Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The No. 25-ranked Troy Trojans head into the 2025 season as one of the favorites to win the Sun Belt Conference and they’re a team with plenty of confidence. 

Not only is Troy the only team in the Sun Belt Conference to land on D1 Baseball’s Preseason Top 25 poll but Troy’s also the only team in the State of Alabama to land on it, as well. That’s for good reason, too. Troy returns one of the most talented rosters in all of college baseball, featuring star returning players, high-caliber freshmen and a star-studded transfer portal class. 

“Each year our talent pool has gotten better,” Troy Coach Skylar Meade said. “I think in some ways it’s not hard to tell in the sense of watching practice day in and day out. When you look at our roster and try to figure out who the 30th guy is, just the depth of it, is insane. That’s what you’re supposed to do and what you strive to do, to raise the floor. I know we’ve done that. 

“It’s a good group, that doesn’t mean you’ve earned anything yet but our belief is that if you can have high level talent with the culture we have you have a chance to be really, really good and in the end, that’s the goal; to have a chance to be good.”

Among the returning veterans is All-Sun Belt catcher Brooks Bryan, whose one of the top MLB prospects in all of college baseball, after setting Troy’s single-season RBI record last season. Troy also returns All-Sun Belt pitcher Luke Lyon. The level of talent that Troy has been able to maintain over the last few years is something Meade is not only proud of but also uses as a recruiting tool.

“It’s kind of astonishing we’ve been able to keep all of our guys the last few years and we know that won’t always be the case,” said Meade. “No one is immune to it. At the same time, it’s the nature of it and whether it’s rules or changes going on, I won’t be one to complain. We’re going to find out what the advantages are for us and we use it in recruiting.

“When people tell me to tell them about our program and our culture, I say, ‘Look at our roster and see who returned. Go to our best players, they all came back.’ That says everything you could ever say. Trust me, our guys have options. We’re in a day and age where those options will get back to them – whether it be through an agent or shady recruiting tactics – but that’s never going to change how we treat our guys and how we’re able to cultivate the right relationships where our guys know this is the best place for them to be.”

One of those returning players this season is the 2023 Sun Belt Player of the Year Shane Lewis, who set the school record for single season home runs. After a frustrating 2024 season, Meade is excited to see the senior return to form.

“It would be the most awesome thing for our team,” Meade said of Lewis returning to his former play. “We just need Shane to do his part, though, and what he can do for his part is keeping a positive mindset and remembering the superstar he is without trying to force being a superstar.” 

Meade said that Lewis had the best fall since coming to Troy this past fall, hitting seven home runs during that span. 

“He did things no one else may ever be able to do here again and he needs to remember that for his confidence, but at the same time we’re not asking him to be the guy,” Meade continued. “He can do the things that make him look like the guy and I know that may seem like a play on words but that’s key for him. He had the best fall he’s ever had here. We’re not trying to ask him to hit 27 home runs, we’re asking him to be himself and be a good player. The talent he has is as good as anyone that’s ever put a uniform on here.” 

Troy’s transfer class includes former Western Kentucky first baseman Blake Cavill, considered one of the best hitters at first base in the country. It also includes a pair of incoming transfers that are familiar faces for the Troy community in pitcher Drew Nelson and infielder Cason Eubanks. 

Nelson was the Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year at Pike Liberal Arts School and started his college career at Auburn before transferring to Troy this past offseason.

“Drew has had a blast since he got here,” Meade said of Nelson. “We’ve got him out there swinging and he’s done well. The pitching is his priority, though, and he’s pitching well, his mojo is high and his stuff is really good. During the fall, he had our highest WHIFF (percentage of swings at a pitch that result in a miss) rate of anyone in our grouping. He’s a guy that I expect, if he continues to have that confidence and do the things he’s done, to play a huge role for us this season.”

Nelson, who was a stellar hitter in high school, was used as a hitter in the fall and will continue to get hits this spring, as well. 

