BRACKET | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
 
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Troy, Southern Miss, Old Dominion and Georgia Southern claimed wins in Day Two play at the 2024 Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University in Montgomery, Ala., setting up head-to-head matchups of the tournament’s top four seeds Thursday—including one in an elimination game. 
 
Four games dot the Thursday slate—No. 7-seeded Coastal Carolina vs. No. 6-seeded App State in an elimination game at 9:00 a.m. CT, No. 4-seeded James Madison vs. No. 1-seeded Louisiana in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. CT, No. 3-seeded Troy vs. No. 2-seeded Southern Miss at 4:00 p.m. CT and No. 8-seeded Old Dominion vs. No. 5-seeded Georgia Southern at 7:30 p.m. CT. 
 
GAME 3 – No. 3 seed Troy def. No. 6 App State, 6-5
Senior outfielder CJ Boyd announced his presence in his first two at-bats at the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University. 
 
Boyd hit a two-out, two-run bomb over the left field wall in the top of the first to give the Mountaineers an instant advantage and tacked on two more with another two-run home run in a nearly identical two-out situation in the top of the third to make it 4-0 App State. 
 
Troy finally to got to App State starter senior righty Dante Chirico in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Trojans sophomore catcher Brooks Bryan broke up his no-hit bid with a solo shot to right center. The Trojans followed that up with three-straight singles and a walk that plated the second run of the frame before an out was recorded. 
 
After a fly out to right field, senior outfielder Kole Myers tied things up at 4-4 with a two-RBI double to center and senior outfielder Ethan Kavanagh gave the Trojans their first lead at 5-4 with an RBI single to left to chase Chirico. Bryan, who had opened the frame with the solo homer, capped the Troy rally with a sacrifice fly to left to score Myers. 
 
App State got one back in the top of the eighth when junior second baseman Joseph Zamora singled through the right side with two-on and one-out to plate senior outfielder Hunter Wilder. After a fielding error loaded the bases for the Mountaineers with just one out in the inning, senior lefty Logan Ross induced a fly out to shallow center and a fielder’s choice to end the App State threat. 
 
Junior right-handed pitcher Jay Dill slammed the door on the Mountaineers, striking out Boyd, senior designated hitter Xavier Moronta and junior third baseman Adam Quintero in the top of the ninth to earn the save and preserve the 6-5 win. Junior righty Grayson Stewart—who struck out four over two scoreless innings pitched in the fourth and fifth—earned the win for the Trojans. 
 
GAME 4 – No. 2 seed Southern Miss def. No. 7 seed Coastal Carolina, 5-0
Senior righty Billy Oldham and sophomore righty Colby Allen threw a combined three-hitter, as Southern Miss blanked Coastal Carolina in its opener at the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University.
 
The starters dueled—with Oldham striking out nine and throwing seven innings of one-hit baseball and Coastal Carolina graduate student lefty Henry Weycker conceding just two hits over six frames while striking out five. 
 
After the Golden Eagles leadoff hitter reached base for the fifth-straight inning, Southern Miss senior outfielder Slade Wilks broke through with a two-on and two-out two-RBI double off the top of the wall in left field in the bottom of the eighth. After a pitching change—and a hit batter—sophomore second baseman Nick Monistere followed with a three-run shot to dead center to provide the final 5-0 margin.

Wilks’ double in his final at-bat extended his hitting streak to 29 games—the third longest in Southern Miss program history. 
 
Allen earned the victory in relief for the Golden Eagles. The shutout was Southern Miss’ first of the 2024 campaign. 
 
GAME 5 – No. 8 seed Old Dominion def. No. 1 seed Louisiana, 7-3
A two-out solo shot to right field from senior third baseman Kenny Levari in the top of the first set the tone for Old Dominion Wednesday at the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University.
 
Junior shortstop Kyle Edwards led off the top of the fourth with a double and was driven in by a Levari single. Junior outfielder Luke Waters then doubled to left center, scoring Levari from first to make it 3-0. After he issued a walk to senior first baseman Jake Ticer to make it four-straight batters to reach base, the Monarchs chased Sun Belt Freshman of the Year lefty Chase Morgan. 
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns bullpen didn’t fare much better, with four more runs crossing the plate—headlined by a two-RBI ground-rule double down the left field line by sophomore catcher Evan Holman. 
 
