A few short weeks ago, Troy’s baseball team had never advanced past the regional round of the NCAA tournament. The Trojans’ crowning glories were a pair of Division II national titles, won in 1986 and 1987 over Columbus State and Tampa, respectively.
How quickly the winds can change in the wild world of college baseball. Troy, an at-large selection in this year’s field, upset Miami once and Florida twice in the Gainesville (Fla.) Regional, swept Little Rock in a home super regional, and made the Men’s College World Series for the first time.
Since Friday, the Trojans have had an eventful stay in the Cornhusker State—including a dramatic comeback and an unfortunate theft. Here’s a brief timeline of Troy’s slate of adventures.
June 12: Troy’s opener ends in defeat
First up for the Trojans: West Virginia, the other team in the field making its inaugural MCWS appearance. The Mountaineers jumped out to a 3–1 lead in the first two innings—only for Troy to put three on the board in the third, keyed by second baseman Sean Darnell’s go-ahead RBI double. West Virginia re-tied the game in the bottom of the third on designated hitter Sean Smith’s solo shot, and ultimately warded off the Trojans 7–5 behind third baseman Tyrus Hall’s two-run single in the eighth. North Carolina’s 6–2 win over Ole Miss ensured that Troy would battle the Rebels Sunday for its tournament life.
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June 14: Before Troy’s game against Ole Miss, a crime strikes
According to a police report obtained Sunday by Michael Casagrande of AL.com, the Trojans had $35,000 worth of photographic equipment stolen out of their bus before their game against the Rebels. Per the AP, photographers from the NCAA, the MCWS’s organizers, Creighton and Omaha gamely lent Troy equipment to, in the words of athletic director Adam Prendergast, “capture what was a historic day for Troy baseball and Troy athletics.”
June 14: Undeterred, Troy tops Ole Miss to survive
That’s a bit of spoiler for the drama that unfolded Sunday—the greatest win in Trojans baseball history. Rebels designated hitter Colin Reuter staked the Rebels to a 6–2 lead in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run home run, and it looked like Troy’s run was about to come to an end.
Slowly but surely, the Trojans battled back. Ole Miss pitcher Hunter Elliott balked in a run in the fifth, and Darnell singled in two runs to trim the Rebels’ lead to one. In the Troy seventh, catcher Jimmy Janicki homered to tie the game, and designated hitter Jabe Boroff doubled in two runs to give the Trojans a lead they wouldn’t relinquish on the way to a milestone 12–8 victory. An unsung hero for Troy: pitcher Noah Thigpen, who tossed five innings of two-run ball in relief of starter Tommy Egan.
“It was one of the favorite moments of my life so far,” Thigpen said via Chuck Walsh for the athletic department website. “I can't lie. It was pretty cool. I was trying to give the fans a show and help my teammates because I knew the bats were going to come along and give us some run support.”
With the victory, the Trojans advanced to meet the Mountaineers again in an elimination game.
