Trojans and Blazers To Renew Rivalry on Wednesday

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Troy Trojans (29-11, 17-4 A-Sun)

vs. UAB (25-15, 10-8 C-USA)

Troy, Ala. • Riddle-Pace Field (2,000)

Wednesday, April 27 • 2:30 pm

Coming off the high of a series victory over Florida Atlantic to maintain their one-game lead in the Atlantic Sun Conference, the Troy Trojans are now forced to wait before continuing their quest for an A-Sun title.

But the Trojans will have their hands full while awaiting a visit from second place UCF the weekend of May 6-8. Prior to that series the Trojans will host intra-state rival UAB, travel to South Carolina to face Winthrop, a perennial NCAA Regional team, before returning to Riddle-Pace Field to host Auburn in a long-awaited, and once delayed, showdown.

First on the docket is the Blazers, who defeated Troy 5-3 back on March 8 at Young Memorial Field in Birmingham. It will be the first trip to Troy for UAB since the 1993 season, a game the Trojans won 10-7.

Since the first meeting this year, the Blazers have endured an up and down season. The win over Troy was the second in a 10-game win streak, but since the streak ended, the Blazers are 9-10. UAB is a solid 20-5 at home this year, but has just five wins in 15 road games. The Blazers won two of three from Cincinnati over the weekend, but had dropped three straight prior to the series, including a 10-7 loss at Samford.

After a short hitting slump that saw the Trojans lose two straight and score only six runs in three games, Troy got the bats going again in the final two games of the series at Florida Atlantic. In those two outings, the Trojans produced 34 runs on 44 hits with a .468 team batting average.

Troy will send freshman right-hander Ryan Ellison (1-2, 4.24) to the mound against the Blazers to face UAB right-hander Heath Tapscott (3-2, 4.89). Tapscott earned the victory in the first meeting, allowing one run on five hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Senior Adam Godwin leads the nation with 67 stolen bases this year, but had just one in the first meeting with UAB. He is coming off a career-best five RBI game on Sunday.

The All-Time Series

The Trojans lead the all-time series with UAB by a mark of 17-12. Troy's advantage in games played at Riddle-Pace Field stands at 11-2. The two schools first met on the diamond back in 1973.

The Coaches

Troy - Bobby Pierce (Alabama, ?˜82) is in his third season at Troy and has an 91-60 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 626 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 367-168 and he is in his 10th season.

UAB - Larry Giangrosso (UAB, 1975) is in his 6th season as the Blazers head coach. He is 151-172 at UAB and has a career record of 725-460-1 that includes nine seasons as head coach at Central Alabama Community College and 12 seasons as head coach at Berry High School in Birmingham.

On the Air

The Troy Network, with Barry McKnight providing play-by-play, will carry the UAB game on WTBF-FM. The game will also be available on the internet at www.TroyTrojans.com.

Noting The Trojans Offense

t The Troy offense came back to life in the final two games of the series at FAU. The Trojans piled up 34 runs on 44 hits in those two games, had a .468 team batting average and hit .562 (18-of-32) with runners in scoring position.

t Senior Chase Amis saw his career-best 11-game hitting streak come to an end Tuesday at Birmingham-Southern. During his streak he raised his season batting average 49 points. Amis has done his best work with runners on base, hitting .360 this year.

t Junior Nick Smith saw his career-best, and team best this season, 12-game hit streak come to an end in Friday's game at FAU. During his streak he went 22-49 at the plate for a .449 batting average, and has raised his season average 58 points. Smith was hitless again on Saturday before banging out three hits on Sunday.

t In addition to hitting with runners in scoring position, the Trojans have been doing a number on opposing pitchers when there are two out in an inning. The team is hitting .300 this season with two out and has 118 two-out RBI. In the series at FAU, the Trojans hit .442 (19-for-43) with two out.

t The Troy hitters have gone on a home run binge this season. Throughout the entire 2004 season, the Trojans hit just 38 home runs and Henry Gutierrez led the squad with seven. This year, the Trojans have launched 60 home runs through 40 games, with Gutierrez again leading the way with 13.

