Troy Falls to Maryland 9-3 as Series Evens

Saturday, March 7

Troy, Ala.

3:33 p.m.

Troy University

6-8

Maryland

9-5

Maryland

Troy

Troy Falls to Maryland 9-3 as Series Evens

3/7/2026 8:10:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. - Troy grabbed a brief lead in the second inning, but Maryland responded behind a strong pitching performance to defeat Troy 9-3 on Saturday to even the series.

The Trojans (6-8) finished with 11 hits but were held scoreless over the final seven innings as the Terrapins (9-5) used 13 hits and five shutout innings from relievers Nic Morlang and Logan Hastings.

Maryland struck first in the opening frame when David Mendez launched a two-run homer to give the Terrapins a 2-0 lead. Troy answered in the bottom of the second, stringing together four hits. Drew Nelson led off with an infield single, Josh Pyne followed with an RBI double, and Zaid Diaz and Blake Cavill added RBI singles to push the Trojans in front, 3-2.

The Terrapins responded immediately with a solo home run from nine-hole hitter Aden Hill in the top of the third.

Maryland retook the lead in the fifth with a single by Colin Gibbs, and the Terrapins added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth before Rylen Stockton's two-run homer in the ninth capped the scoring.

On the mound, Noah Thigpen allowed over 4.1 innings for the Trojans. Zach Crotchfelt followed with 3.1 innings of relief before Dylan King and Chase Cartron closed out the game.

Troy scored all three of its runs against lefty starter Evan Smith, who allowed eight hits in 4.0 innings. Morlang earned the win for Maryland with two scoreless innings of relief, striking out four, while Logan Hastings struck out eight over the final three innings to record the save.

Notables

Chase Cartron made his first appearance of the season in the top of the ninth, pitching 0.1 innings.
Jimmy Janicki recorded his team-best seventh multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 with a double
Aaron Piasecki recorded his fourth multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 with a double.
Zaid Diaz recorded his first multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-3 with a double, an HBP and an RBI. His double was his first as a Trojan.

Quotable - Head Coach Skylar Meade

"They scored the fourth through ninth runs with two outs. We got to the finish line of innings, but just couldn't get it done. And then the secondary story is we struck out 13 times."

Next Up

The series finale between Troy and Maryland is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Riddle-Pace Field.