Troy University Athletics
Johnson’s Journal: Boroff’s Breakthrough Powers Troy’s Historic Run
6/4/2026 10:00:00 AM | Baseball
TROY, Ala. - It's almost as if a switch turned on for Jabe Boroff, lighting up what had been a dim season.
After Boroff sent a pitch over the left field fence for a three-run homer in the eighth inning - his fourth home run in three days to put the finishing touches on Troy's 10-2 baseball win over host Florida on Monday night to win the Gainesville Regional - the junior designated hitter couldn't hide his emotions.
"It's a weird feeling because your adrenalin is going so much and I'm yelling going around the bases," Boroff said. "I get back in the dugout after celebrating and I'm like, 'Wow, I feel like I just ran a 5K,' because I'm so tired."
It capped an amazing five-game stretch at the plate for Boroff, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after helping Troy earn a Super Regional berth for the first time in school history.
Boroff compiled 10 hits, four home runs and 12 RBIs as the Trojans defeated Miami and Florida, two times each, and Rider once, over four days of the double-elimination tournament.
"I've been trying to savor it, but at the same time understanding that the season is not over and we have a bigger challenge ahead of us," Boroff said. "But it's definitely been a lot of fun … a lot of people calling and texting me. It's been really great."
Troy (36-30) hosts Little Rock (39-26) at Riddle-Pace Field starting Friday in a best-of-three series for the right to advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The first pitch Friday is slated for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
Game time is set for 2 p.m. Saturday for the second of the series and will be televised on ESPN2. If a third game is needed, it will be played Sunday at a time yet to be announced.
A frustrating regular season
For Boroff, a season of disappointment at the plate for the Enterprise State Community College transfer began trending upward during the Sun Belt Conference Tournament (May 19-24). Over five games, Boroff collected five hits, one being a home run, before the Trojans were ousted by Southern Miss, 6-2, a win shy of the championship game of the double-elimination tourney in Montgomery.
Before postseason play, Boroff had collected seven hits, four home runs and 10 RBIs in 32 games of the regular season.
For someone who had been named the Player of the Year in the Alabama Community College Conference after his sophomore season at Enterprise State, being in a hitting slump practically his entire first year at Troy was hard for Boroff to comprehend.
"When you're the DH, if you're struggling at the plate, it's really, really frustrating," Boroff said. "I guess mentally I've never really been challenged like that."
During his two years at Enterprise State, Boroff led the state in home runs, RBIs and batting average each season. As a freshman, he hit .445 with eight home runs and 49 RBIs and as a sophomore hit .452 with 20 home runs and 62 RBIs.
Life was pretty rosy for Boroff at ESCC, though one dismal doubleheader does stick out.
"I remember one day … I don't remember which team we were playing … that I went 0-11, or maybe 1-11," Boroff said. "That was really the only time I really struggled. But that was just one day of bad and you move on and don't let it compound.
"But my struggles here was you're going 0-for-3 and you go back out there the next day and you go 0-for-2. The slump was just adding and adding, and it was hard to dig yourself out of the hole."
While having difficulties during his first season at Troy was mentally taxing, Boroff had plenty of support.
"The coaching staff and everybody around me always had belief in me," Boroff said. "They understood that I may be struggling, but they knew the player that I am … they knew I had the ability to show up and get something done."
He also relied on his Christian faith.
"Number one is God, because I would pray to Him all the time," Boroff said of getting through the trying times. "I said it in the (TV) interview after the (regional championship) game - I talked about how my girlfriend, my mom, my dad and my sister were always praying for me and talking to me about it.
"They were giving me (Bible) verses about how you just have to trust in God's plan in what's going on and He's going to put you through things to test you and your faith. And if you trust and believe in Him, He's got a plan for you and everything is going to work out.
"Even if the path wasn't for me to succeed this week, I would have understood it's going to work out and God has a plan."
Accepting his role
In signing with Troy as a catcher, Boroff knew Jimmy Janicki would likely be the starter at that position for this season. Janicki, a sophomore, is considered one of the top catchers in the nation and was recently named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.
Boroff understood his role this season would be backing up Janicki and getting time as a designated hitter. Not having a chance to contribute in the field while slumping at the plate was discouraging to him.
"As the DH, you have to understand that's your job," Boroff said. "Other people at other positions might not hit well that day, but they have other things to contribute to the game.
"I can think of a thousand times when we had players struggling at the plate and they go out there and make a few big plays (in the field) and really impact the game."
During his final season in high school at Macon-East Academy in Cecil, Ala., Boroff was relegated to just being a designated hitter after undergoing surgery for an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear in an elbow before his senior year.
"It's just a cycle of never taking a break," Boroff said of the injury. "I didn't pitch or anything, but I caught and I was throwing every day for a few years. My arm started hurting and I went to the doctor and they were like, 'Yes, it's torn.' I had to have full UCL reconstruction."
While being used in the DH role, Boroff led the team with a .432 batting average and hit eight home runs in helping Macon-East to a runner-up finish in the AISA Class AA state tournament.
After the season, Boroff didn't get a lot of college baseball scholarship offers. However, he found the perfect fit when Enterprise State head coach Bubba Frichter came calling.
"You have to be very mentally tough when you go to a junior college, because physically you're going to get tested all of the time," Boroff said. "It's really hard out there.
"I would say mentally it helped me more than anything in learning how to push myself past the limits I already had for myself. And understanding it's not easy all of the time and life is going to get hard."
