Troy takes down Texas State to stay alive in the Sun Belt Tournament

Jakob Wax’s go-ahead home run in the seventh inning kept third-seeded Troy’s Sun Belt Tournament run alive, lifting the Trojans to a 4-2 win in Thursday’s elimination game against seventh-seeded Texas State.

Wax led off the seventh against Texas State reliever Matthew Tippie, who had just worked a 1-2-3 sixth to keep it a 2-2 ballgame. In a 1-1 count, the Trojan shortstop deposited a breaking ball 375 feet over the left field wall to break the tie, his third homer of the season.

Troy added some insurance in the frame as Steven Meier followed a Blake Cavill single by reaching on a fielder’s choice. Meier stole second and advanced to third on an overthrow into center field. In a 3-2 count to Sean Darnell, Meier scored on a wild pitch to give the Trojan bullpen some breathing room.

The Troy bullpen was stellar, as Noah Thigpen cruised through the final two innings after he had recorded the final out of the seventh. The freshman right-hander tossed 2.1 hitless innings with three walks and three strikeouts. Before him, lefty Grady Gorgen pitched 1.1 hitless innings with a hit, a walk and a strikeout.

The Trojans wouldn’t have been in position to win without Adam Falinski, who worked his deepest outing of the season, going 5.1 innings with a season high seven strikeouts. The Eastern Michigan transfer retired the first 11 Texas State hitters and held the Bobcats to three hits and two walks with the only damage coming on a pair of solo home runs.

Troy got to work early against Texas State starter Austin Eaton, who pitched 5.0 innings with six hits, two earned runs, two walks and five strikeouts, as second baseman Sean Darnell delivered an RBI double in the first inning. In the third, Gavin Schrader followed a two-out double by Jimmy Janicki with an RBI single into left field.

Troy is back in action at Riverwalk Stadium at 3 p.m. on Friday, as they await the loser of Thursday’s matchup between second-seeded Southern Miss and sixth-seeded Old Dominion. The winner will advance to the semifinals at 9 a.m. on Saturday.