas State and 10th time in 2024.
• Despite the loss, Troy remains steady when hitting a homer at 30-13, opposed to 7-8 when it doesn't.
• Mock and Kavanagh extended their season-long reached bases streak to 26 and 21, respectively.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Middleton, JB (1-1)
L: Dill, Jay (1-3)
S: Och, Josh (1)
Batting:
HR: Butcher, Will 1
RBI: Butcher, Will 3 ; Bryan, Brooks 1 ; Arnett, Ben 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Myers, Kole 2 ; Kavanagh, Ethan 1 ; Butcher, Will 1 ; Cobb Jr., Tremayne 1
SB: Cobb Jr., Tremayne 1
CS: Watts, Peyton 1
HBP: Kavanagh, Ethan 1 ; Arnett, Ben 1
Batting:
2B: Wilks, Slade 1 ; Russo, Matthew 2 ; Smith, Seth 1 ; Broadus, Gabe 1
RBI: McIntyre, Dalton 1 ; Russo, Matthew 3 ; Smith, Seth 1 ; Broadus, Gabe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gillespie, Davis 1 ; Monistere, Nick 2 ; Russo, Matthew 2 ; Smith, Seth 1
CS: McIntyre, Dalton 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
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RHP
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RHP
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LHP
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