No. 18 Troy Drops Series Opener at James Madison

Friday, April 11

Harrisonburg, Va.

5 p.m.

Troy University

24-11, 8-5

James Madison

12-22, 5-8

Troy

James Madison

No. 18 Troy Drops Series Opener at James Madison

4/11/2025 9:33:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

HARRISONBURG, Va. - No. 18 Troy dropped the series opener to James Madison 7-3 at Eagle Field.

The cold and rainy Friday night saw the Troy offense go scoreless over the first seven innings of the ballgame. James Madison starter Jackson Logar pitched 7.0 shutout innings with nine strikeouts, holding Trojans to two hits and three walks.

The Dukes put three runs across on Troy starter Garrett Gainous in the first inning, tallying three hits and three walks in the frame before scoring another in the second on two hits. Gainous pitched 4.1 innings, allowing eight hits, seven runs, six earned runs and four walks while striking out four.

Brock Tapper kept the Trojans in it with 3.2 strong innings in relief. The junior left-hander entered the ballgame with the bases loaded and one out, allowing just one of the inherited runners to score on a groundout before tossing three straight scoreless frames, tallying two strikeouts while holding JMU to two hits and one walk.

Troy scored three runs in the eighth once the Dukes turned to lefty Max Kuhle. Jimmy Janicki led off with a double as the JMU right fielder overran the popup down the line, while Steven Meier followed with a bunt single. Sean Darnell reached on a fielder's choice to score Janicki, and Houston Markham, who pinch-hit for Harrison Bowman in the seventh, tripled into the left-center gap to drive in Darnell before scoring on a passed ball. The Trojans, however, went down 1-2-3 in the ninth against righty Adam Horvath.

Game 2 between Troy and James Madison is slated for 3 p.m. CT on Saturday. Right-hander Noah Edders gets the start for the Trojans, while righty Casey Smith will take the mound for the Dukes.

Quick Hitters

Troy has lost three consecutive games for just the first time this season.
Blake Cavill batted in the leadoff spot for the first time this season. The last time he batted leadoff was his freshman year at Northwest Florida State.
Cavill extended his on-base streak to 40 games dating back to last season, drawing a walk.
Steven Meier batted third for the first time this season. He had batted leadoff in his first 33 starts this season.
Meier extended his on-base streak to 41 games dating back to last season, going 1-for-3 with a bunt-single and an HBP.
Meier's HBP was his 18th of the season, which leads the Sun Belt Conference and is the third-most in a single season in Troy history.
Sean Darnell extended his hitting streak and on-base streak to six games, going 1-for-4 with a double.
Houston Markham hit the first triple of his career in the eighth inning.
Gavin Schrader extended his on-base streak to nine games, going 1-for-2 with two walks.
Garrett Gainous recorded four strikeouts, bringing his career strikeout total to 254. He is five shy of Tyler Ray (259) for the third-most strikeouts in Troy history.
Brock Tapper pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in relief with two hits, two strikeouts and one walk.
Tapper's 3.2 innings pitched tied a career high. He tossed 3.2 scoreless innings against Arizona State as a freshman at Mississippi State (2/24/23) and pitched 3.2 innings of one-run ball at Jacksonville State earlier this season (3/11/25).

Quotable - Head Coach Skylar Meade

"We just freebied and didn't make plays early in the game. Just didn't come out ready to play, which is very simple, especially against a good arm. I credit them - their kid's really good on the other side."