OMAHA, Neb. -- Jabe Boroff hit a tiebreaking double in a four-run seventh inning, and Troy and its potent offense kept the program's first College World Series appearance going with a 12-8 win over Mississippi in an elimination game Sunday.
The Trojans (39-31) erased a four-run deficit to post their 18th come-from-behind win of the season and advance to a game Tuesday against West Virginia, which lost Sunday night to North Carolina.
"I know the city of Troy is absolutely loving this," said Boroff, among seven Alabama natives on the team. "What really means the most is everybody's got our back, and everybody wants to see us win."
Mississippi (41-23) went two-games-and-out in its first trip to Charles Schwab Field since winning the national championship in 2022. Southeastern Conference teams had won 13 straight against non-SEC opponents in the CWS before the Rebels lost to North Carolina and Troy.
Troy, which lost 7-5 to West Virginia on Friday, ramped up an offense that arrived in Omaha averaging 10.6 runs per game in the NCAA tournament.
The conditions were perfect for the 3-hour, 54-minute offensive free-for-all -- sunny, 70 degrees at first pitch and a 15 mph wind blowing out. The teams combined for 26 hits and six homers, second most in a game at the 15-year-old stadium. It was the first time since 2001 at Rosenblatt Stadium that each team went deep three times.
"Credit Troy for getting the big hit time and time again," Rebels coach Mike Bianco said. "You look at the back half of the game, we scored runs, but we just couldn't stop them."
Noah Thigpen (1-5) pitched five innings of relief for the win, and JP Robertson (5-2) took the loss.
The Trojans gave up two runs in the first inning and were down 6-2 in the fourth after Brayden Randle and Collin Reuters launched two-run homers to almost the same spot in the right-field seats.
"I can say it jokingly now that we had to get on the guys after the first inning," Troy coach Skylar Meade said. "I didn't think we were ready to go. I hope there weren't any hot mics. Might get in trouble on that. But you have to do what you have to do to produce results."
Troy's Sean Darnell, who homered in the second inning, came up in the fifth with two outs and the bases loaded. Hunter Elliott balked to bring in a run, and Darnell singled in two more to cut it to 6-5.
Jimmy Janicki's team-leading 21st homer tied it at 6-6 in the seventh, and Boroff, after his two-run double, scored on Houston Markham's single to put the Trojans up 9-6.
"Losers stop when it gets tough, and that's not what our guys do," Meade said. "And that's why they're getting everything they deserve right now and hopefully a lot more."
North Carolina gains inside track to CWS finals with 5-2 win over West Virginia
Gavin Gallaher's two-run triple gave North Carolina the lead in the seventh inning to help send the Tar Heels to a 5-2 win over West Virginia in the College World Series on Sunday night.
The Tar Heels (52-12-1) opened a CWS with two straight wins for the first time in eight appearances since 2006 and need one more victory to reach the best-of-three finals next weekend. They're off until Wednesday, when they'll meet the winner of Tuesday's elimination game between the Mountaineers (46-16) and Troy.
The Tar Heels scored three unearned runs against Big 12 pitcher of the year Maxx Yehl to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh, with country music star and North Carolina booster Eric Church cheering them on in a suite.
They had runners on first and second after West Virginia third baseman Tyrus Hall and second baseman Brodie Kresser couldn't field grounders. Gallaher lined a ball deep into the gap in right-center for a 4-2 lead, and he came home on Owen Hull's base hit.
An inning earlier, Carolina coach Scott Forbes called a team meeting in the dugout and, according to the ESPN broadcast, told his players they needed to play looser and have more fun. The Tar Heels went three-up, three-down in the sixth, but the next inning, Gallaher and his teammates were having a jolly time on a clear and cool evening at Charles Schwab Field.
The mood changed in the ninth. McDuffie (9-3), who relieved starter Ryan Lynch in the fifth, gave up a walk and single to bring Ben Lumsden to the plate as the potential tying run with one out.
Caden Glauber, who pitched 2⅓ innings of shutout relief in a 6-2 win over Mississippi on Friday, struck out Lumsden and Hall to earn his fifth save.
Yehl (9-3) left after he faced one batter in the eighth. He gave up eight hits, walked one and struck out seven.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
