Hall’s big night leads Trojan offensive surge

Senior shortstop Jesse Hall stepped up to the plate six times Thursday night and reached all six times safely after going 5-5 with four doubles, four RBIs, a walk and scoring five times to lead Troy to a 14-5 win over Appalachian State. 

Hall wasn’t the only Trojan to have a successful night at the plate as all nine of the Trojan starters recorded a hit, and all but one Troy player didn’t record an RBI. This was the third time all nine starters had at least one hit this season. Previously Troy had done it against Holy Cross and Jacksonville State.  

With the victory, the Trojans (30-22, 14-14) end their eight-game losing streak and have now won their 30th game of the season. 

Caleb Bartolero and William Sullivan each drove in two runs, and Kyle Mock had a three-hit night as Troy finished with 18 hits total. 

Hall joins Wendell Stephens, Bryan Miller, and William Sullivan as the only other Trojans to have four doubles in a single game. Stephens did it against Delta State in 1985, Miller in 2008 against FIU, and Sullivan accomplished the feat in 2020 against Northern Kentucky.  

Troy’s nine doubles tie the record for the most in a single game since 2014 against ULM. 

In his first game back since April 29, Garret Gainous went 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Rigsby Mosley (3-0) came on in relief and worked out of multiple jams to leave Mountaineers stranded on base to get the win. Mosley went 5.2 innings striking out seven batters and only allowing two runs on three hits. 

Tyler Tuthill (2-7) started the game on the mound for the host and picked up the loss after giving up seven runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings. 

Troy took the lead in the first and never looked back after scoring four runs on four hits. Hall took the ball game’s very first pitch, singled, and came home to score on a Sullivan double. The double was the 100th of the season for the Trojans. Immediately after, Justin Kelley, in his fourth game starting, singled up the middle for Troy›s third run. 

The fourth hit of the inning was courtesy of Donovan Whibbs, who doubled in the fourth run-scoring Kelley easily from second. 

Gainous was able to work out of some trouble in the bottom half of the first as the Mountaineers loaded the bases with only one out. A sacrifice to left field got the home side on the board, but that was all they managed as Gainous got his second strikeout. 

Two more doubles in the second restored Troy’s four-run advantage as Mock followed Hall’s second hit of the night with his first to score in the second consecutive inning.  

A run was scored in the first three innings after a Mountaineer two-run home run cut into the Trojan lead and made it 5-3.  

Mosley came on in relief with the bases loaded in the third and got two straight outs to keep a two-run ball game in favor of the Trojans. 

Troy made sure to capitalize in the fourth with three runs of their own to build a five-run lead as Hall’s third hit of the night put him in scoring position as Mock moved him to third with a single, bringing Bartolero to the plate, who singled restoring Troy’s four-run lead. Next, Easton Kirk got on the score sheet and contributed to the hit parade with an RBI single to give Troy their largest lead of the night. 

Appalachian State battled all night, responding with two runs in the bottom half of the fourth before Mosley once again stranded the runners in scoring position.  

For the second time this season, Hall had a four-hit night as he connected for his third double of the game scoring Clay Stearns from second. Hall last had four hits against Holy Cross. He’s the only Trojan to have four hits in a game this season.  

The first 1-2-3 inning didn’t come until the bottom of the fifth, and the sixth inning was the first inning in which neither team scored a run. 

Troy put the game out of reach in the seventh, tacking on four more runs as three doubles in the inning alone gave Troy 13 runs.  

Just as he did to start the game, Hall came in to score Troy’s final run off a wild pitch.  

Skylar Meade becomes the fourth coach in program history to win at least 30 games in his first season at the helm. Chase Riddle (33/1979), John Mayotte (34/1991), and his predecessor Mark Smartt (32/2016).

Troy will head to Montgomery as the No. 6 seed in the Sun Belt Conference tournament. They will open play today at 9 a.m. against either Georgia Southern or one of the four teams playing in the single-elimination games.

Every tournament game will be broadcast on ESPN+.