The Troy Trojans (11-1) swept the Penn Quakers (0-6) this weekend and on Monday, D1Baseball moved Troy up to No. 19 in the country.

The No. 19 ranking is just shy of the highest ranking in Troy Division I history, which saw the Trojans earn the No. 18 ranking in 2011. The three-game sweep over Penn also extended Troy’s winning streak to eight. 

Game one in the series on Feb. 27 was a Trojan domination, winning 11-1. Steven Meier led Troy at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four stolen bases, two RBIs and three runs, while Mike Bello went 2-for-3 with a homer, one RBI and two runs. Shane Lewis, Brooks Bryan and Peyton Watts each earned a double. 

Garrett Gainous pitched six innings and retired eight batters, while giving up five hits and one earned run. Blake Cavill also earned seven putouts and one assist on defense. 

Game two in the series on Feb. 28 went much different, however. Troy held a 7-4 lead going into the sixth inning when Penn rallied to score five runs to take a 9-7 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, Bryan belted a two-run home run to tie the score 9-9. 

In the bottom of the ninth, Cavill hit a sacrifice bunt in an attempt to move a runner into scoring position, but an error from Penn led to Meier scoring the winning run. 

Meier had another big day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and three runs. Lewis, Houston Markham, Sean Darnell and Peyton Watts each earned doubles, while Darnell scored two runs. 

Noah Edders pitched four innings and gave up three hits and four earned runs, while striking out three batters. Colby Frieda earned his first win on the mound as he struck out three batters and gave up no hits or runs in one and 2/3 innings pitched. Luke Lyon also struck out a pair of batters along with giving up four hits and four earned runs in one and 1/3 innings of work. Cavil earned five putouts and one assist on defense with no errors. 

Troy finished off the series with another resounding win by a score of 6-1 on March 1. Troy native Drew Nelson got his second win of the season on the mound, mowing down six batters, while giving up four hits and one earned run in six innings pitched for the Trojans. 

“The more and more I’m out there, the more comfortable I feel,” Nelson said. “Being able to work ahead, mix all pitches and go from there really helps.”

Grayson Stewart also pitched one inning and gave up one hit with no earned runs and a strikeout, while Jay Dill pitched two innings and fanned three batters, while giving up one hit and no earned runs. 

“Drew’s very competitive. You get six innings, and this time of year, you’re not going to be at some crazy number of pitches,” Troy Coach Skylar Meade said. “To go 85 pitches in the sixth – he does a good job of when he has a long at-bat, leveling it back out and getting someone out quickly. Just creating action. Sometimes they get a hit, but at least he gets back in that zone whenever he has a count go deeper.

“I thought Stew (Grayson Stewart) coming in after him was really good. First pitch, the guy gets a ball there in the gap, but to get groundball, punchout, soft flyout to left was really good. We’re trying to keep him healthy as he comes back from just a little something, so we decide to pass the ball on to Jay. Jay couldn’t have been any better. He was really tialed in, tremendous. Multiple strikeouts, and really just pitching for that matter.”

Bryan went 2-for-3 at the plate with a homer, three RBIs and one run, while Meier went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs. Cavill also scored three runs. On defense, Cavill earned six putouts with no errors. 

Troy now sets its sights back on the SEC with a showdown on the road against Alabama on March 5 at 4 p.m. in a game that will stream on SEC Network+. Troy is currently 1-1 against SEC teams this season with a win over Mississippi State and a close loss to Auburn.