Troy Is Going to Omaha

Ground ball to short, to second, to first. Game over. Riddle-Pace Field in Troy, Alabama, came apart.

Troy beat Little Rock 7-2 Saturday, and the celebration was on. The Trojans were headed to the College World Series for the first time in school history.

Jabe Boroff spread his arms at home plate Saturday afternoon and held them open all the way to left field, turning slowly to take in every section of a crowd that had nowhere left to stand. Blake Cavill tried to scale the outfield wall. Troy head coach Skylar Meade sprinted from home plate through the doubles alley to the outfield fence and jumped — left foot, right foot, up — and 50 fans pushed the fence back on him. He held on with both hands and grinned.

“This was a vision that happened, you know, four years and about ten and a half months ago,” Meade told ESPN after the clincher. “And I know people think I’m crazy for all the stuff I say, but guess what? We’re going to Omaha.”

A record 7,033 showed up Saturday, topping the 6,426 from Game 1 the night before. More than 13,000 fans across two days at a field that seats 2,000, in a city of fewer than 18,000.

The Game

Drew Nelson, a Troy native, hit a two-run double in the first inning. Aaron Piasecki added a sacrifice fly in the second. Steven Meier singled in a run in the third. Josh Pyne drove in Boroff in the seventh. Blake Cavill lined a two-run single in the ninth.

Tommy Egan made it hold. The right-hander threw 7 1/3 innings, allowed two runs on five hits and struck out eight. Four double plays behind him kept Little Rock from finding any rhythm. Troy allowed four runs in 18 innings across the series.

“Right now we got the best offense in the country, it feels like,” Egan told ESPN. “So just knowing I could just fill it up and we’re going to score more runs than them. That’s honestly what went through my mind.”

Four Years and Ten Months

Meade was hired from South Carolina’s pitching staff in 2021. He had pitched in the 2007 College World Series for Louisville — posted a 0.00 ERA in Omaha — and brought that experience to a Sun Belt program that had reached nine NCAA regionals in 32 years of Division I baseball and never advanced past one.

His teams went 32-24, 40-22, 37-22 and 39-21. They reached regionals once — in 2023 — and did not advance.

This year’s team went 36-30 and finished third in the Sun Belt at 17-13. They lost their regional opener to Miami. Troy won four straight elimination games after that — including two over No. 8 national seed Florida on the Gators’ home field — to win the Gainesville Regional. They beat No. 19 Alabama at home in May. They beat No. 8 Georgia in Athens in February. They scored 55 runs and hit 11 home runs in five regional games. Then they came home and swept a Super Regional.

“I came here because I want to win baseball games,” Egan said, “and during the season it was rough for us, but it’s crazy to believe this is possible now because I know Omaha was the goal, but I didn’t think we’d be hosting super. That’s for sure.”

The Believers

Troy won back-to-back Division II national championships in 1986 and 1987 under Chase Riddle, whose name is on the field where this Super Regional was played. Ten conference titles, 14 NCAA regional appearances, seven trips to the Division II College World Series. Troy owned that level.

The university jumped to Division I in 1993. Football moved to FBS in 2001, joined the Sun Belt in 2004 and won five straight conference titles. DeMarcus Ware went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Osi Umenyiora won two Super Bowls. Troy beat LSU in Baton Rouge. Football settled that question years ago.

Baseball took longer. The Trojans joined the Sun Belt in 2006 and reached D1 regionals six times in 18 years. They never advanced past one.

Jody Singleton played outfield for Troy in 1990 and 1991 — after the D2 championships, before the D1 jump. He was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.

“I have stayed involved through the years, and I have seen us have some really good teams come so very close,” Singleton told Troy University. “To see this come to fruition with this team against the likes of Miami and Florida is very rewarding for me, both as a letter winner and an alumnus. I thought this could eventually happen, but I didn’t think I would see it in my lifetime.”

Jude Rinaldi hit the three-run home run that beat Tampa in the 1987 D2 championship game at Montgomery’s Paterson Field. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Division II World Series. He made the trip to Gainesville to watch this year’s regional.

“I didn’t think that this was ever going to be possible,” Rinaldi told Troy University. “Skylar has put together a hell of a team.”

Jack Weaver, president of the Troy University Alumni Association, said the phone started ringing the moment Troy won the Gainesville Regional.

“I think this has served to further unite us and inspire us to work hard for the University,” Weaver told Troy University, “not just on the athletics side but on the academic side as well.”

What’s Next

The believers waited decades. Meade took four years and ten months. The Trojans’ postseason run made believers out of everyone wearing cardinal and black. Now they head to Omaha to make believers out of everyone else.

Troy opens the College World Series against West Virginia on Friday in Omaha. West Virginia swept Cal Poly in its Super Regional and outscored them 29-3 — the most runs in a Super Regional sweep since 1999. Neither program has been to Omaha before.

Troy is the third Sun Belt program to reach the College World Series, following Louisiana in 2000 and Coastal Carolina last year. Coastal went 56-13 in 2025, swept through Omaha at 3-0 and reached the championship series before falling to LSU. No Sun Belt team has won the national championship. The Sun Belt sent five teams to regionals this year.

Troy is the first team to reach Omaha with 30 losses. On March 28, the Trojans were 11-16. They are 26-14 since.

Troy has won six straight since losing its regional opener to Miami.

Meade saw what Riddle-Pace Field looked like Saturday. He wants that scene in Omaha.

“They better be buying some plane tickets, loading those cars up with gas,” Meade said.

And perhaps pack a bag or two. The Trojans are on the way to Omaha. They intend to stay a while.