Troy University Athletics
Spectacular Season Comes to A Close with 14-5 Loss to Alabama
6/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
TUSCALOOSA -- Alabama jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the fifth and never looked back, handing Troy a 14-5 loss in the championship round of the NCAA Baseball Tuscaloosa Regional Sunday night. The win sends the Crimson Tide onto the Super Regionals against North Carolina, while the Trojans finish the season at 47-16.
Alabama started its scoring barrage in the second, plating five runs on five hits. Ryan Rhoden singled ahead of Spencer Pennington, who ground ball past Troy shortstop Tom King was ruled a hit, but could have easily been a double play.
I just flat out booted the ball," King said. "It was a routine double-play ball and I came up at the last second. I let it slide under my glove. I felt really bad about that because Stephen Morelock was doing really well. That kind of opened the floodgates for them. If I make that play then maybe things are different.”
After a strikeout, Brandon Belcher drove a 1-2 pitch into right field to score Rhoden. Greg Paiml walked to reload the bases, and then Emeel Salem drove in second run with a high chopper to first that left the Trojans with no play. Matt Downs walked on a full count to make the score 3-0 and chase Morelock (3-1).
Tonight's game started off a little rough," Trojans coach Bobby Pierce said. "Our starting pitcher didn't get off the start we had hoped for. Defensively we didn't play well the entire day. We got off to a slow start against Southern Miss and didn't play well against Alabama. That's uncharacteristic of our ball club."
Tournament MVP Kody Valverde greeted reliever J.J. Whetsel with a two-run single to left that made the score 5-0.
Alabama extended the lead to 8-0 in the third. With Salem on first and two outs, Whetsel issues back-to-back walks to Paiml and Matthes to load the bases. On a 2-2 count, Matt Downs doubled to left center, clearing the bases.
A pair of errors led to the ninth Crimson Tide run. With two outs in the fifth, Palmi walked and Salem reached when Edgar Ramirez was unable to field a soft grounder. Both runners took off and stole their respective bases, but catcher Beau Brooks' throw to third was wide allowing Paiml to trot home.
The Alabama defense was also stellar in the early going, robbing Blake Green of a home run and Josh Dew and Jared Keel of extra-base hits.
We hit the ball well in the beginning, but they made some good plays to keep us off the bases and we didn't really help ourselves out on defense," junior Clint Robinson said. "That's the way it happened in the beginning. They were able to get ahead early and we couldn't do enough to come back.”
Consecutive singles by Ramirez, King and Felix in the fifth resulted in the Trojans' first run of the night. Dew followed with a groundout to second base that scored King and cut the deficit to 9-2.
But the Crimson Tide answered immediately in the next half inning. Valverde doubled to start the frame, then moved to third on a groundout. After Rhoden fanned for the second out, Brooks attempted a pickoff at third and again threw wildly into left.
Troy cut in to the lead in the sixth with one swing of the bat. One out after Robinson singled, senior Nick Smith entered as a pinch hitter for Brooks and parked a 3-1 pitch deep into the Tuscaloosa night for a two-run homer.
Whetsel was forced out of the game in the eighth after the Tide loaded the bases with no one out. A hit-batsman, infield single and walk sent the junior to the bench in favor of Jonathan Sabat. After a strikeout, back-to-back walks handed Alabama a 12-4 lead. A single to right that got past Felix plated another pair of runs.
We accomplished a lot this year," Felix said. "We set a goal to be 41-15 and we exceeded that at 47-16. We wanted to make the Super Regional but the better team won.”
Troy managed a run in the ninth when King doubled home Ian Craze. It was King's 35th double of the season, leaving him one shy of the NCAA single-season record.
For the contest, Whetsel was outstanding, scattering seven hits over 5.2 innings. He allowed five runs, only two earned, striking out one. Pete Van Horn closed out the game, allowing two hits in 1.2 innings.
King, Craze and Robinson each had a pair of hits to lead Troy, which had nine in the contest, compared to Alabama's 14.
Troy placed Felix and Ramirez on the all-regional team, while Alabama had seven of the other nine selections.
I'm very proud of our team," Pierce said. "They've had a very good year, probably the best year we've had since our program has been in Division I.
"Today was Alabama's day. They have an excellent club and are very deserving of moving on to the Super Regional and we wish them all the best of luck.”
Alabama will host North Carolina next weekend in the Super Regional. Game dates and times will be announced on Tuesday.
Troy Game Notes:
• Junior shortstop Tom King fell one double shy in his bid for the NCAA single-season record. King had an apparent double in the fifth inning, but had to stop at first when the runner in front of him, Edgar Ramirez, was held at second. His double in the ninth was his NCAA leading 35th and he also leads the nation in hits with 117. King's RBI double also gave him his 73rd RBI of the season, tying the school record set by Jorge Soto in 1999 at 73.
• Senior Nick made his first NCAA Regional at bat a memorable one, launching a two-run homer off Bernard Robert in the sixth inning as a pinch hitter for freshman catcher Beau Brooks. It was Smith's eighth homer of the year and 21st in his two seasons at Troy.
• The Trojans finished the season without being shutout in 63 games. The last time Troy was shutout was April 19, 2005, at Birmingham-Southern (6-0). The Trojans have not been shutout in their last 84 games.
• Troy's 47 victories in 2006 are the third most in a season school history and the most in a season since moving to Division I. Troy's two biggest seasons in terms of wins were 1990 (49-10) and 1986 (48-8).
• Troy set team season records in 2006 for at bats, runs, hits, doubles, RBI, total bases, hit by pitch, fielding chances, put outs, assists, innings pitched, strikeouts, and balks. Troy also tied the season record with 14 saves.
