Troy Baseball secured a series victory over Old Dominion on March 15, winning the deciding game 9-4 at Riddle-Pace Field to open Sun Belt Conference play.
The win marks an important start for the Trojans, who improved their record to 8-11 overall and 2-1 in conference games. Strong pitching and timely offense contributed to Troy’s success in the rubber match of the series.
Junior right-hander Dylan Alonso led Troy with five innings pitched, striking out a career-high seven batters while allowing two runs on three hits and one walk. The Trojans built an early lead, scoring six runs in the first three innings. Old Dominion starter JJ Gatti struggled with control, issuing walks and hit batters that allowed Troy to capitalize. Key plays included a throwing error on a Drew Nelson bunt and RBI hits from Blake Cavill, Houston Markham, Nolan Book, and Josh Pyne.
Troy’s bullpen maintained the advantage as left-hander Zach Crotchfelt struck out two over two innings before right-hander Cooper Ellingworth closed out the game with two scoreless frames. Additional runs came from Steven Meier’s RBI single in the fifth inning, a sacrifice fly by Nelson in the sixth, and another RBI single from Cavill in the eighth.
Head Coach Skylar Meade said, “You look at the last two games, if you want to dive into the pitching aspect, only three walks. No walks yesterday, three walks today. That’s a recipe for success on Sundays. Of course, Dylan Alonso set a heck of a tone for what he did. That was great to see.” First baseman Blake Cavill added, “Today was an everybody game. It was a momentum game. An energy game. It’s Sunday, the hardest day to win. I think we were loud from the first pitch to the last pitch, and that’s what made us win today.” Alonso said about his performance: “I just took it one inning at a time. Coach Meade was talking before the game, just think about 1-and-0. I took that on the mound, just make every pitch count.”
The Trojans have now opened Sun Belt Conference play with a series win for three consecutive seasons and move to 2-1 in rubber matches this year under head coach Skylar Meade.
Looking ahead, Troy will travel to Montgomery to face Alabama State on Tuesday.
