The No. 17-ranked Troy Trojans (21-8, 6-3) earned a 2-1 Sun Belt Conference series win over the Marshall Thundering Herd (13-15, 3-6) at home this weekend. 

The Trojans had a busy week last week, going 3-2 on the week with wins over Marshall and Florida A&M and losses to Marshall and Wofford. 

In game one of the Marshall series, Troy survived with a 4-3 win despite Marshall rallying to score two runs in the eighth inning to cut the Trojan lead to one run. 

For Troy, Peryn Bland went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and two RBIs. Gavin Schrader hit a home run and Harrison Bowman scored two runs. Garrett Gainous (4-0) earned the win on the mound, striking out seven batters and giving up four hits and one earned run in five innings pitched. Dothan’s Grayson Stewart also struck out one batter and gave up one hit and one earned run in two and 1/3 innings on the mound. Brooks Bryan tallied 12 putouts and two assists with no errors on defense. 

Troy earned another 4-3 win on March 29, this time coming from behind. The Trojans trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the eighth when Bryan belted an RBI triple into center field that drove three runs home and ultimately gave Troy the 4-3 win and the series win. 

Jimmy Janicki, Steven Meier, Sean Darnell and Schrader scored one run each. Noah Edders (1-1) got his first win on the mound, striking out seven batters and giving up five hits and three earned runs in seven and 1/3 innings pitched. Jay Dill also got his first save of the season, striking out one and giving up one hit and no runs in one inning pitched. Troy native Drew Nelson got his first start of the season at first base, tallying 11 putouts with no fielding errors. 

Marshall managed to avoid the sweep in game three on March 30 in extra innings. The two sides were tied 5-5 going into the 11th inning when Marshall’s Jackson Halter hit an RBI single that drove in what would be the winning run. Troy was unable to get into scoring position in the bottom of the 11th. 

For Troy, Jakob Wax went 2-for-4 at the plate with a run, while Bowman went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs. Meier, Schrader and Janicki each hit a double. Stewart (3-2) pitched two innings and gave up two hits and no earned runs. Adam Falinski pitched four innings and struck out three, while giving up two hits and no runs. Bryan, playing at first base, earned 10 putouts with no errors, while Jason Hawkins tallied 10 putouts, one assist and a double play at catcher. 

Troy is back at home this Wednesday, April 2, for a non-conference rematch against Florida A&M at noon. Troy then heads to Virginia to face off against Old Dominion in a conference series April 4-6.