The upset-minded Troy Trojans baseball team won its first-ever regional on Monday night, defeating the Gainesville Regional host and No. 8 national seed Florida Gators 10-2 in a winner-take-all final.
After dropping their regional opener with Miami on Friday, the Trojans defeated Rider on Saturday and both Miami and Florida on Sunday to force a win-or-go-home game with the Gators.
Troy advances to the program's first-ever Super Regional and will host Little Rock, which won the Hattiesburg Regional. The Trojans are the eighth team since 2013 to lose the first game of a regional and still win a regional.
A five-run sixth inning and a three-run eighth-inning home run sparked the win for the Trojans, while the trio of Hayden Smith, Brendan Stubbs and Noah Thigpen held the Gators' offense to just two runs.
Trojans head coach Skylar Meade said after the game, “How about them Trojans? Obviously, there are a million different things that can be said, but we really do appreciate Florida for being such an incredible host. As it pertains to us, we were prepared for this. That is not just someone that is being said after the fact. We were absolutely prepared for this, every step of the way. With everything that has gone on inside of our program, we were built to do what we did and we absolutely earned it. And I think there is a lot of beauty in the way that we earned it. Losing that first game, which was a tough one against Miami, and then having to come through the hard way. It just says everything that you want to know. I have said it once and I will say it a million more times until I am done coaching: culture prevails. And when you have the culture we have, you find a way to do special things. We have had our hearts ripped out in our program many of times. And you know what? They reward you in life for being tough. Our program is built on that. Trojan tough is a different thing. The way that we played, in particular to these last two games. And against one of the best teams in the country. Sully is an all-time great coach and those are some dudes over there. But the Trojans were ready and we got it done."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email [email protected].
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every day.
