As of the end of the 2020 season, the program's overall record is 1,865–1,184–3. Troy is the 34th all-time winningest baseball program among all Division 1 programs.
History
Early history
Few schools in the South, especially in the state of Alabama, possess as rich a history as that of the Troy baseball program. In the past 40 years alone, Trojan baseball squads have claimed more than 1,300 victories, 14 conference championships, 7 NCAA regional crowns, and back-to-back Division II NCAA National Championships in 1986 and 1987.
As early as the turn of the 20th century, old photographs show evidence that Troy fielded an intercollegiate baseball team in the early 1900s, but school records only date back to 1931. In the teams early years, they were known as the "Teachers" since the college was primarily an educational institution for teachers. In 1931, the Troy Normal School moved all home games to what is now known as Riddle-Pace Field. The previous playing field, which was located on the quad in front of Shackelford Hall, was the original playing field. This relocation occurred because of baseballs breaking the windows of Shackelford Hall.
The 1912 Troy Normal School Teachers baseball team, one of the earliest photos of the Troy baseball program.
Chase Riddle era
In 1979, Troy State hired Chase Riddle, who was a manager and scout for the St. Louis Cardinals major league baseball team. In his first year as the head coach, he led the Trojans to a then-school-record 33 wins and a second place finish in the Gulf South Conference Eastern Division. That same season, Troy performed a two-game sweep of the Alabama Crimson Tide; a big accomplishment for an in-state Division II school.
In Riddle's second season at the helm, he went on to accomplish even more. His 1980 team finished the season 30–12, garnering a significant win over the then #7-ranked Florida State Seminoles by a score of 5–3. The Trojans would wind up winning the Gulf South Conference championship and the NCAA Central Regional, and making it all the way to the NCAA College World Series. They were eliminated with a 1–2 record from the World Series, but Troy had established themselves as a new powerhouse baseball program.
The 1981 and 1982 seasons were also huge successes for Riddle and his program. The program won another Gulf South Conference championship in 1981 with yet another appearance in the College World Series, finishing the season with a 37–10 record. The 1982 season saw Troy winning yet another conference championship and appearing again in the NCAA tournament. Troy would also garner big wins against Auburn and Clemson that same year.
From 1983 to 1985, the Trojans would go 105–42, making three NCAA regional appearances and two College World Series appearances.
In 1986, the Trojans defeated Columbus State, 5–0, to win their first NCAA College World Series (Division II). They finished the season as the #1-ranked team in the country, with a 46–8 overall record, and a 12–0 conference record to win another Gulf South Conference title. In 1987, they followed up with yet another national championship by defeating Tampa, 7–5.[2] For his successes, head coach Chase Riddle was named National Head Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association in 1986 and 1987.
Chase Riddle would wind up retiring in 1990, finishing his notable career with a record of 434–149–2. Less than one year after his retirement, Riddle's #25 jersey that he wore was retired. Riddle was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2000, the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, and later into the Troy Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
John Mayotte era
Upon transitioning from Division II to Division I, the Trojans finished their tenure in Division II with a 38–25 overall record against competition in NCAA postseason play.
In the Trojan's last season of play in Division II, coach John Mayotte helped continue the trend of Trojan baseball success, leading the team to another College World Series appearance, only to be eliminated with a 2–2 record. The Trojans finished that season ranked #3 in the nation.
After coach Mayotte helped lead Troy into their new era of Division I baseball, he led the team to their first Division I NCAA regional in 1995, just Troy's second season of being in Division I. Troy was eliminated in the Regional by Florida State and Ole Miss that season. In 1997, Mayotte once again led Troy to another NCAA regional, where Troy was again eliminated, this time by Alabama and Southern California.
Bobby Pierce era
In 2003, Troy hired Bobby Pierce as head coach. In his 4th season (2006), he led Troy to their 3rd ever appearance in an NCAA regional. In what would become one of Pierce's best seasons, his Trojans went 47–16 and won their first Sun Belt Conference championship. They entered into the Tuscaloosa Regional as the #2-seed team, while also holding a national ranking of #27 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Troy would face #3-seed Southern Miss in the first matchup, with Troy scoring their first victory in a Regional since joining Division I, beating Southern Miss by a score of 10–8. Troy would fall to #1-seed Alabama in the next round, only to face Southern Miss and beating them yet again. Troy would finally be eliminated from the Regional by Alabama in the final game. Three players from the 2006 team were taken that year in the MLB Draft: Tom King, Mike Felix, and Jarred Keel.
