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TROY, Ala. \u2014 Troy scored early and often\u2014and got a gem from starter senior right-hander Tommy Egan on the mound\u2014en route to a 7-2 win over Little Rock in Game 2 of the Troy Super Regional to punch its ticket to Omaha for the first time in program history.\u00a0
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\nThe Trojans built on Friday\u2019s crowd of 6,426, reestablishing the Riddle-Pace Field record with 7,033 fans in attendance to witness history on Saturday. The attendance was the second-largest on-campus crowd in Sun Belt baseball history, trailing only the 7,583 at M.L. Tigue Moore Field at Russo Park for Louisiana vs. LSU on April 6, 1994.\u00a0
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\nAfter making the eighth Super Regional appearance by a Sun Belt program since the format was adopted in 1999, Troy became the third Sun Belt program to advance to the College World Series, joining the 2025 Coastal Carolina team that finished as the national runner-up and the 2000 Louisiana ballclub that reached the national semifinals.\u00a0
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\nThe Sun Belt is the first non-autonomy conference to advance to back-to-back College World Series since the Big West in 2016 and 2017.\u00a0
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\nWith the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the first inning, senior outfielder Drew Nelson dropped a double in down the left field line to plate a pair for Troy, 2-0.\u00a0
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\nIn the top of the second, sophomore outfielder Houston Markham reached on a hot-shot single up the middle, stole second, advanced to third on an errant throw and scored on a sacrifice fly from senior shortstop Aaron Piasecki to extend the Trojan lead to 3-0.\u00a0
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\nAfter working around a leadoff single in the bottom of the first, Egan caught Little Rock senior catcher Trey Hill looking for the inning-ending strikeout with two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the second.\u00a0
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\nTrojans sophomore catcher Jimmy Janicki doubled to the left field corner and used heads-up baserunning to score on a single through the right side of the infield by senior outfielder Steven Meier in the top of the third to make it 4-0 in favor of Troy. Egan sat the Little Rock hitters down in order in the bottom half of the inning.\u00a0
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\nAfter holding Troy scoreless for the first time in the top half, Little Rock capitalized on a leadoff walk and a pair of singles with a small-ball run to get on the board in the bottom of the fourth, 4-1.\u00a0
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\nEgan and Little Rock reliever redshirt senior right-hander Isaac Evaniew each faced the minimum in the fifth and sixth innings.\u00a0
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\nRedshirt senior third baseman Josh Pyne plated junior designated hitter Jabe Boroff\u2014who had reached on a leadoff walk\u2014with a single through the left side of the infield in the top of the seventh to add to the Trojan advantage, 5-1.\u00a0
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\nA solo shot by Little Rock junior shortstop Jerdy Lopez that just cleared the wall in left field ended the day for Troy starter Egan in the bottom of the eighth. Reliever sophomore right-hander Noah Thigpen conceded a single to the first Trojans hitter he faced, but induced a double play ball to end the inning and keep it 5-2.\u00a0
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\nSenior first baseman Blake Cavill drove in a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth on a single to center, after a Piasekci walk and a Pyne double down the right field line. After a fly out to center to open the bottom of the ninth, Little Rock senior designated hitter Nico Baumbach singled through the right side of the infield to attempt to spark a late rally. One pitch later, Thigpen snuffed out that hope\u2014inducing a game-ending double play for the Trojans for a second-straight day and cueing the Troy celebration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Egan earned the win, striking out eight and conceding two runs on five hits over 7.1 innings pitched to match his longest outing of the season. Thigpen picked up the save, conceding just two hits over the final 1.2 innings in relief.\u00a0
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\nOver the past five years, the Sun Belt has sent 19 teams to NCAA Baseball Regionals, 12 to NCAA Baseball Regional finals, 3 to NCAA Baseball Super Regionals and 2 to the College World Series.\u00a0
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\nThe Sun Belt has been represented in Regional finals for six-straight seasons, Super Regionals for three of the past four years and the College World Series in back-to-back seasons for the first time in conference history.\u00a0
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\nThe Sun Belt\u2019s three Super Regional appearances and two College World Series appearances over the past four seasons each lead all non-autonomy conferences.\u00a0
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