Troy rallies to defeat Louisiana baseball in Sun Belt finale

TROY, Ala (KLFY) – Jimmy Janicki’s walk-off grand slam with one out in the bottom of the ninth capped a 12-run rally over the final three innings as Troy stunned Louisiana, 15-11, on Sunday in the finale of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Riddle-Pace Field.

Troy (20-20, 10-8 SBC) trailed 9-3 after six innings before erupting for seven runs in the seventh to take a 10-9 lead. Louisiana (22-17, 7-11 SBC) briefly reclaimed the advantage in the eighth on Steven Spalitta’s two-run home run, but Troy answered in the bottom half on Drew Nelson’s solo shot to right field to tie the game.

Louisiana scored in five of the first six innings, beginning with a three-run first. Rigoberto Hernandez drove in Maddox Mandino on a fielder’s choice for an early 1-0 lead before Colt Brown added a two-run double down the left-field line off Troy starter Noah Thigpen.

Aaron Piasecki’s solo home run in the first — part of a five-hit performance — cut the deficit to 3-1 before Louisiana added two runs in the second on bases-loaded walks to Lee Amedee and Brown.

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Pinch-hitter Josh Lim delivered an RBI double in the third to score Spalitta, and Mark Collins opened the fifth with a solo home run.

Troy plated two runs in the fifth to trim the deficit to 7-3, but Louisiana responded with an RBI single from Brown and a sacrifice fly by Donovan LaSalle to build a 9-3 lead.

Nelson (2-1), who earned the win after tossing the final two innings, highlighted Troy’s seventh-inning rally with a bases-clearing double to right-center. Sean Darnell followed with an RBI single and later scored on Piasecki’s RBI single. Josh Pyne then delivered a two-run double to right-center to give Troy its first lead at 10-9.

Garret Carter (1-1) recorded the first out in the ninth on a fly ball to right before allowing a single, walk and hit batter to load the bases. Janicki then ended the game on the first pitch he saw, blasting his 11th home run of the season.

Louisiana finished with 10 hits, marking its third consecutive game with double-digit hits. Brown went 3-for-3 with three RBI, while Lim and Collins each added two hits.