Troy University Athletics
Troy Baseball Season Preview – Infield / Catchers
2/12/2013 1:00:00 PM | Baseball
TROY, Ala. – The Troy University baseball team opens its 2013 campaign on Friday at 6 p.m. with the first of a four-game series against Florida A&M at Riddle-Pace Field. The series continues with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and concludes with a single-game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
TroyTrojans.com will preview the upcoming season this week with a breakdown of each position followed by a preview of the weekend series with the Rattlers.
Monday – Outfield
Tuesday – Infield / Catchers
Wednesday – Pitchers
Thursday – Weekend Preview
The Breakdown
Led by the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year Logan Pierce, the Troy infield is poised to be one of the top offensive units in the Sun Belt.
Pierce earned All-Sun Belt honors last season as a first baseman but will slide across the diamond and play third base this season. The senior hit .341 with 18 doubles, five home runs and 47 RBIs in 2012. One of Pierce's best offensive qualities is his ability to get on base as he drew 43 walks last year and finished with a .444 on-base percentage.
Junior college slugger Trae Santos will take over for Pierce at first base. Santos, who is originally from Guam, hit 11 home runs and added 14 doubles in two seasons at Northwest Florida State College.
Up the middle, junior Jakob Nixon is expected to get the start at second base and Tyler Vaughn the start at shortstop to open the season. Nixon belted four home runs and reached base at a .362 clip while serving primarily as the Trojans' designated hitter last season. Vaughn, who earned Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week honors last year, was as solid with the glove as anyone in the country during a breakout sophomore campaign. He finished 2012 with a .986 fielding percentage after he committed just three errors in over 200 total chances. Vaughn got it done at the plate as well as he hit .305 with 13 doubles.
Head coach Bobby Pierce will have plenty of options to choose from with his infield as transfers Garrett Pitts and Matthew Howard are solid options at shortstop and third base, respectively. Pitts hit .365 with 15 doubles and a pair of triples last year at Central Alabama Community College while Howard hit .303 with five home runs at Northwest Florida State College.
Freshman T.J. Binder, who earned all-state honors in Tennessee, is another possibility to spell Pierce at third base and redshirt freshman Peyton Fuller will also be in the mix for some playing time. At first base, sophomore Kyle Brown had a strong fall before suffering a minor injury in spring practice that will cost him some time early in the year. Danny Collins, who played third base last year and has moved to the outfield, will fill in from time-to-time at first base.
A newcomer to the infield but not the team could be senior Brandon Brown. After splitting time behind the plate with Jake Harrell last season, Brown has begun to focus his attention to the left side of the infield following a thumb injury that has limited his abilities behind the plate.
Harrell enters his sophomore season as Troy's starting catcher after batting at a .286 clip with 12 doubles, three home runs and a .462 slugging percentage in his rookie campaign. Junior college transfer Justin Hancock will most likely get the call in Harrell's absence, while Bender and Brown may also be options.
Pierce Says:
“We've got four guys working in the middle of the infield. Tyler Vaughn is an experienced player who has been playing on both sides of second base. We didn't draw it up that way, but when Garrett Pitts, who were recruited to play shortstop, struggled a little bit in the fall we moved Tyler over to short; also we need to have a backup plan in case of injury. Vaughn has played well on both sides of the bag, but is not totally comfortable yet at short and we don't expect him to be, but he is a pretty solid steady guy. He will probably hit in the leadoff spot whether he is playing shortstop or second base.
“Pitts is a talented young player that once he gets his feet on the ground and settles in a little bit will see plenty of time as will Jakob Nixon, who was mostly our designated hitter last year. He certainly has improved his defense and took on the challenge of that. Those three will play plenty and we also have freshman Peyton Fuller that is dueling between the pitchers mound and the infield. He will have to grab some at-bats and some opportunities as they come his way. He is a good-looking player.
“We moved Logan (Pierce) to third base due to Danny's (Collins) shoulder issue that he suffered in junior college on a dive play. He came up as a left-side infield guy as a young player; started at shortstop and grew out of that so moved to third base and played a solid third base throughout his high school career. When he came here we had an All-American at third (Tyler Hannah) and an All-American at short (Adam Bryant) and the opening was at first base. Third base is a position that is common to him and he played it most of the summer in the New England league. He has looked fine and is improving daily.
“Matthew Howard, who is also one of our pitchers, will be his backup right now at third. One of our catchers Brandon Brown, who has been battling a thumb issue, had surgery over the summer and when he came back did everything they said to do. He was feeling like he was 100 percent only to get knocked out early in the fall. Brandon came up as a third baseman and shortstop who was converted to catcher in hopes that his athleticism would get him into pro ball. Now that his catching is very questionable because of his thumb we are going to start looking at him in those areas that he used to play a lot as a potential backup because we are expecting Matthew Howard to be a big part of the backend of our pitching staff.
“Trae Santos, who is a left-hand hitting junior college transfer, is coming off a very good fall and will be our first baseman. Kyle Brown currently has a hand injury and is coming off hip surgery last year so we will have to see where he is physically, but he was swinging the bat really well when he got hurt.
