Troy University Athletics
Saturday, May 23
Montgomery, Ala.
9 a.m.
Troy University
31-28
11
vs
10
South Alabama
34-23
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Alabama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 3 |
| Troy | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 11 | 15 | 2 |
Troy Wins Elimination Games With South Alabama, Southern Miss at SBC Tournament
5/23/2026 9:39:00 PM | Baseball
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - No. 4 seed Troy won two elimination games in the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Saturday, sending home No. 5 seed South Alabama in the morning before avenging Friday's loss with No. 1 seed Southern Miss in the afternoon.
The Trojans (32-28) had a quick turnaround to Saturday's 9 a.m. start after Southern Miss' walk-off grand slam at 11:07 p.m. on Friday, and Troy did the improbable with an 11-10 defeat of the Jaguars (34-23) before a 9-6 win over the No. 8 nationally ranked Golden Eagles (42-15).Â
Troy narrowly escaped Saturday morning's loser-leaves-town game with South Alabama after entering the ninth inning leading 11-4. The Jaguars put up six runs against three Trojan arms in the frame, taking advantage of a walk and an error while tallying four hits, including three doubles. Drew Nelson, who began the inning in right field, stranded the tying run on second with a strikeout to leadoff man Brennon Wright.Â
The first eight innings were smooth sailing on the mound. Hayden Smith cruised through the first three innings before issuing two unearned runs in the fourth. A one-out error led to a fielder's choice and three straight singles to push two runs across. Smith finished with three strikeouts to no walks in five innings, allowing five hits without an earned run.
Freshman Matt Dill followed with three innings while issuing six hits - all singles - as the Jaguars scored a pair of runs. Dill's only walk of the game came was the last hitter he daced with one out in the ninth.
Troy knocked out South Alabama starter Tyler Smith with a three-run second inning. The Trojans drew a walk and picked up four hits in the frame, with Sean Darnell, Jabe Boroff and Aaron Piasecki collecting RBI singles.Â
The Trojans kept their foot on the gas against a South pitching staff that used nine different arms. Troy totaled 15 hits, drew six walks and was hit by two pitches. Darnell led Troy with three hits, while Piasecki, Boroff, Jimmy Janicki, Drew Nelson, and Houston Markham each had two. Boroff delivered what would become the decisive blow with a 419-foot, two-run blast in the eighth.Â
Zach Crotchfelt made his first start as a Trojan against the Golden Eagles in the afternoon, putting together a career performance. Crotchfelt had thrown 67 pitches across four innings without an earned run as the winning pitcher against South Alabama on Thursday, and followed it up Saturday with a career-high eight strikeouts across five innings, allowing just one run in the fourth inning.
The Troy bats tallied eight hits with a pair against USM starter Camden Sunstrom in his 5.1 innings of work. The Trojans struck first with a three-spot in the third as Blake Cavill and Janicki picked up a pair of RBI singles before Nelson legged out what was initially called an inning-ending double play before a successful Troy challenge to score another.
Sunstrom exited with one out in the fifth with a runner on first as Boroff led off with a walk, and Josh Pyne followed with a two-out, two-strike, two-run blast off Thomas Crabtree. Troy tacked on three more in the seventh with a bases-clearing triple down the right field line.
A one-hour, 57-minute weather delay struck when Troy took the field in the bottom of the seventh. The Trojans trotted out Cooper Ellingworth after the delay, and he responded to last night's walk-off grand slam with a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth. Troy added an insurance run in the eighth on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch as Drake Meeks issued a single and three free passes in the frame.
Ellingworth retired the first two hitters of the ninth before the Golden Eagles began to rally. After a walk and three straight hits, including a triple by Joey Urban, USM had gotten the lead within three with a runner on base. Troy turned to Tommy Egan for his first relief appearance of the season, and he struck out Davis Gillespie to end the ballgame.
Notables - South Alabama
Notables - Southern Miss
Quotables
Head Coach Skylar Meade
"That is a culture day that only happens when you have incredible buy-in. I know there are things we can do better. I know there are things that I can certainly do better. Anyone who doesn't know that has no concept about what is going on in this sport. That was the most amazing thing to witness."
