No. 18 Troy Tops Louisiana 4-3 in Sun Belt Opener

Friday, March 14

Lafayette, La.

6 p.m.

Troy University

14-4, 1-0

Louisiana

8-11, 0-1

Troy

Louisiana

No. 18 Troy Tops Louisiana 4-3 in Sun Belt Opener

3/14/2025 10:57:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

LAFAYETTE, La. - A dominant performance by No. 18 Troy's pitching staff and a pair of home runs by Brooks Bryan and Sean Darnell propelled the Trojans to a 4-3 win over Louisiana to open Sun Belt play.

Troy (14-4, 1-0 SBC), got another strong start from senior Garrett Gainous, who now has a 3.86 ERA through five starts this season. In 5.0 innings, the right-hander held Louisiana (8-11, 0-1 SBC) to three hits, allowing three runs, one earned run and two walks with five strikeouts.

Offensively, the Trojans outhit Louisiana 7-4 and did all of their damage against Ragin' Cajun starter Matthew Holzhammer. With Louisiana leading 2-0 in the third inning, Bryan smashed a 426-foot blast over the right-center wall with two runners on to put the Trojans ahead 3-2 while Darnell followed with a solo shot to right in the fourth.

Louisiana's Andrew Herrmann put together a strong performance in relief, holding Troy to three hits while racking up six strikeouts in 5.1 innings, but the Trojan bullpen went toe-to-toe with the Ragin' Cajun lefty.

Colby Frieda was nails out of the Trojans bullpen once again, holding Louisiana hitless across 3.0 innings pitched while striking out three. Frieda has been lights out in his last five appearances, allowing zero hits with 12 strikeouts in 10.1 innings. Jay Dill closed things out in the ninth, racking up two strikeouts and ending the ballgame on a double play with a strikeout and an interference call on Louisiana hitter Caleb Stelly while Mark Collins attempted to steal second base.

Game 2 between Troy and Louisiana is slated for 5 p.m. Saturday at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field. Junior right-hander Noah Edders will take the mound for the Trojans while Louisiana has not named a starter.

Quick Hitters

Troy is 5-0 in series openers this season and 31-18 in Skylar Meade's tenure as head coach.
The Trojans are 11-0 in games they've hit a home run this season.
While Louisiana scored first, Troy is now 8-2 in games when their opponent scores first.
Troy has hit 23 home runs this season. All 23 have come against a right-handed pitcher.
Steven Meier drew a walk and a HBP, extending his on-base streak to 25 games dating back to last season.
Sean Darnell hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. It was Darnell's fourth home run of the season.
Darnell went 1-for-5 with a home run and an RBI, extending his on-base streak to ten games.
Darnell now has 23 RBIs this season. He entered the weekend tied for second in the Sun Belt Conference with 22.
Blake Cavill went 1-for-2 with three walks, extending his on-base streak to 25 games dating back to last season.
Cavill now has 25 walks this season. He entered the weekend ranked fifth in the nation with 22 walks.
Brooks Bryan hit a 3-run home run in the third inning. It was Bryan's fifth home run of the season and the 27th of his career.
Bryan now has 31 RBIs this season. He entered the weekend as the Sun Belt leader with 28.
Drew Nelson made the first start of his career as a hitter, batting fifth and serving as the designated hitter.
Troy's pitchers held Louisiana to four hits. Its the fewest hits Troy has a allowed to a Sun Belt opponent in a nine-inning game since it held South Alabama to four hits in an 8-1 win on April 28, 2023. The Trojans held Arkansas State to two hits in a seven-inning game last season in a 14-0 win on April 5, 2024.
Garrett Gainous allowed three hits, the fewest hits he's allowed in a start this season.
Gainous struck out five hitters. He now has the fourth-most strikeouts in Troy history (231).
Gainous threw 99 pitches, which is the most pitches he's thrown in a start since 2022.
Colby Frieda pitched three hitless innings in relief with three strikeouts. Frieda has held opponents to an .093 batting average this season.
In his last five appearances, Frieda has pitched 10.1 innings without surrendering a hit.
Frieda has held the opponent scoreless in seven of his eight appearances this season.
Jay Dill recorded the save, striking out two hitters in a scoreless ninth inning. It's his second save this season and sixth og his career.

Quotables

Head Coach Skylar Meade on the win

"We made big-time impactful pitches when we needed to. In the end, the guys were really nasty. Brooks and Darnell's two shots gave us enough. We had some other opportunities that we weren't able to utilize, but credit goes to the way they pitched us too. Pitches were executed throughout the night on both sides."

Colby Frieda on executing his pitches

"Just focusing on one pitch at a time, executing what's called helps you dial it in and keeps it minimalistic."