No. 14 Troy Falls in Series Opener to No. 19 Southern Miss

Thursday, May 15

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

37-17, 18-10

Southern Miss

39-13, 22-6

Southern Miss

Troy

No. 14 Troy Falls in Series Opener to No. 19 Southern Miss

5/15/2025 10:25:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. - No. 14 Troy fell 4-3 to No. 19 Southern Miss in Thursday's series opener at Riddle-Pace Field.

The Trojans had the tying and winning runs on base after back-to-back singles by Mike Bello and Dillon Kuehl to open the ninth inning, but a popped up bunt by Peyton Watts and back-to-back groundouts by Steven Meier and Houston Markham ended the ballgame.

Troy struck first against Southern Miss righty JB Middleton, who pitched 6.0 innings with four hits, two runs and six strikeouts, as Brooks Bryan rocketed a 115 MPH double to right-center and scored on a single by Sean Darnell.

Troy starter Noah Thigpen cruised for the first three innings, but allowed three unearned runs in the top of the fourth as a one-out error led to a single, a sac fly that would have ended the inning, two walks and another single.

Grady Gorgen recorded the final out of the frame, and gave the Trojans 2.0 hitless innings with a strikeout and a walk. Colby Frieda pitched 3.0 innings for the Trojans out of the bullpen, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out two.

Troy trimmed the 3-1 Southern Miss lead with an RBI single by Jimmy Janicki in the fourth, while Meier tied it with an RBI double against reliever Colby Allen in the seventh. Frieda, who had just stranded runners on second and third in the seventh, allowed his only damage on the day in the top of the eighth as the Golden Eagles reclaimed the lead with a solo home run by designated hitter Joey Urban.

The loss locks Troy (37-17, 18-10 Sun Belt) into the No. 3 seed in next week's tournament, as they now trail Southern Miss (39-13, 22-6) by four games with two games left to play.

Quick Hitters

Troy is 11-5 in games decided by one run.
Troy is 20-7 at Riddle-Pace Field.
Troy's pitching staff combined to allow one earned run. The last time Troy lost a game while allowing one earned run came in a 5-3 loss to Southern Miss on March 30, 2024.
Steven Meier extended his on-base streak to six games, going 1-for-4 with a double, an HBP and an RBI.
Meier recorded his 24th HBP of the season, which is the third-most in a single season in Troy history. He is one shy of the single season record of 25 held by Steven Felix (2010) and William Sullivan (2023).
Meier's double was his 16th of the season, which is tied for fourth in the Sun Belt.
Houston Markham extended his on-base streak to 22 games, drawing a walk.
Blake Cavill extended his on-base streak to 59 games dating back to last season, drawing a walk
Cavill's walk was his 60th of the season. He entered the weekend tied for the nation's lead with 59 walks.
Cavill's 60 walks are the third-most in a single season in Troy history. He is five shy of the Troy record of 65 walks set by Jorge Soto in 1999.
Brooks Bryan extended his hitting streak to five games and on-base streak to six games, going 1-for-4 with a double.
Bryan's double was his 16th of the season, which is tied for fourth in the Sun Belt.
Jimmy Janicki recorded his 15th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Janicki hit his 11th double of the season.
Sean Darnell went 1-for-4 with an RBI single.
Noah Thigpen pitched 3.2 innings with five hits, three runs, zero earned runs, two walks and strikeouts.
Grady Gorgen pitched 2.0 hitless innings with one walk and one strikeout. Gorgen has been scoreless in four of his last six appearances.
Colby Frieda pitched 3.0 innings with four hits, one run, one earned run, zero walks and two strikeouts.
Chase Nelson recorded the third out of the ninth inning with a strikeout.

Quotable - Head coach Skylar Meade
"Attention to detail wasn't enough. They had great attention to detail and we didn't. You can pin that on a couple things. That's just the nature of it - when you play in high stakes games, you don't have room for error."