LHP Zach Crotchfelt…
It really just comes down to that feeling of yesterday and knowing how much this group means to each other. Knowing how much this season means to us. We've got 16 seniors - me being one of them. I just wanted to fight for them - give everything I had."
Third baseman Josh Pyne…
"Last night was a heartbreaker. In baseball, games aren't over until they're over. Everyone thought we had that game won. It didn't go our way, but to be able to bounce back, pick up a win this morning, and come back and compete with them like that - it's a gritty team. We're led right. We've got good leaders on our side."
Next Up
Troy and Southern Miss meet again at 9 a.m. on Sunday at DABOS Park in the semifinal. The winner will take on the winner of Saturday night's matchup between No. 6 seed Texas State and No. 7 seed Louisiana in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.
The Trojans (32-28) had a quick turnaround to Saturday's 9 a.m. start after Southern Miss' walk-off grand slam at 11:07 p.m. on Friday, and Troy did the improbable with an 11-10 defeat of the Jaguars (34-23) before a 9-6 win over the No. 8 nationally ranked Golden Eagles (42-15).Â
Troy narrowly escaped Saturday morning's loser-leaves-town game with South Alabama after entering the ninth inning leading 11-4. The Jaguars put up six runs against three Trojan arms in the frame, taking advantage of a walk and an error while tallying four hits, including three doubles. Drew Nelson, who began the inning in right field, stranded the tying run on second with a strikeout to leadoff man Brennon Wright.Â
The first eight innings were smooth sailing on the mound. Hayden Smith cruised through the first three innings before issuing two unearned runs in the fourth. A one-out error led to a fielder's choice and three straight singles to push two runs across. Smith finished with three strikeouts to no walks in five innings, allowing five hits without an earned run.
Freshman Matt Dill followed with three innings while issuing six hits - all singles - as the Jaguars scored a pair of runs. Dill's only walk of the game came was the last hitter he daced with one out in the ninth.
Troy knocked out South Alabama starter Tyler Smith with a three-run second inning. The Trojans drew a walk and picked up four hits in the frame, with Sean Darnell, Jabe Boroff and Aaron Piasecki collecting RBI singles.Â
The Trojans kept their foot on the gas against a South pitching staff that used nine different arms. Troy totaled 15 hits, drew six walks and was hit by two pitches. Darnell led Troy with three hits, while Piasecki, Boroff, Jimmy Janicki, Drew Nelson, and Houston Markham each had two. Boroff delivered what would become the decisive blow with a 419-foot, two-run blast in the eighth.Â
Zach Crotchfelt made his first start as a Trojan against the Golden Eagles in the afternoon, putting together a career performance. Crotchfelt had thrown 67 pitches across four innings without an earned run as the winning pitcher against South Alabama on Thursday, and followed it up Saturday with a career-high eight strikeouts across five innings, allowing just one run in the fourth inning.
The Troy bats tallied eight hits with a pair against USM starter Camden Sunstrom in his 5.1 innings of work. The Trojans struck first with a three-spot in the third as Blake Cavill and Janicki picked up a pair of RBI singles before Nelson legged out what was initially called an inning-ending double play before a successful Troy challenge to score another.
Sunstrom exited with one out in the fifth with a runner on first as Boroff led off with a walk, and Josh Pyne followed with a two-out, two-strike, two-run blast off Thomas Crabtree. Troy tacked on three more in the seventh with a bases-clearing triple down the right field line.
A one-hour, 57-minute weather delay struck when Troy took the field in the bottom of the seventh. The Trojans trotted out Cooper Ellingworth after the delay, and he responded to last night's walk-off grand slam with a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth. Troy added an insurance run in the eighth on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch as Drake Meeks issued a single and three free passes in the frame.
Ellingworth retired the first two hitters of the ninth before the Golden Eagles began to rally. After a walk and three straight hits, including a triple by Joey Urban, USM had gotten the lead within three with a runner on base. Troy turned to Tommy Egan for his first relief appearance of the season, and he struck out Davis Gillespie to end the ballgame.
Notables - South Alabama
- Troy won four games in a single season against South Alabama for the first time since 2011.
- Troy's 15 hits were its most in an SBC Tournament game since collecting 18 hits in a 9-6 loss to Arkansas State in 2021.
- Sean Darnell recorded his first three-hit game of the season.