The Monarchs got seven innings of shutout baseball from junior lefty Blake Morgan—who struck out three and conceded four hits over 3.0 innings pitched—and sophomore lefty Ben Moore—who struck out five in 4.0 scoreless frames.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns got a pair of home runs in the bottom of the eighth—a solo shot to center by senior first baseman Trey LaFleur and a two-run bomb to right by senior second baseman John Taylor—but would get no closer than 7-3.  
 
Moore earned the win on the hill for Old Dominion. 
 
GAME 6 – No. 5 seed Georgia Southern def. No. 4 seed James Madison, 12-4
Georgia Southern forced the quick hook on a pair of James Madison pitchers and jumped out to a 6-0 advantage over the first two frames at the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University.
 
Sophomore second baseman Josh Tate drew a leadoff walk, advanced on a passed ball and a single from junior outfielder Sean Smith and scored on a wild pitch that caused the Dukes to pull sophomore lefty T.R. Williams before recording an out in the top of the first. Junior righty Todd Mozoki walked back-to-back Eagles hitters after entering the game in relief to load the bases for Georgia Southern senior outfielder Sam Blancato. Blancato delivered a two-RBI single to right that plated a pair before the fourth and final run of the first inning crossed on a ground out to second. 
 
Doubles from junior shortstop Chris Parker and freshman first baseman Kent Schmidt plated another run in the top of the second—and Blancato added a second tally with another single to centerfield to make it 6-0 in favor of the Eagles. 
 
Back-to-back two-out doubles from junior outfielder Fenwick Trimble and sophomore second baseman Mike Mancini got the Dukes on the board in the bottom of the third, with Mancini eventually coming around to score on a throwing error and a wild pitch.
 
A Tate double down the right field line added an insurance run for Georgia Southern in the top of the sixth to extend the margin to 7-2. The Dukes manufactured a run in the bottom of the seventh and added another on a solo shot from junior catcher Jason Schiavone in the bottom of the eighth to trim the lead to 7-4. The Eagles responded with a five-run top of the ninth to leave no doubt in a 12-4 victory. 
 
Senior righty Ben Johnson earned the win and junior lefty Jacob Phillips picked up the save for Georgia Southern. 
 
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 21
Game 1 – No. 7 seed Coastal Carolina def. No. 10 seed Georgia State, 5-1 
Game 2 – No. 8 seed Old Dominion def. No. 9 seed South Alabama, 3-2
 
Wednesday, May 22
Game 3 – No. 3 seed Troy def. No. 6 seed App State, 6-5
Game 4 – No. 2 seed Southern Miss def. No. 7 seed Coastal Carolina, 5-0
Game 5 – No. 8 seed Old Dominion def. No. 1 seed Louisiana, 7-3
Game 6 – No. 5 seed Georgia Southern def. No. 4 seed James Madison, 12-4 
 
Thursday, May 23
Game 7 – No. 6 seed App State vs. No. 7 seed Coastal Carolina, 9:00 a.m. CT
Game 8 – No. 1 seed Louisiana vs. No. 4 seed James Madison, 12:30 p.m. CT
Game 9 – No. 2 seed Southern Miss vs. No. 3 seed Troy, 4:00 p.m. CT
Game 10 – No. 5 seed Georgia Southern vs. No. 8 seed Old Dominion, 7:30 p.m. CT
 
Friday, May 24
Game 11 – Loser Game 9 vs. Winner Game 7, 3:00 p.m. CT 
Game 12 – Loser Game 10 vs. Winner Game 8, 6:30 p.m. CT
 
Saturday, May 25 
Game 13 – Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11, 9:00 a.m. CT
Game 14 – Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 12, 12:30 p.m. CT
If Necessary – 4:00 p.m. CT
If Necessary – 7:30 p.m. CT
 
Sunday, May 26
Championship Game – 1:00 p.m. CT