“Jake Harrell is back behind the plate and Justin Hancock from Enterprise has transferred into the program. T.J. Binder would be behind those two if Brandon Brown is not available, but we will probably redshirt him. T.J. has had a great fall and a great spring, but is kind of trapped by Jake and Justin. I let the players make the decision on redshirting, I don't make it for them.”
TroyTrojans.com will preview the upcoming season this week with a breakdown of each position followed by a preview of the weekend series with the Rattlers.
Monday – Outfield
Tuesday – Infield / Catchers
Wednesday – Pitchers
Thursday – Weekend Preview
The Breakdown
Led by the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year Logan Pierce, the Troy infield is poised to be one of the top offensive units in the Sun Belt.
Pierce earned All-Sun Belt honors last season as a first baseman but will slide across the diamond and play third base this season. The senior hit .341 with 18 doubles, five home runs and 47 RBIs in 2012. One of Pierce's best offensive qualities is his ability to get on base as he drew 43 walks last year and finished with a .444 on-base percentage.
Junior college slugger Trae Santos will take over for Pierce at first base. Santos, who is originally from Guam, hit 11 home runs and added 14 doubles in two seasons at Northwest Florida State College.
Up the middle, junior Jakob Nixon is expected to get the start at second base and Tyler Vaughn the start at shortstop to open the season. Nixon belted four home runs and reached base at a .362 clip while serving primarily as the Trojans' designated hitter last season. Vaughn, who earned Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week honors last year, was as solid with the glove as anyone in the country during a breakout sophomore campaign. He finished 2012 with a .986 fielding percentage after he committed just three errors in over 200 total chances. Vaughn got it done at the plate as well as he hit .305 with 13 doubles.
Head coach Bobby Pierce will have plenty of options to choose from with his infield as transfers Garrett Pitts and Matthew Howard are solid options at shortstop and third base, respectively. Pitts hit .365 with 15 doubles and a pair of triples last year at Central Alabama Community College while Howard hit .303 with five home runs at Northwest Florida State College.
Freshman T.J. Binder, who earned all-state honors in Tennessee, is another possibility to spell Pierce at third base and redshirt freshman Peyton Fuller will also be in the mix for some playing time. At first base, sophomore Kyle Brown had a strong fall before suffering a minor injury in spring practice that will cost him some time early in the year. Danny Collins, who played third base last year and has moved to the outfield, will fill in from time-to-time at first base.
A newcomer to the infield but not the team could be senior Brandon Brown. After splitting time behind the plate with Jake Harrell last season, Brown has begun to focus his attention to the left side of the infield following a thumb injury that has limited his abilities behind the plate.
Harrell enters his sophomore season as Troy's starting catcher after batting at a .286 clip with 12 doubles, three home runs and a .462 slugging percentage in his rookie campaign. Junior college transfer Justin Hancock will most likely get the call in Harrell's absence, while Bender and Brown may also be options.
Pierce Says:
“We've got four guys working in the middle of the infield. Tyler Vaughn is an experienced player who has been playing on both sides of second base. We didn't draw it up that way, but when Garrett Pitts, who were recruited to play shortstop, struggled a little bit in the fall we moved Tyler over to short; also we need to have a backup plan in case of injury. Vaughn has played well on both sides of the bag, but is not totally comfortable yet at short and we don't expect him to be, but he is a pretty solid steady guy. He will probably hit in the leadoff spot whether he is playing shortstop or second base.
“Pitts is a talented young player that once he gets his feet on the ground and settles in a little bit will see plenty of time as will Jakob Nixon, who was mostly our designated hitter last year. He certainly has improved his defense and took on the challenge of that. Those three will play plenty and we also have freshman Peyton Fuller that is dueling between the pitchers mound and the infield. He will have to grab some at-bats and some opportunities as they come his way. He is a good-looking player.
“We moved Logan (Pierce) to third base due to Danny's (Collins) shoulder issue that he suffered in junior college on a dive play. He came up as a left-side infield guy as a young player; started at shortstop and grew out of that so moved to third base and played a solid third base throughout his high school career. When he came here we had an All-American at third (Tyler Hannah) and an All-American at short (Adam Bryant) and the opening was at first base. Third base is a position that is common to him and he played it most of the summer in the New England league. He has looked fine and is improving daily.
“Matthew Howard, who is also one of our pitchers, will be his backup right now at third. One of our catchers Brandon Brown, who has been battling a thumb issue, had surgery over the summer and when he came back did everything they said to do. He was feeling like he was 100 percent only to get knocked out early in the fall. Brandon came up as a third baseman and shortstop who was converted to catcher in hopes that his athleticism would get him into pro ball. Now that his catching is very questionable because of his thumb we are going to start looking at him in those areas that he used to play a lot as a potential backup because we are expecting Matthew Howard to be a big part of the backend of our pitching staff.
“Trae Santos, who is a left-hand hitting junior college transfer, is coming off a very good fall and will be our first baseman. Kyle Brown currently has a hand injury and is coming off hip surgery last year so we will have to see where he is physically, but he was swinging the bat really well when he got hurt.
“Jake Harrell is back behind the plate and Justin Hancock from Enterprise has transferred into the program. T.J. Binder would be behind those two if Brandon Brown is not available, but we will probably redshirt him. T.J. has had a great fall and a great spring, but is kind of trapped by Jake and Justin. I let the players make the decision on redshirting, I don't make it for them.”
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