Troy Drops Series Opener at Georgia Southern

Friday, March 27

Statesboro, Ga.

5:30 p.m.

Troy University

11-15, 3-4

Georgia Southern

98-18, 2-5

Troy

Georgia Southern

Troy Drops Series Opener at Georgia Southern

3/27/2026 10:08:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

STATESBORO, Ga. - A three-run ninth inning from the Georgia Southern offense erased Troy's lead as the Trojans fell to the Eagles 4-3 in Friday night's series opener at J.I. Clements Stadium.

Zach Crotchfelt held onto a 3-1 Troy lead by striking out the side in the eighth, but the Eagles cut the lead to one with a one-out homer by DH Brady Christman in the bottom of the ninth. After the Trojans turned to Cooper Ellingworth, right fielder Bennett Edwards tied up the ballgame with a homer on the first pitch he threw. Ellingworth got the next hitter to ground out for the second out, but a Jack Myers single and a Jonathan Jaime pinch-hit double down the left field line walked it off for the Eagles.

Troy starter Benjamin Stubbs dominated the Eagles through his seven innings of work, no-hitting them through six. The senior lefty matched his career high of 12 strikeouts, walking just one, which included him striking out five consecutive hitters across the fourth and fifth innings before striking out the side in the sixth. Georgia Southern finally got on the board in the seventh after a pair of base hits and an RBI fielder's choice by Myers.

The Troy offense jumped on Georgia Southern starter Will Holder, putting up eight hits against the freshman in his four innings. Steven Meier, who hit for the cycle, led off the third inning with a triple as the Trojans knocked in two runs on singles by Sean Darnell and Jimmy Janicki in a five-hit inning. Meier launched a 439-foot solo homer in the fourth to add to Troy's scoring.

The Georgia Southern bullpen stepped up, however, holding Troy to just two hits, both by Meier, in the final five frames. Craig Kalkbrenner pitched four innings with one hit and one strikeout, while Brady Pendley struck out the side, allowing just a single to Meier to complete the cycle in the top of the ninth.

Notables

Troy's pitching staff struck out 15 hitters, its most since striking out 17 in a 12-inning game at Arkansas State on May 9, 2025. It was Troy's most in a 9-inning game since striking out 18 against South Alabama on March 22, 2024.
Benjamin Stubbs matched his career high of 12 strikeouts. He's the first Trojan with 12 strikeouts since Benny Thompson on March 7, 2023, at FGCU.
Stubbs pitched seven innings for the fourth time in his last five starts. He went seven innings just twice during his three seasons at Flagler.
Stubbs struck out five consecutive hitters across the fourth and fifth innings. He's the first Troy pitcher to do so since Logan Ross on March 8, 2023, at FGCU.
Drew Nelson extended his hitting streak to seven games. He's hitting. 407 during that stretch.
Josh Pyne extended his hitting streak to 11 games. He's hitting .375 during that stretch.
Jimmy Janicki extended his hitting streak to 10 games. He's hitting .395 during that stretch.
Steven Meier became the third player in Troy history to hit for the cycle, joining Miles Hoyle against Memphis (Feb. 28, 2009) and Danny Collins against Florida A&M (Feb. 16, 2013)
Meier hit his third homer of the season. It traveled 439 feet with an exit velocity of 109 MPH, the furthest homer of his Troy career.
Meier's triple was his third of the season. He's tied with four other players for the most triples in the Sun Belt.
Meier is the second Trojan with a four-hit game this season, joining Aaron Piasecki who did so against Campbell on Feb. 20. It was also Meier's second career four-hit game.

Quotable
Head Coach Skylar Meade
"We had the opportunity to take good swings, and we didn't add on in a time in which we really needed to, and to me, that's truly the testament of what happened. It's really not any crazy takeaway. They took impactful swings and we did not, and the game came back to bite us. We wasted two great performances, one offensively from Steve [Meier] and certainly what Stubbs did."

Next Up
Game two of the series between Troy and Georgia Southern is slated for 1 p.m. CT at J.I. Clements Stadium.