The Trojans went on to have a lot of success over the years since that 2006 season, finding themselves ranked in the Top 25 occasionally almost every season, yet never finishing with a national ranking. That trend would change in 2013.
The 2013 season saw Troy have one of its strongest batting lineups in the program's history. The Trojans were in the Top 10 in the NCAA in total home runs, hitting 54 that season. After getting big wins over Texas Tech and Auburn during the season, the Trojans won another Sun Belt Conference championship, going 40–18 during the regular season. Troy would be ranked #26 by Collegiate Baseball going into the Tallahassee Regional, garnering them the #3-seed. They would face Alabama in the first round, defeating the Crimson Tide 5–2, only to lose to Florida State in the next round. After being put into the elimination bracket, Troy had to once again face the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Trojans would defeat the Tide yet again, this time in a thriller by a score of 9–8. Troy faced Florida State in the finals of the Regional, but wound up being eliminated by the Seminoles, 4–11.
The Trojans would finish the 2013 season with their first ever Top 25 rankings, being ranked #23 by Collegiate Baseball and #25 by Baseball America.
Bobby Pierce finished his career with a 450–313 record at Troy, leading the program to their first Top 25 finish and 4 NCAA regional appearances. For his accomplishments, Pierce was inducted into the Alabama Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2010, the Wiregrass Hall of Fame in 2017, and the Troy Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Mark Smartt era
After the 2016 season, long-time assistant coach Mark Smartt was hired as Troy's new head coach. Smartt is a Troy University alumnus and was a member of the Troy State Trojans baseball teams that was Division II national championships in 1986 and 1987.
In Smartt's second season at the helm, his team would go 31–25, performing a rare accomplishment by defeating every in-state on the schedule in 2017. The Trojans would defeat Alabama, Auburn, UAB, South Alabama, Alabama State, Samford, and Jacksonville State that season.
In 2018, in just Smartt's third season as head coach, he led Troy to a 2nd-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference and finished with a 42–21 record that season. The team would make it all the way to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament finals against #19 Coastal Carolina, only to lose 6–11 to the Chanticleers. Troy wound up receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, where they would face #18 Duke in the first round, defeating the Blue Devils by a score of 6–0. The Trojans' fortunes would fade from there though, losing to #9 Georgia in the next round, and finally being eliminated in a re-match with Duke. Troy finished the season with the sixth-most wins in school history, while garnering a few wins over Top 25 ranked teams, including #17 Coastal Carolina, #18 Duke, and #22 Auburn.
Riddle-Pace Field, located on the university's campus, is the program's home venue. It is named for Chase Riddle, former head coach of the program, and Matthew Downer Pace, who served Troy University from 1891 to 1941 as Professor of Mathematics, Dean, and President.
The stadium features a brick concourse, a three-story press box, restrooms, a concession stand, and a merchandise booth. The stadium has a capacity of 2,000 spectators, which includes 1,700 bleacher seats and 300 chair-back seats. More spectator areas are located beyond the left field fence and adjacent to the home plate dugout. The Lott Baseball Complex was built along the left field fence, which houses coaches offices, player locker rooms and lounge, and an indoor batting cage.
The field had its grass turf removed and was replaced with artificial grass turf in 2008. Troy was one of only three college baseball programs at the time to switch from grass fields to artificial turf. A state-of-the-art drainage system was installed with the new artificial turf, lending the Troy baseball team the ability to play games in a very short amount of time after heavy rains come through.
The field has become known for its "Monster" wall in right field, a 27-foot tall black wall with a built-in scoreboard and video board. It's currently one of the largest outfield walls in all of college baseball.
Attendance
Attendance Rankings
Former Troy shortstop Shohei Fujita.
