Troy University’s baseball team began its home season with a decisive 13-3 win over Campbell, ending the game in eight innings at Riddle-Pace Field. The Trojans capitalized on strong pitching and timely hitting to secure the run-rule victory.
Tommy Egan led Troy on the mound, recording a career-high nine strikeouts over five scoreless innings and allowing just one hit. Egan, who transferred from UIC, maintained a perfect record through three innings before play was halted for a 33-minute rain delay. Campbell’s starting pitcher, Lleyton Grubich, did not return after the delay, opening an opportunity for Troy to capitalize against the bullpen. Camden Wimbish took the loss for Campbell after giving up six runs in four innings of relief.
Offensively, catcher Jimmy Janicki contributed four RBIs, beginning with an RBI single in the fifth inning. Second baseman Sean Darnell followed with an RBI double. In the sixth inning, Jabe Boroff added a run on a sacrifice fly.
Relievers Cooper Ellingworth and Dylan Alonso combined to pitch three innings for Troy, allowing three runs—only one of them earned—and striking out four batters.
Janicki continued his performance with a two-run home run in the eighth inning that traveled 433 feet. Drew Nelson drove in two more runs with a single later in the same inning. Aaron Piasecki had a standout night as well, collecting four hits—including two doubles—and driving in two runs to end the game.
The Trojans scored six runs in their final at-bat to enforce the run-rule. Other contributors included Steven Meier with an RBI triple and Nelson with another RBI single.
The win marked head coach Skylar Meade’s 150th career victory. Troy hit six doubles during the game—the most since April 2024—and struck out 13 batters for their fourth double-digit strikeout game this season.
Egan’s nine strikeouts were his personal best and helped him earn his first win as a Trojan. Piasecki recorded his third multi-hit game of the year and has reached base at least twice in every game so far this season.
Janicki’s home run was both his second of the year and matched his total from last season; it was also measured as both the longest and hardest-hit by any Trojan this year. Darnell extended his hitting streak to 13 games dating back to last season while Nelson set a new personal best with three RBIs.
Head coach Skylar Meade commented: “It’s a tight game. It’s 3-1 [After 6]. It’s a Friday night ballgame. Just because it ended up separated, that wasn’t the reality of the game. You look at the DNA of games – everyone leaves here and says that was easy – but there was nothing easy. Campbell’s very good. They’re incredibly well-coached, as we obviously already know. It got separated out – what was great was we found a way to finish it there in the eighth, didn’t use any other arms, because that can be pivotal over the course of the weekend and obviously the year.”
Shortstop Aaron Piasecki said: “We’ve got eight other dudes in our lineup that are going to produce every day, so I feel very comfortable hitting at the top because we’ve got a bunch of dudes behind me that can do the job.”
Troy will continue its series against Campbell on Saturday afternoon at Riddle-Pace Field with Noah Thigpen starting for Troy and Connor Hensley pitching for Campbell.
