No. 15 baseball wins 11th straight series

Troy Athletics photo

Grayson Stewart throws a pitch against Texas State.

The No. 15 Troy Trojans battled with the visiting Texas State Bobcats this past weekend in a series that came down to key moments to decide winners. The Trojans prevailed in the series by taking the first two games, increasing their series winning streak to 11 straight.

“We utilized great energy on offense through this series,” said head coach Skylar Meade.

“You felt like it was going to have to get weird to win this because their pitchers are really good and have some of the best stuff in baseball.”

First baseman Blake Cavill propelled Troy’s offense forward against the Bobcats, crushing two home runs across the weekend. Pitcher Grayson Stewart secured the series win in Saturday’s matchup, going seven innings without allowing a single earned run. Stewart had a season-high seven strikeouts in the matchup as well.

Friday’s matchup took the two teams into extra innings, as pitchers battled from the mound. The Trojans started freshman Noah Thigpen for the series opener due to an injury to the regular starter Garrett Gainous. Thigpen pitched five innings, striking out two and only giving up one run in the first inning. Texas State ace Alex Valentin was stellar in the outing, shutting down Troy’s offense through the first six innings.

The Bobcats made a call to the bullpen up 1-0 in the middle of the seventh, taking out their starter Valentin and replacing him with Braylen Timmins. Harrison Bowman had just been hit by a pitch, which resulted in the bullpen call.

Houston Markham swung on the first pitch he saw from Timmins, flying out to left field.

The Bobcats were one out away from escaping the inning, but Cavill was due up to bat.

“It was a 2-0 count, and Ben gave me the green light,” Cavill said. “I took the next pitch down the middle and was worried for myself, but the pitcher threw the same pitch again, and I put it very far over the wall.”

Cavill sent the ball into the Trojan night, 400 feet to center field. The Trojans had taken the lead 2-1 and all the momentum had switched. In came pitcher Jay Dill to replace reliever Jacob Roettgen, who had shut down Texas State through two innings. The closer looked to end things and send Troy home with a 2-1 win, but the Bobcats had other plans.

With one out in the ninth, Dawson Park laced a single to score Samson Pugh, tying the game at two. Extra innings were needed to decide this matchup, and the game carried over all the way into the 11th ininng. Dill was masterful in the top of the 11th inning, striking out all three batters he faced and setting the table for a walk off victory.

Texas State pitcher Carson Laws let the game get away from him, walking three to load the bases. Markham was then hit by a pitch on the first ball thrown to him by Laws, winning the game for Troy 3-2.

The Trojans came back to Riddle Pace with a vengeance after the close call the night before.

Saturday’s matchup was not close in a 9-4, dominating win for Troy. The Trojans scored all nine runs in the first two innings, jumping all over the Bobcats starter Jesus Tovar.

“Noah Edders went out there today and wasn’t 100%, and Grayson pushed through adversity earlier in the game,” Meade said. “Those two were warriors today and the team fed off of that.”

Cavill continued his hot streak, belting a home run for the second straight day in the second inning. The Trojans scored five runs in the inning before the Texas State bullpen got a grasp on the game. After the offensive explosion of the first two innings, Troy did not score another run, but Stewart locked the game down.

The relief pitcher stepped into a bases-loaded situation in the third inning -- where he did give up four runs -- none of them being earned on his stat line. After this inning, the senior worked a masterclass from the mound. Stewart retired 17 straight batters to close out the game, securing the series for Troy.

“Late in the game Meade just told me to get nasty,” Stewart said. “My mentality the rest of the way was to fill up the zone with my nastiest pitch possible, and you see the results.”

This momentum did not carry over into Sunday’s matchup, as the Trojans were unable to secure a series sweep. The Bobcats worked a very good fifth inning, scoring 11 runs on just four hits and capitalizing on pitching woes from Troy. The Trojans used five pitchers in the fifth inning, three of whom were unable to record a single out. The Bobcats walked out of Troy with a 14-3 run-rule win to avoid the series sweep.

“If you put your foot down the rest of the way when it was 3-0 then you can pull away,” Meade said. “Clearly we lacked competitiveness today after we let it get away in the fifth inning.”

After this weekend, the Trojans now sit at third place in the conference with a 14-7 Sun Belt record with only three series remaining. Troy welcomes Jacksonville State Tuesday in a rivalry matchup, where the Trojans will seek revenge for an 11-1 loss earlier in the season.

Following the midweek, Troy heads to Mobile, Alabama, for a rivalry series with South Alabama starting on Friday, May 2.