OMAHA, Neb. - Troy baseball opens its first appearance in the College World Series on Friday against No. 16 West Virginia at Charles Schwab Field.
The Trojans, winners of six straight, punched their ticket to Omaha by reeling off four consecutive victories over Rider, Miami and Florida twice to capture the Gainesville Regional after dropping their opener to Miami. Troy then followed it up with a sweep of Little Rock in the Troy Super Regional in front of 13,459 Trojan faithful over two days.
In the super regional sweep, Troy's pitching put together a pair of dominant performances, topping Little Rock 10-2 in game one and 7-2 in game two. In the opener, lefty Benjamin Stubbs tossed six innings, allowing two runs while punching out five to no walks. Righty Egan went 7.1 strong innings in game two, limiting Little Rock to two runs on five hits with eight punchouts.
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Stubbs will look to replicate that success in the CWS opener against a West Virginia squad scoring 10.7 runs per game in the NCAA Tournament. The No. 16 seed Mountaineers swept Cal Poly in the Morgantown Super Regional and are led by one of the top sophomores in the country, Gavin Kelly, who's hitting .384 with 17 home runs. Kelly will join Troy catcher Jimmy Janicki.
Game information
The matchup: Troy (38-30) vs. No. 16 West Virginia (45-15)
Gametime: Friday, June 12 - 1 p.m.
Location: Omaha, Neb. - Charles Schwab Field
TV: ESPN
Radio: Troy Sports Radio Network
Live stats: NCAA.com
On the mound
Troy: Sr. LHP Benjamin Stubbs (6-3, 4.93 ERA, 83:37 K:BB)
WVU: So. RHP Chansen Cole (10-1, 2.85 ERA, 106:30 K:BB)
Making history
Troy is the third Sun Belt team to reach the College World Series, following 2000 Louisiana and 2016 Coastal Carolina.
Troy is the first team to enter the College World Series with 30 losses. 2008 national champion Fresno State entered with 29 losses before finishing with a 47-31 record.
Jimmy just hits
Sophomore catcher Jimmy Janicki is closing in on the program's single-season hit record. He has 83 hits, two shy of Brooks Bryan, who had 85 in 2024, for the Troy record.
Janicki has also ripped 24 doubles - the fifth-most nationally - while crushing 19 home runs this season. Janicki's next homer would make him the first player in Troy history with a 20-double, 20-homer season.
Jabe Ruth
Jabe Boroff continued his hot postseason in the Troy Super Regional with a two-homer game - including a grand slam - in the opening win over Little Rock.
In 12 postseason games (5 Sun Belt Tournament, 7 NCAA Tournament) Boroff is slashing .386/.491/.932 with 17 hits, seven home runs and 22 RBIs. Seventeen of his 24 hits this season have come in postseason play.
Series history
Troy has never played West Virginia. In fact, Troy has only played three games against Big 12 opponents, winning all three. Troy has an 8-7 win over Kansas State in 2003, a 9-2 win over Oklahoma State in the 2011 Nashville Regional, and a 10-3 win over Texas Tech in 2013.