The grind of junior college baseball certainly prepared Boroff for what he faced this season at Troy.
Now he's entering the Super Regional with momentum, just like the rest of the Trojans.
After Boroff sent a pitch over the left field fence for a three-run homer in the eighth inning - his fourth home run in three days to put the finishing touches on Troy's 10-2 baseball win over host Florida on Monday night to win the Gainesville Regional - the junior designated hitter couldn't hide his emotions.
"It's a weird feeling because your adrenalin is going so much and I'm yelling going around the bases," Boroff said. "I get back in the dugout after celebrating and I'm like, 'Wow, I feel like I just ran a 5K,' because I'm so tired."
It capped an amazing five-game stretch at the plate for Boroff, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after helping Troy earn a Super Regional berth for the first time in school history.
Boroff compiled 10 hits, four home runs and 12 RBIs as the Trojans defeated Miami and Florida, two times each, and Rider once, over four days of the double-elimination tournament.
"I've been trying to savor it, but at the same time understanding that the season is not over and we have a bigger challenge ahead of us," Boroff said. "But it's definitely been a lot of fun … a lot of people calling and texting me. It's been really great."
Troy (36-30) hosts Little Rock (39-26) at Riddle-Pace Field starting Friday in a best-of-three series for the right to advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The first pitch Friday is slated for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
Game time is set for 2 p.m. Saturday for the second of the series and will be televised on ESPN2. If a third game is needed, it will be played Sunday at a time yet to be announced.
A frustrating regular season
For Boroff, a season of disappointment at the plate for the Enterprise State Community College transfer began trending upward during the Sun Belt Conference Tournament (May 19-24). Over five games, Boroff collected five hits, one being a home run, before the Trojans were ousted by Southern Miss, 6-2, a win shy of the championship game of the double-elimination tourney in Montgomery.
Before postseason play, Boroff had collected seven hits, four home runs and 10 RBIs in 32 games of the regular season.
For someone who had been named the Player of the Year in the Alabama Community College Conference after his sophomore season at Enterprise State, being in a hitting slump practically his entire first year at Troy was hard for Boroff to comprehend.
"When you're the DH, if you're struggling at the plate, it's really, really frustrating," Boroff said. "I guess mentally I've never really been challenged like that."
During his two years at Enterprise State, Boroff led the state in home runs, RBIs and batting average each season. As a freshman, he hit .445 with eight home runs and 49 RBIs and as a sophomore hit .452 with 20 home runs and 62 RBIs.
Life was pretty rosy for Boroff at ESCC, though one dismal doubleheader does stick out.
"I remember one day … I don't remember which team we were playing … that I went 0-11, or maybe 1-11," Boroff said. "That was really the only time I really struggled. But that was just one day of bad and you move on and don't let it compound.
"But my struggles here was you're going 0-for-3 and you go back out there the next day and you go 0-for-2. The slump was just adding and adding, and it was hard to dig yourself out of the hole."
While having difficulties during his first season at Troy was mentally taxing, Boroff had plenty of support.
"The coaching staff and everybody around me always had belief in me," Boroff said. "They understood that I may be struggling, but they knew the player that I am … they knew I had the ability to show up and get something done."
He also relied on his Christian faith.
"Number one is God, because I would pray to Him all the time," Boroff said of getting through the trying times. "I said it in the (TV) interview after the (regional championship) game - I talked about how my girlfriend, my mom, my dad and my sister were always praying for me and talking to me about it.
"They were giving me (Bible) verses about how you just have to trust in God's plan in what's going on and He's going to put you through things to test you and your faith. And if you trust and believe in Him, He's got a plan for you and everything is going to work out.
"Even if the path wasn't for me to succeed this week, I would have understood it's going to work out and God has a plan."
Accepting his role
In signing with Troy as a catcher, Boroff knew Jimmy Janicki would likely be the starter at that position for this season. Janicki, a sophomore, is considered one of the top catchers in the nation and was recently named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.
Boroff understood his role this season would be backing up Janicki and getting time as a designated hitter. Not having a chance to contribute in the field while slumping at the plate was discouraging to him.
"As the DH, you have to understand that's your job," Boroff said. "Other people at other positions might not hit well that day, but they have other things to contribute to the game.
"I can think of a thousand times when we had players struggling at the plate and they go out there and make a few big plays (in the field) and really impact the game."
During his final season in high school at Macon-East Academy in Cecil, Ala., Boroff was relegated to just being a designated hitter after undergoing surgery for an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear in an elbow before his senior year.
"It's just a cycle of never taking a break," Boroff said of the injury. "I didn't pitch or anything, but I caught and I was throwing every day for a few years. My arm started hurting and I went to the doctor and they were like, 'Yes, it's torn.' I had to have full UCL reconstruction."
While being used in the DH role, Boroff led the team with a .432 batting average and hit eight home runs in helping Macon-East to a runner-up finish in the AISA Class AA state tournament.
After the season, Boroff didn't get a lot of college baseball scholarship offers. However, he found the perfect fit when Enterprise State head coach Bubba Frichter came calling.
"You have to be very mentally tough when you go to a junior college, because physically you're going to get tested all of the time," Boroff said. "It's really hard out there.
"I would say mentally it helped me more than anything in learning how to push myself past the limits I already had for myself. And understanding it's not easy all of the time and life is going to get hard."
The grind of junior college baseball certainly prepared Boroff for what he faced this season at Troy.
Now he's entering the Super Regional with momentum, just like the rest of the Trojans.
Players Mentioned
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