Troy overcame a four-run deficit on April 17 to secure a 7-6 victory over Louisiana in the series opener at Riddle-Pace Field.
The game was notable for Troy’s comeback, as the team trailed 6-2 before mounting a five-run rally in the sixth inning. This win marks Troy’s third four-run comeback of the season, all occurring in April.
Louisiana started strong behind pitcher Cody Brasch, who held Troy to two runs through five innings and recorded six strikeouts. However, after Blake Cavill led off the sixth with a double and Steven Meier singled in a run, Louisiana turned to its bullpen. Ty Roman walked Drew Nelson and hit Nolan Book before issuing another walk that forced in a run. Houston Markham added a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit further. Aaron Piasecki then hit a two-run triple off the right-center wall, giving Troy its first lead of the night.
Reliever Zach Crotchfelt played an important role for Troy by pitching four innings out of the bullpen—his longest relief appearance—and earning his first win of this length. He finished with seven strikeouts, setting both his personal best and marking the highest total by any Trojan reliever this season.
Head Coach Skylar Meade said, “I thought both sides were incredibly competitive. It’s what you talk about over the last couple of days as you’re preparing for the weekend. You know what you’re going to get from Coach Deggs’ group. They’re going to compete hard. They compete right. They did a really good job on Stubbs. They had a lot of two-out magic there, unfortunately. But in that inning, we were able to grind enough. Big swing from Steve [Meier] to make it 6-3 after Blake had started us off that inning. And then just did a great job when the bullpen came in.” Right fielder Aaron Piasecki said, “Blake started it with a double. We probably walked two or three times. Long at-bats. Got to their starter. We wanted to bounce him earlier, but it was a good time to bounce him. We got to their bullpen and went from there.” Crotchfelt added: “Once we put up that five-spot there, I just wanted to go compete and go everything I had for these guys.”
The teams will meet again for game two at Riddle-Pace Field with Tommy Egan starting for Troy following his complete game performance last week.
