Troy University Athletics
Troy University
16-6, 2-2
Coastal Carolina
17-5, 4-0
No. 18 Troy Drops Series Opener to No. 16 Coastal Carolina
3/21/2025 7:54:00 PM | Baseball
TROY, Ala. - No. 18 Troy fell to No. 16 Coastal Carolina 11-3 in Friday's series opener at Riddle-Pace Field.
A solo home run from Troy centerfielder Steven Meier evened the ballgame at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth, but a four-spot by Coastal in the top of the sixth put them in the driver's seat.
Troy was outhit 10-9 by the Chanticleers, while the Trojan pitching staff issued a season-high ten walks and a season-high six HBPs. Troy starter Garrett Gainous went 4.0 innings, striking out six while allowing three earned runs, four hits, and five walks.
Lefty Brock Tapper pitched a scoreless fifth inning but left the ballgame with the bases loaded before recording an out in the sixth. Tapper was charged with three earned runs after Colby Frieda allowed a sac fly to Coastal catcher Caden Bodine and a three-run homer to left fielder Sebastian Alexander.
Coastal starter Jacob Morrison pitched 5.0 innings, earning the win and allowing six hits, three earned runs and two walks with five strikeouts. The Trojans scored two runs off Morrison in the fourth on a Jakob Wax double before Meier's homer in the fifth. Lefty Dominick Carbone finished the ballgame with 4.0 scoreless innings in relief, earning the save while holding Troy to three hits and racking up seven strikeouts.
The Chanticleers added four runs in the top of the ninth, capitalizing on a pair of Troy errors. Kelly Crumpton allowed one earned run in the frame after a scoreless eighth, while George Welch recorded all three outs in the inning while allowing three unearned runs.
Troy moves to 16-6 on the season and 2-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans will take on the Chanticleers (17-5, 4-0 SBC) in Game 2 at 3:33 pm at Riddle-Pace Field on Saturday.
Quick Hitters
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The 11-3 loss to Coastal Carolina was Troy's first loss at home this season. The Trojans are 10-1 at Riddle-Pace Field.
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Troy has hit 30 home runs this season. All 30 have come against a right-handed pitcher.
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Steven Meier extended his on-base streak to 28 games dating back to last season, going 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI.
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Meier's solo home run in the fifth inning was his fifth of the season.
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Sean Darnell extended his hitting streak to eight games and on-base streak to 14 games, going 2-for-4 with a triple.
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Darnell's triple in the third inning was his second of the season, leading the team.
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Blake Cavill extended his on-base streak to 29 games dating back to last season, going 1-for-3 with a walk.
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Cavill's walk was his 29th of the season. He entered the weekend ranked third in the nation with 28 walks.
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Jimmy Janicki extended his on-base streak to 14 games, going 2-for-4. It was Janicki's third multi-hit game of the season.
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Jakob Wax went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. It was his second multi-RBI game of the season.
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Troy's pitching staff allowed ten walks and six HBPs, which are both season highs.
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Garrett Gainous started the 47th game of his career, which is the fourth most starts in Troy history.
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Gainous recorded six strikeouts, which gives him 237 for his career. He has the fourth-most strikeouts in Troy history and trails Tyler Ray (259) for third place.
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Colby Frieda's hitless streak and scoreless streak ended at 11.1 innings after allowing a home run in the sixth inning.
Quotable - Head Coach Skylar Meade
"The walks, the myriad of mismanaged plays, they'll come back to get you, and they did. Coastal took advantage of it because that's what a really great team does."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Morrison, Jacob (4-0)
L: Tapper, Brock (0-1)
S: Carbone, Dominick (2)
Batting:
2B: Mihos, Dean 2 ; Huffman, Kaleb 1 ; Dooley, Ty 1
3B: Mitchell, Walker 1
HR: Alexander, Sebastian 1
RBI: Mihos, Dean 2 ; Bodine, Caden 1 ; Alexander, Sebastian 3 ; Barthol, Blake 1 ; Pado, Blagen 1 ; Thorndyke, Colby 1
SH: Alexander, Sebastian 1
SF: Bodine, Caden 1 ; Pado, Blagen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mihos, Dean 2 ; Bodine, Caden 1 ; Alexander, Sebastian 2 ; Barthol, Blake 1 ; Mitchell, Walker 1 ; Huffman, Kaleb 1 ; Thorndyke, Colby 2 ; Dooley, Ty 1
SB: Barthol, Blake 1
CS: Mihos, Dean 1
HBP: Mihos, Dean 2 ; Alexander, Sebastian 1 ; Barthol, Blake 1 ; Mitchell, Walker 2
PO: Bodine, Caden 1
Batting:
2B: Wax, Jakob 1
3B: Darnell, Sean 1
HR: Meier, Steven 1
RBI: Meier, Steven 1 ; Wax, Jakob 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Meier, Steven 1 ; Schrader, Gavin 1 ; Janicki, Jimmy 1
HBP: Schrader, Gavin 1 ; Kuehl, Dillon 1
