Southern Miss walks off Troy in Sun Belt Tourney
Published 9:42 am Friday, May 26, 2023
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A day after winning in the first round of the Sun Belt Baseball Tournament with a walk-off, the Troy Trojans fell victim to a walk-off via the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in the second round on Thursday in Montgomery.
With the score tied 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Golden Eagle Danny Lynch belted an RBI single into right field that drove Slade Wilks home for the winning run. The two sides had slugged it out for much of the game but at one point, the Trojans looked to be coming undone.
With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Southern Miss scored three runs to take a 6-3 advantage. A controversial moment occurred on the sixth run when the umpire ruled that a sliding Blake Johnson beat the throw at home plate. After a review, the call stood and Troy Coach Skylar Meade voiced his displeasure with the call leading to the second-year head coach being ejected from the game.
While it seemed like Troy could be coming unraveled at that moment, the Trojans rallied in the eighth inning to tie the score. Tremayne Cobb Jr. sparked the rally when he drilled an RBI single that drove home back Caleb Bartolero and Ethan Kavanagh to cut the Eagle lead to 6-5. Donovan Whibbs then drove in William Sullivan for the tying run.
Sullivan led Troy at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a triple and three runs, while Cobb went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Logan Ross started on the mound for Troy and struck out six batters, while giving up nine hits and six earned runs in five and 1/3 innings. Ben Thompson took the loss but also struck out six batters and gave two hits and one earned run in two and 2/3 innings pitched.
Matthew Etzel led Southern Miss at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and a run, while Johnson went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and one run. Billy Oldham struck out six batters and gave up seven hits and three earned runs.
The loss forces the Trojans to move into an elimination game this afternoon at 3 p.m. in Montgomery against Appalachian State. It’s Troy’s fifth game against the Mountaineers since May 18. Troy went 3-of-4 in those first four games, including a 10-9 win in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament. The winner advances to Saturday to meet Southern Miss at 9 a.m.