Troy University’s baseball team will start its 2026 season with a three-game series against Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. The games are scheduled for Friday through Sunday at OrthoGeorgia Park, marking the first time since 2009 that Troy opens the season away from Riddle-Pace Field and the first true road series opener since 2005.
Head coach Skylar Meade enters his fifth year leading the Trojans. Under Meade, Troy achieved a 39-21 record last season and was ranked nationally for 14 consecutive weeks, reaching as high as No. 14 by Baseball America. Meade has recorded 148 wins in his first four seasons, more than any previous coach in program history.
Mercer is projected to finish second in the Southern Conference this year after ending last season with a 35-25 record and ranking No. 71 in NCAA RPI. Several Mercer players have received preseason honors: Garrett Lambert and Collin Ewaldsen were named to the All-SoCon First Team, while Jess Ackerman, Braydon Kersey, Titan Kamaka, and Brant Baughcum made the Second Team.
The pitching matchups for the weekend are set: Tommy Egan will start Game One for Troy against Garrett Lambert of Mercer; Noah Thigpen faces Miguel Hugas in Game Two; Benjamin Stubbs will pitch Game Three for Troy while Mercer’s starter is yet to be announced.
Seniors Blake Cavill and Steven Meier return to lead Troy after being granted a fifth year of eligibility. Cavill was unanimously selected as Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year following a .320 batting average and conference-best .516 on-base percentage last season. He starts this year on a 65-game base streak—the longest active streak in college baseball—dating back to his time at Western Kentucky in 2024.
Meier earned Preseason All-Sun Belt recognition from Perfect Game after hitting .300 with 16 doubles and eight home runs last year. He set a school record with 29 hit-by-pitches and led returning Sun Belt players with 24 stolen bases during the previous season.
Troy added new talent through transfers, bringing in what is considered the nation’s nineteenth-ranked transfer portal class according to data from 64Analytics. In total, thirteen transfers joined along with six junior college recruits. Notable additions include Nico Azpilcueta from Stony Brook—an NCBWA Preseason First Team All-American who hit twenty home runs last season—and Aaron Piasecki from Central Michigan, who was named Preseason All-Sun Belt shortstop by Perfect Game.
The Trojans’ pitching staff features nine transfer pitchers who together have logged over five hundred innings pitched during their careers. Among them are UIC’s Tommy Egan and Flagler’s Benjamin Stubbs—both making their debuts this weekend—as well as Kansas State’s Blake Dean, USC Upstate’s Cooper Ellingworth, and Kentucky’s Hayden Smith.
Returning sophomores expected to contribute include catcher Jimmy Janicki (Preseason All-Sun Belt), outfielder Houston Markham (who had a team-best thirteen-game hitting streak), and pitcher Noah Thigpen (who posted one of the best freshman ERAs in school history).
Troy leads Mercer narrowly in their all-time series at thirteen wins to twelve—all meetings occurred between 1998 and 2005 when both teams were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Their most recent matchup saw Troy sweep Mercer en route to winning that year’s regular-season conference title.
Game coverage will be available on ESPN+ television broadcasts, via radio on Troy Sports Radio Network, or through live statistics at TroyTrojans.com/LiveStats.
