The Troy Trojans (18-6, 4-2) earned a Sun Belt Conference series win over the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (17-7, 4-2) at home this weekend marking a three-game series between two Top 25 opponents.

Coming into the weekend, Troy was ranked No. 25 by D1Baseball and No. 18 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), while Coastal Carolina was ranked No. 24 by D1Baseball and No. 25 by USA Today. The NCBWA also ranked Coastal No. 16 in the country.

Troy fell behind 1-0 in the series with a resounding 11-3 loss to Coastal Carolina on Friday. The two sides went into the sixth inning tied 3-3 but the Chants scored eight unanswered runs in the final four innings to secure the victory.

Sean Darnell and Jimmy Janicki both earned two hits each with Janicki also scoring one run. Jakob Wax hit a double, Darnell hit a triple and Steven Meier hit a home run. Brock Tapper took the loss on the mound, striking out one batter and giving up two hits and three earned runs. Garrett Gainous also struck out six and gave up four hits and three earned runs in four innings on the mound. Troy had three fielding errors as a team. Blake Cavill tallied five putouts and one assist with no errors.

Troy bounced back to tie the series with a 9-8 win on Saturday. Troy led 5-3 going into the eighth inning when Coastal exploded to score five runs in the top of the eighth to go up 8-5. In the bottom of the eighth, Wax hit an RBI double that drove Harrison Bowman home and then Janicki added an RBI single that drove Gavin Schrader home to bring Troy within one run.

Next, Cavill was hit by a pitch, with the bases loaded, to drive Wax home to tie the score 8-8. A bases loaded walk on Brooks Bryan then drove Houston Markham home for what would be the winning run. Troy held Coastal runless in the ninth.

Wax went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, three RBIs and one run. Cavill went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Bowman also scored two runs.

Luke Lyon got the win on the mound, giving up one hit and no runs in one and 2/3 innings pitched. Noah Edders also put in six innings of work with nine strikeouts, while giving up eight hits and three earned runs. After giving up three fielding errors in game one, Troy had no errors in game two. Cavill tallied seven putouts and one double play.

In game three, Troy trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the sixth until Troy rallied again. Bowman started things off with an RBI single that drove Bryan home and then Schrader blasted a two-run homer that tied the score. Janicki then belted a dinger of his own to put Troy ahead 5-4. The Trojans’ home run party wasn’t over just yet either as Bowman followed up with a grand slam home run in the bottom of the seventh that put Troy ahead 9-4. Coastal managed one run in the top of the ninth but that was as close at it would get.

Janicki went 3-for-4 at the plate for Troy with a homer, one RBI and one run. Bowman went 2-for-4 with a grand slam home run, five RBIs and two runs. Bryan went 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and a run, while Meier went 2-for-4 with two runs.

Grayson Stewart (3-1) got the win on the mound, striking out two batters and giving up two hits and no runs. Troy native Drew Nelson also pitched two and 2/3 innings and gave up seven hits and four earned runs. Troy again had no fielding errors. Cavill earned 15 putouts and two double plays on defense.

Troy takes a break from conference play with a home matchup with Wofford on March 25 before traveling to Florida A&M on March 26.