Troy has been ranked in the NCAA's Top 50 for annual average home attendance for multiple seasons since the early 2000s.
Year
National rank
Avg. home attendance
2023
43rd
1,765
2022
34th
1,948
2020
37th
1,596
2019
41st
1,545
2018
41st
1,636
2015
48th
1,185
2012
50th
1,211
2011
40th
1,282
2010
46th
1,188
2009
43rd
1,208
2008
46th
1,301
2007
42nd
1,425
2005
47th
1,130
Attendance Records
Below is a list of Troy's top six single-game attendance figures.
Troy has produced 58 All-American players, as well as 6 Academic All-Americans. Since Troy joined the NCAA's Division I in 1994, the program has had 16 players named as All-Americans.
The following is a list of all First Team All-Americans Troy has had since joining Division I:
Troy has had 61 total players selected in the MLB Draft in its history. Click the "show" button at the top corner of the table below in order to see the list of Trojans that have been drafted.
Troy's Baseball Hall of Fame & Championships wall, located in the main concourse beneath the stadium.
Since Troy's first year in Division I in 1994, the program has won six regular-season conference titles and three conference tournament titles.
In the team's short stint in the Mid-Continent Conference, they won the regular season title in three straight seasons, from 1995 to 1997, to go along with two tournament titles in 1995 and 1997. In Troy's last season in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2005, they won the regular season title. Since joining the Sun Belt Conference, the team has won three regular season titles in 2006, 2011, and 2013. Troy also won the SBC tournament title in 2006.
The program has compiled a total of 20 conference championships and two D-II national championships since its inception.
In 1986, the Trojans defeated Columbus State, 5–0, to win the Division II College World Series. In 1987, they followed up with yet another national championship by defeating Tampa, 7–5.[2]
Then head coach Chase Riddle was named National Head Coach of the Year in 1986 and 1987 for his successes of winning two national championships in a row.
National championPostseason invitational champion Conference regular season championConference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season championDivision regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion
Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. It was one of about 180 "normal schools" founded by state governments in the 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing public common schools. Some closed but most steadily expanded their role and became state colleges in the early 20th century and state universities in the late 20th century.
The Troy Trojans football program represents Troy University at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, where it has competed since 2001. The football program joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2004. The current head football coach is Gerad Parker. Troy has won 23 conference championships, with eight in the Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans play home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Alabama.
The South Alabama Jaguars represent the University of South Alabama in NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics. USA competes in the Sun Belt Conference; it is the conference's only remaining charter member from its inception. USA's athletics teams are nicknamed the Jaguars. Popular sports are baseball and men's basketball. USA sponsors 8 men's sports teams and 9 women's sports teams. The board of trustees voted to start a football program that began play in the fall of 2009.
Larry Blakeney is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Troy University from 1991 to 2014, compiling a record of 178–113–1 in 24 seasons. He is one of only two coaches to have taken a college football program from NCAA Division II to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, the other being UCF's Gene McDowell.
Donald D. Maestri Jr. is an American college basketball coach who was the head men's basketball coach at Troy University from 1982 to 2013. Prior to accepting this position, Maestri was an assistant coach at Mississippi State University from 1979 to 1980 and at the University of Alabama from 1980 to 1982. Maestri coached the Trojans to a record of 500–404, one NCAA basketball tournament, five regular season conference titles, and one conference tournament title over the course of 26 seasons at Troy. He has been named coach of the year in the East Coast Conference (1994), the Summit League, Atlantic Sun Conference and the Sun Belt Conference (2009)
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are the athletic teams that represent Coastal Carolina University. They participate in Division I of the NCAA as a member of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) in most sports, having joined that conference as a full but non-football member on July 1, 2016. At that time, the football team began a transition from the second-level Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The team played the 2016 season as an FCS independent, joined SBC football for the 2017 season, and became full FBS members for 2018 and beyond. A Chanticleer is a proud and fierce rooster. Before joining the SBC, the Chanticleers had been members of the Big South Conference since that league's formation in 1983. Coastal fields varsity teams in 19 sports, 8 for men and 11 for women. The university regularly competed for the Sasser Cup, the Big South's trophy for the university with the best sports program among the member institutions, winning the trophy nine times, tied with rival Liberty University.