“I’ve been very impressed with what he can do at the plate,” Meade said. “Yesterday at a scrimmage he took the first pitch, a 90 mile-per-hour fast ball, and hits it 103 (feet) to left field for a base hit. I think his daily competitiveness in the box and getting his reps at batting practice and knowing our toughness and values on the offensive side has actually helped his pitching.

“In the end, whatever will get the most value for him, we have to do. I’ve been blown away by just how much fun he’s been to coach. He’s an awesome guy with a great sense of humor and a great smile on the field. A lot of guys play the game tense but he does not do that.”

Nelson agreed with Meade that getting some swings in has helped his pitching.

“Being able to keep my athleticism and explosive up with swinging has transitioned to the mound for me,” Nelson said. 

Eubanks was also a star player at Pike Lib before starting his college career at Georgia Southern. He transferred to Wallace Community College last season and became one of the best junior college (JUCO) players in the entire state. 

“Cason started off a ball of fire in the fall and sort of hit a little bit of a wall,” Meade said of Eubanks. “We’re trying to get him going again and moving him around to all the different spots in the infield, because he needs to be position versatile to have the highest value he can. He’s a guy that certainly doesn’t have a shortage of talent, we just need to get a little more consistency out of him.” 

When asked who he saw as the leaders for this 2025 Trojan squad, it was hard for Meade to narrow it down to just a handful of players.

“I think Brooks (Bryan) has made the improvements, he plays the position and has the star power and has done a great job for us,” Meade continued. “Jason Hawkins will get more opportunities this year (at catcher), he’s a tremendous kid and a leader for us. (Pitcher) Garrett Gainous has the experience and star power where he leads in his own way where people watch him.

“He doesn’t have to say many things, they just see what he does. I think Blake Cavill, even though he’s a new player, leads by the excitement he has being here every single day. He has an elite personality. Steven Meier hitting at the top of the order is another guy, he plays center field at an elite level. Jay Dill has done a ton of things for us leadership related with our new pitchers because he knows our system and believes in our system.” 

Meade said that those leaders are key to the success this team can have in 2025.

“There is a lot of (leaders), which you need,” he said. “The challenge is once it gets real and the stats are online and they go through some struggles or adversity, can you stay committed to being the best teammate you can be and pushing your teammates to be the best they can?”

Brooks agreed with Meade’s assessment of the talent on the Trojan roster.

“There’s no doubts this team is super talented,” Brooks said. “Anyone that comes and watches us, it’ll be obvious to see. There’s a lot of talent out here and if we put it together there’s no telling what we can do.” 

Consistency is a recurring theme when Meade talks about his team.

“I think for us, I want to make sure we have enough mental strength that we continue to take everything that happens to us one day at a time,” he emphasized. “We’re going to have a game that doesn’t go our way but can we take one bad day and flip it the next? Can we take our successes and not get caught up in it and miss an opportunity to parlay that into something bigger?

“If you win three games in a row but you’re playing well enough to win eight then win the eight games. Don’t get complacent. That’s the biggest goal for me.” 

Nelson was emphatic in what he and his teammates have set as the goal for 2025; the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

“Omaha,” Nelson flatly said when asked what his goals were this season. “I don’t think anyone on this team has a different mindset than that. We all collectively, as a group, are set on Omaha.”

While Meade isn’t going that far in publicly declaring his Trojans are Omaha bound, he knows this team has plenty of potential. 

“I have no ceiling for what we can be,” he said. “I think we can be one of the best teams in college baseball. Anyone that comes in here will leave with a ‘Wow’ watching our team. If we don’t get to a certain destination, though, I’m not looking at it like it’ll be a failure. I think we have every piece that you can ask for to be a team that’s playing into June. So, if our players exude that leadership we were talking about then everything is at their disposal.”

Troy Baseball opens the 2025 season Feb. 14-16 with a three-game series at home against Bellarmine at Riddle-Pace Field.