- Jabe Boroff hit his fifth homer of the season in the eighth inning. It traveled 419 feet with an exit velocity of 112 MPH.Â
- Hayden Smith pitched five innings without an earned run. On the season against the Jaguars, Smith has pitched 11 innings without an earned run.Â
Notables - Southern Miss
- Troy's win over the No. 8 Golden Eagles was its second over a top-ten opponent. The Trojans previously defeated then-ranked No. 8 Georgia on February 25.Â
- Troy extended its home run streak to 11 games. It's the Trojans' first time homering in 11 straight games since April 1-16, 2023.Â
- Josh Pyne's two-run homer in the sixth inning was his eighth of the season, which is a career-high for the redshirt senior. It traveled 372 feet with an exit velocity of 97 MPH.
- With an RBI in each game, Jimmy Janicki now has a Sun Belt-leading 73 RBIs this season. He is now tied with Tom King and Will Butcher for the fourth-most in a single season by a Trojan.
- Zach Crotchfelt's 5.0 innings matched his career high. It was his longest appearance since tossing 5.0 innings against Southeastern Louisiana during his freshman season at Auburn in 2023.
- Crotchfelt's eight strikeouts were a career high. His previous career high of seven came against Louisiana on April 17.
- Tommy Egan earned his first career save. It was also his first career appearance in the ninth inning of a game.Â
Quotables
Head Coach Skylar Meade
"That is a culture day that only happens when you have incredible buy-in. I know there are things we can do better. I know there are things that I can certainly do better. Anyone who doesn't know that has no concept about what is going on in this sport. That was the most amazing thing to witness."
LHP Zach Crotchfelt…
It really just comes down to that feeling of yesterday and knowing how much this group means to each other. Knowing how much this season means to us. We've got 16 seniors - me being one of them. I just wanted to fight for them - give everything I had."
Third baseman Josh Pyne…
"Last night was a heartbreaker. In baseball, games aren't over until they're over. Everyone thought we had that game won. It didn't go our way, but to be able to bounce back, pick up a win this morning, and come back and compete with them like that - it's a gritty team. We're led right. We've got good leaders on our side."
Next Up
Troy and Southern Miss meet again at 9 a.m. on Sunday at DABOS Park in the semifinal. The winner will take on the winner of Saturday night's matchup between No. 6 seed Texas State and No. 7 seed Louisiana in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Hayden (4-0)
L: Smith, Tyler (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Melton, Ethan 1 ; Miranda, Robert 1 ; Guerin, Blake 1 ; Wright, Brennon 1
RBI: Melton, Ethan 1 ; Mathews, Duncan 1 ; Miranda, Robert 3 ; Guerin, Blake 1 ; Puckett, Stewart 1 ; Stephens, Marc 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Melton, Ethan 1 ; Young, Michael 2 ; Johnson, Rett 2 ; Miranda, Robert 1 ; Guerin, Blake 1 ; Stephens, Marc 1 ; Wright, Brennon 1 ; Wood, Nathan 1
Batting:
2B: Janicki, Jimmy 1 ; Markham, Houston 1 ; Cavill, Blake 1 ; Piasecki, Aaron 1
HR: Boroff, Jabe 1
RBI: Janicki, Jimmy 1 ; Darnell, Sean 2 ; Nelson, Drew 2 ; Boroff, Jabe 3 ; Piasecki, Aaron 2
SF: Nelson, Drew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Janicki, Jimmy 3 ; Darnell, Sean 1 ; Nelson, Drew 1 ; Markham, Houston 1 ; Meier, Steven 2 ; Cavill, Blake 1 ; Boroff, Jabe 2
SB: Janicki, Jimmy 1 ; Nelson, Drew 1
CS: Janicki, Jimmy 1
HBP: Boroff, Jabe 1 ; Pyne, Josh 1
PO: Janicki, Jimmy 1
Players Mentioned
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LHP
/ BaseballSkylar Meade, Josh Pyne & Zach Crotchfelt Postgame - SBC Tournament Saturday
Saturday, May 23
Skylar Meade SBC Tournament Postgame - Southern Miss
Saturday, May 23
Skylar Meade, Blake Cavill & Zach Crotchfelt SBC Tournament Postgame - South Alabama
Thursday, May 21
Skylar Meade Postgame - ULM Game 2
Friday, May 15