t Senior Adam Godwin has broken the Troy season and career records for stolen bases, as well as the A-Sun season mark. His 67 stolen bases puts him on pace to steal 94 over a 56-game regular season. He has stolen second and third base in succession 18 times this year and has stolen home once. The old Troy record for stolen bases in a season was 46 by Warren Arrington in 1986. With 95 career stolen bases, Godwin surpassed the old Troy career record of 74 set by Mike Austin in 1981-82. Against Birmingham-Southern on April 19, Godwin was 1-3 on steal attempts, marking the first time this season he has been thrown out twice in a game.

t Sophomore first baseman Clint Robinson's woes with the bases loaded continued against FAU. A normally very productive hitter, Robinson is still looking for his first collegiate hit with the bases loaded. In the second game of the series he came up in the fourth inning with the bags packed and promptly bounced back to the pitcher. He is now 0-for-13 in his career with the bases loaded.

t The rest of the Troy team has picked up the slack for Robinson when the bases have been loaded. The other Trojans are 17-of-33 (.515) with the sacks have been packed. Nick Smith and Dru Rymer own the Trojans' two grand slam home runs this year.

t The best way for any team to have a big inning is to get the leadoff hitter on base. The Trojans have done that this year, with leadoff hitters reaching base at a .373 clip. Among the Troy regulars, Henry Gutierrez (.462) has reached base as a leadoff hitter at the highest rate. Trojans leadoff hitter Adam Godwin has also done well, reaching at a .385 clip.

Noting The Trojans Pitchers

t The Troy starting pitchers have been greedy with their decisions this year. Through 40 games, the Troy starters have earned decisions in 30 outings. Six of the other decisions have gone to junior Tony Falls. Troy starting pitchers have had quality starts (6.0+ IP & 3 or fewer ER) in just five of their last 16

starts after producing a stretch of 14 quality starts in 18 outings.

t Landon Brazell, has been a workhorse in his starts this year. He has thrown more than 100 pitches in 10 of his 11 starts, has allowed as many as three earned runs just four times and he has a strikeout to walk ratio of 4.1 with an average of 10.61 strikeouts per nine innings. He has a 2.94 ERA in 10 starts and opponents are hitting .249 against him. Brazell is averaging 123 pitches per starting assignment.

t Another senior right hander for the Trojans, Brent Adcock, is also having a stellar season. The Watertown, Tenn., native has won eight straight decisions since dropping his first outing of the year. Adcock has a strikeout to walk ratio of 4.9, is averaging 9.32 Ks per nine innings and allows just 7.29 hits per nine innings. Adcock has held opposing hitters to a .216 average this year.

t The Troy pitching staff had started to slow down over an eight-game stretch, but picked up the pace again over the last two weekends.Troy had allowed 28 earned runs over four games, including a season-high 14 to South Alabama. The Trojans' ERA over that stretch was 7.20. In six games against Mercer and Georgia State the Trojans allowed just 12 earned runs for an ERA of 2.07 for the two series. Last week, in four games, the team turned in a 4.76 ERA, elevating the squad's season ERA to 3.71.

t The Troy pitching staff took a double hit on Wednesday, March 9. Junior Bert Elliott, from Gadsden, Ala., suffered a torn ACL and was lost for the year and sophomore Ryan Ramsey, from Panama City, Fla., decided to leave the team. The result was freshman Pete Van Horn losing his redshirt season.

t Troy native Pete Van Horn showed right away that he was ready when the opportunity came. In his collegiate debut, he came in with the tying run on base and one out in the ninth. He promptly picked the runner off base and struck out the hitter to earn his first save. In his second appearance, he again came in with the game on the line. This time, in an 8-6 game with two runners on, he got a double play to get out of the seventh inning. He then cruised through the final two innings for his second save.

t Van Horn showed he can put in longer outings as well. In the win over UAH, Van Horn worked 5 1/3 innings in relief, allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out four. He was the winning pitcher for the Trojans in that game. The freshman got his second victory, and first A-Sun win, with 5 1/3 innings against Campbell.

t The Troy pitching staff, through 40 games, is averaging 9.10 strikeouts per nine innings while, at the same time, allowing 3.69 walks and 8.42 hits per nine innings.

Troy University Athletics

Trojans and Blazers To Renew Rivalry on Wednesday

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