The North Alabama Lions are the athletic teams of the University of North Alabama, located in Florence, Alabama. The Lions are a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and compete within the ASUN Conference for all sports except football, which plays in the United Athletic Conference. The university has a total of 14 varsity sports teams, six men's teams and eight women's teams. The fall of 2018 marked the Lion's first year of their transition into Division I. They have a storied tradition in Division II and have earned numerous national titles competing in NCAA Division II's Gulf South Conference.
Charles Ludy "Chase" Riddle was an American baseball player, coach, manager and scout. Riddle made his mark in both professional baseball, where he had a 36-year career (1943–78), mostly with the St. Louis Cardinals organization, and in U.S. college ranks as the successful head baseball coach of Troy University (1979–90), where he won two Division II NCAA baseball championships and compiled a record of 435–149–2 (.745). His uncles Johnny and Elmer Riddle played in the Major Leagues in the 1930s and 1940s.
Riddle–Pace Field is a baseball venue in Troy, Alabama, United States, home to the Troy Trojans baseball team. The grandstand seating capacity is 2,500. The venue features an outfield viewing area for tailgaters, a patio area for fans above the home dugout, and a large black wall with a video board and score board system. The wall has become known as the "Monster".
The Troy Trojans men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball of Troy University. The program is classified in NCAA Division I and the team competes in the Sun Belt Conference. The team currently plays their home games in Trojan Arena, which was built in 2012 and replaced the old arena known as Sartain Hall.
The Alabama–Huntsville Chargers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Alabama in Huntsville, located in Huntsville, Alabama, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Chargers have primarily competed in the Gulf South Conference since the 1993–94 academic year.
The Troy Trojans softball team represents Troy University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans play their home games at Troy Softball Complex located on the university's campus. The program is one of the Top 50 winningest softball programs in the Division I, and has an overall record of 988–660–4(.599) as of the end of the 2021 season.
The Troy Trojans women's basketball program is the intercollegiate women's basketball of Troy University. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I and the team competes in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy University's athletics nickname was the Red Wave until the early 1970s when the student body voted to change the name to Trojans.
The Troy Trojans men's tennis team represents Troy University in NCAA Division I college tennis. The team belongs to the Sun Belt Conference and plays home matches at the Jimmy Lunsford Tennis Complex. The Trojans are currently led by head coach Rolando Vargas.
The Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game is an annual college football game that determines the season champion of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). The game is played between the SBC regular-season divisional champions from the East and West divisions. First contested in 2018, the game is typically played on the first Saturday of December. The current champion is the Troy Trojans.
The 1984 Troy State Trojans football team represented Troy State University during the 1984 NCAA Division II football season, and completed the 64th season of Trojans football. The Trojans played their home games in at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Alabama. The 1984 team came off a 7–4 record from the previous season. The 1984 team was led by coach Chan Gailey. The team finished the regular season with a 9–1 record and made the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Trojans defeated the North Dakota State Bison 18–17 in the National Championship Game en route to the program's first NCAA Division II Football Championship and second overall national championship.
Mark Smartt is an American baseball coach. He played at DeKalb Central Junior College and Troy State, where he earned All-Conference honors and helped the team to two NCAA Division II College World Series championships. He served as a graduate assistant for the Troy State Trojans before becoming an assistant at the University of West Alabama. He was promoted to the head coach of West Alabama in 1994. He served as an assistant coach at Troy State for thirteen years before ascending to the top job. On June 28, 2021, Smartt and Troy mutually agreed to part ways.
The 1986 NCAA Division II baseball tournament was the postseason tournament hosted by the NCAA to determine the national champion of baseball among its Division II colleges and universities at the end of the 1986 NCAA Division II baseball season.
The 1987 NCAA Division II baseball tournament was the 20th edition of the NCAA Division II baseball tournament. The 20-team tournament determined the national champion of baseball among its Division II colleges and universities at the end of the 1987 NCAA Division II baseball season.
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2024 Troy Trojans baseball team 
