The Mark of Victory: Troy Baseball’s 30-Win Seasons

With the win over Auburn. Skylar Meade’s Trojans are on the brink of an important milestone: Their 30th win of the year. It’s the sign of a winning season, but it’s also a gauge of that team’s expectations: the earlier a team reaches that mark, the better its chances of a postseason appearance.

Troy has reached 30 wins 33 of the last 44 seasons, and 18 of those seasons resulted in a tournament bid.

Granted, the stats are skewed heavily toward the Division II years, but the 2007 Trojans were selected for a postseason appearance with just 34 wins. The strength of the Sun Belt Conference would likely make that possible again.

But teams are trying to rack up as many wins as possible. Clearly you want to hit the 30th win as early as you can.

When did these teams hit win No. 30?

Again, the D-II Trojans dominate the April calendar here. The 2007 squad is the only regional team to hit No. 30 in the second week of May, but the 1980 Trojans—another tournament team—didn’t hit that mark until May 25.

The real goal is to have that 30th win by May 3, the same day as the 1987 repeat champions. You can see even the modern tournament squads—2006, 2011, 2013 and 2018—reached it by May 1 at the latest.

This 2023 team could join them, joining the 1979/1982 teams on the calendar with a win on Friday.

Over the years though, the schedule itself has shifted on the calendar. The question is how early into their season did these teams hit win No. 30?

The lower the diamond, the higher the number of losses each team had when it hit win No. 30. Higher diamonds indicate teams that lost fewer games up to that point.

You can see the massive success Troy had in the 1980s and early 1990s, which mirrors the calendar graphic above. For the same reason, the 2006, 2011 and 2013 teams are in a class of their own.

The obvious dividing line is the move up to Division I and the following lack of success under John Mayotte in the late 1990s-early 2000s. Bobby Pierce got the Trojans back to winning, but it’s clear Chase Riddle set the standard.

Troy will hit win No. 30 this season, it’s just a matter of when. Depending on this weekend’s results, this Trojan club could be looking at its own spot among these dominant squads.

Photos from Troy Athletics.