Troy University Athletics
Samford To Visit For Weekend Series
2/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
About This Weekend's Series
The Trojans enter this weekend's first home series of the 2005 season after a disappointing season-opening series at McNeese State. The Trojans took the first game of the series from the Cowboys, but pitching and defensive woes cost the Trojans both ends of Saturday's double-header.
In dropping the two games on Saturday, Troy pitchers allowed 24 hits, 16 walks and hit two batters. Throw in a school-record five wild pitches, four passed balls and four errors in the two games that resulted in 10 unearned runs, and the two losses are easy to understand.
Troy will try to bounce back by sending senior right-hander Landon Brazell to the mound for the opening game of the series. He is scheduled to face junior right-hander Scott Fowler, a transfer from Cumberland University who had a 4-1 record there in 2003.
Starters for the Trojans on Saturday and Sunday were undecided on Wednesday, but junior Brent Adcock and freshman Steven Morelock are likely candidates, even though both had rough outings in their starts at McNeese State last weekend.Right-handers Joseph Edens and Stephen Artz are scheduled to start the final two games of the series for Samford.
The All-Time Series
The Trojans and Bulldogs have met on the diamond 34 times since the first meeting in 1994 (a 20-8 Troy win). Troy holds a commanding 24-10 advantage in the series, including a seven-game season sweep last spring.Troy also holds a commanding 13-2 series lead in games played at Riddle-Pace Field. The Trojans lead the series 10-8 at Samford and 1-0 on neutral fields. Troy's current seven-game win streak over Samford is the longest in the series.
The Coaches
Troy
- Bobby Pierce (Alabama, ?˜82) is in his third season at Troy and has a 64-51 record after guiding the Trojans to a 36-22 record a year ago. In Pierce's second season, Troy finished fifth in the A-Sun regular season race and then advanced to the championship round of the conference tournament. In his career as a head coach, Pierce has won 599 games in his 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach, including 259 at Chipola (Fla.) Junior College. His record at four-year schools stands at 340-159 and he is in his 10th season.Samford - Casey Dunn (Auburn, 1999) is in his first season as a collegiate head coach. He won his first game with a three-run ninth inning ralley on Tuesday at Georgia State in the Bulldogs' season opener.
On the Air
Only Saturday afternoon's game will be carried on the Troy Network with Barry McKnight providing play-by-play. The broadcast can also be picked up at www.TroyTrojans.com.Trojans Baseball Notebook
Preseason Notes
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After placing two players on the All-Conference teams in 2004, and three on the Atlantic Sun All-Tournament team, only senior outfielder Adam Godwin was named to the league's 2005 preseason All-Conference Team.t
The Trojans, entering their final season as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, were picked to finish fourth in the 2005 league chase by both the coaches and members of the media. Troy was projected to finish behind UCF, Florida Atlantic and Stetson. Troy will square off with those three schools on consecutive weekends beginning April 22.t
Troy baseball coach Bobby Pierce entered the 2005 season needing just two victories to reach 600 for his career. His record includes a 259-95 mark in seven seasons as head coach at Chipola Junior College.The McNeese State Series (Feb. 11-12)
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Troy's four errors in the season-opening win over McNeese State equaled the most the Trojans had in a game last year. Troy was charged with four errors in a game five times in 2004, posting a 2-3 record in those games. The Troy defense was charged with eight errors in the series, to go with four passed balls.t
The Trojans pitching staff had its struggles against McNeese. Troy was charged with a school-record five wild pitches in the first game of Saturday's double-header. Freshman pitcher Ryan Ellison, in his collegiate debut, tied the school record with four wild pitches in that game. Ellison also recorded five strikeouts in three innings of work.t
The Troy pitching staff also struggled to find the strike zone in the weekend series. The staff combined to issue 23 walks in the three games to go with three hit batters. On the other side, the Trojans received just six free passes from the McNeese State pitching staff.t
Troy senior Landon Brazell did not share in the struggles of the rest of his pitching comrads. In his start in the season-opener against McNeese State he recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts while allowing just one earned run in 5 2/3 innings of work. He did not, however, earn a victory in the game.t
Junior Nick Smith made the most of his opportunity in the season-opening victory over McNeese State. After grounding out in the ninth inning as a pinch hitter, Smith hit a grand slam in the 10th inning to seal the Trojans' 9-3 victory.t Many Trojans players made their first appearances for Troy in the weekend series, including five true freshman. In all, 13 players made their Troy debuts in the weekend series.t
Clint Robinson's two triples were one shy of equaling the TEAM total from 2004. Troy had just three triples all last season, including one by Robinson.t
Senior outfielder Adam Godwin showed why he was a preseason All-A-Sun selection. He hit .357 in the weekend series, scored four runs and was a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts.Looking Ahead
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Following the weekend series against Samford, the Trojans will hit the road for the first of their two games this season with Auburn. Troy will visit Plainsman Park on Tuesday, February 22, and the Tigers will come to Riddle-Pace Field on Tuesday, March 15. Auburn leads the all-time series with Troy 26-11, but the two teams split two games last season. The Tigers are off to a 5-2 start this year and host Virginia Commonwealth for the three-game set this weekend.t
Next weekend the Trojans will host the ScreenTech Wiregrass Baseball Classic at Westgate Park in Dothan. Ohio State, Iowa and Middle Tennessee will round out the field for the round-robin tournament. Ohio State and Iowa will open their 2005 seasons in the tournament while Middle Tennessee opens this weekend at home against Ball State.
