Baseball falls to Mercer, Mississippi State to open season

Troy baseball fell to Mercer in its opening series at OrthoGeorgia Park, only securing one win on Saturday. The Trojans fell 4-3 and 17-5 before taking a 19-3 win over the Bears. 

Opening Day was a strong game from the Trojans, despite the loss. The Troy pitching staff had 12 strikeouts to three walks, allowing seven hits.  

"The box score can be cruel sometimes,” said head coach Skylar Meade. “They obviously had the impactful hit there after not hitting a lot of balls hard, but had the one in the ninth that obviously ended it.  

Blake Dean pitches against Mercer. (Troy Athletics photo)

“Zach Crotchfelt will be out there a lot because he's a winner. We love what he does, and we certainly liked what we saw from the pitchers." 

Transfer and starter Tommy Egan pitched five innings, allowing two runs and holding the Bears to three hits and one walk. Senior Zach Crotchfelt came out in the ninth to strike out the leadoff hitter, but Mercer’s Chris Katz slammed a walk-off homer to take game one 4-3. 

The Trojans split the doubleheader on Saturday, losing a run-rule 17-5 in the early game and bouncing back to run-rule Mercer in the series finale, 19-3. 

Jimmy Janicki takes at at-bat against Mercer. (Troy Athletics photo)

The early game saw the Bears offense on fire, as they picked up 16 hits in seven innings, including three home runs. Two of the three homers came in the first two innings off Troy starter Noah Thigpen. Thigpen was on the mound for 2.2 innings, surrendering seven runs on four hits and one strikeout.  

Despite Mercer’s hot start, the Trojans had eight hits in the early game with five walks and only four strikeouts. By the time Troy scored four runs, the Bears had a ten-run sixth inning, keeping the game in their favor. 

Game two on Saturday showed a dominant Troy team, as sophomore Jimmy Janicki went deep off the scoreboard for a two-run homer to put the Trojans up first. Janicki went on to secure a career-high five RBI on the day, adding an RBI single and two-run single later in the game. 

Mercer used eight different arms in the series finale on Saturday, but Troy kept piling on as they totaled 16 hits. Trojans Nico Azpilcueta, Steven Meier and Aaron Piasecki added their first home runs of the season.  

On the mound with great performances in game three were Macon, Geogia, native Benjamin Stubbs -- who struck out six hitters with one earned run across 3.1 innings -- and Dylan Alonso, who earned the win with five strikeouts in 1.2 innings.  

"You will look back at some point inevitably during this year, and say, 'man, that was really good that you won that Sunday Game [Game Three]',” Meade said. “It was never going to be easy.  

“We needed to play better, do some things, and get guys to handle their first opportunities better. We'll learn the pieces quickly against the high level of competition we play." 

The Trojans stayed on the road to take on Mississippi State Tuesday night at Dudy Noble Field. The Trojans fell to the Bulldogs 13-7, finishing with 10 hits and two errors. 

The Trojans will return home to Riddle Pace Field for their home opener against Campbell in a three-game series.