6/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Audio Provided By Pike PCE-Mail the Trojans Radio Crew with your thoughts, questions or observations during the game. Click HereAfter tasting bitter disappointment in 2005 at being left out of the NCAA Tournament, the 2006 Troy Trojans left no room for doubt by winning both the regular season and tournament championships in their first year in the Sun Belt Conference to claim an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.The Trojans will be the No 2 seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional where they will be joined by top seeded Alabama (41-19, the No. 4 national seed), No. 3 Southern Miss (38-21) and fourth seeded Jacksonville State (35-22), the champions of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.The Trojans faced all three teams during the regular season. Troy won at Alabama and Jacksonville State and also down the Gamecocks at home. The Trojans lost just three times during the month of March, and all three losses were to Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.Since losing those three games Troy has posted a 33-5 record. In fact, since starting the year wit a 3-6 mark, Troy is 42-8 and has enjoyed win streaks of six, nine, 14 and the current 10-game streak. Only Fresno State, which has won 15 straight, enters the NCAA Tournament on a bigger roll that Troy.What the Trojans will be looking for Friday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium will be a pair of firsts. Troy will be after its first win over Southern Miss in four tries this season, and the Trojans will be looking for their first NCAA Tournament victory since moving to Division I in 1995.Troy is making its third trip to the Division I Tournament after making 14 trips to the Division II Tournament, two of which resulted in national championships. Troy's two previous Division I Regional appearances came in 1995 in Tallahassee, and 1997 in Tuscaloosa. Both years the Trojans lost twice -- to Florida State and Ole Miss in 1995 and to Alabama at Southern Cal in 1997.Entering the regional, Troy trails Southern Miss 3-2 in the all-time series. The Trojans lead Jacksonville State 74-47 and trail Alabama 10-4 all-time.Junior Josh Dew hit three home runs, drove in nine, and earned a save and a win on the mound during the conference tournament all despite playing with a heavy heart after the death of his grandfather on the second day of the tournament. Senior Blake Green was named the tournament's most outstanding player despite playing with a painful spider bite suffered prior to the tournament.Troy is expected to send one of two juniors to the mound to face Southern Miss in the tournament opener. It will be either left-hander Joe Hallahan (6-3, 4.17) or right-hander Clegg Snipes (7-0, 4.56) who will face Southern Miss sophomore right-hander Barry Bowden (3-2, 3.95).The CoachesTroy head coach Bobby Pierce (Alabama, ?˜82) is in his fourth season at Troy and has a 145-84 record after guiding the Trojans to a 37-21 record a year ago. Pierce was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year and the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2005 after leading the Trojans to an A-Sun title. He earned Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors for 2006 after leading the Trojans to the regular season and tournament titles. Pierce has won 680 games in his career as a college head coach, including 259 at Chipola (Fla.) Junior College. His record at four-year schools stands at 421-192 and he is in his 11th season.Pierce is assisted by Mark Smartt, Todd Lamberth, Mike Murphree and Brian Bennett.On the AirThe Troy Network will carry all of Troy's games in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with Barry McKnight handling the play-by-play. Live stats and audio are available for all games at TroyTrojans.com.
E-Mail the Trojans Radio Crew with your thoughts, questions or observations during the game. Click Here
The Trojans will be the No 2 seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional where they will be joined by top seeded Alabama (41-19, the No. 4 national seed), No. 3 Southern Miss (38-21) and fourth seeded Jacksonville State (35-22), the champions of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
The Trojans faced all three teams during the regular season. Troy won at Alabama and Jacksonville State and also down the Gamecocks at home. The Trojans lost just three times during the month of March, and all three losses were to Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.
Since losing those three games Troy has posted a 33-5 record. In fact, since starting the year wit a 3-6 mark, Troy is 42-8 and has enjoyed win streaks of six, nine, 14 and the current 10-game streak. Only Fresno State, which has won 15 straight, enters the NCAA Tournament on a bigger roll that Troy.
What the Trojans will be looking for Friday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium will be a pair of firsts. Troy will be after its first win over Southern Miss in four tries this season, and the Trojans will be looking for their first NCAA Tournament victory since moving to Division I in 1995.
Troy is making its third trip to the Division I Tournament after making 14 trips to the Division II Tournament, two of which resulted in national championships. Troy's two previous Division I Regional appearances came in 1995 in Tallahassee, and 1997 in Tuscaloosa. Both years the Trojans lost twice -- to Florida State and Ole Miss in 1995 and to Alabama at Southern Cal in 1997.
Entering the regional, Troy trails Southern Miss 3-2 in the all-time series. The Trojans lead Jacksonville State 74-47 and trail Alabama 10-4 all-time.
Junior Josh Dew hit three home runs, drove in nine, and earned a save and a win on the mound during the conference tournament all despite playing with a heavy heart after the death of his grandfather on the second day of the tournament. Senior Blake Green was named the tournament's most outstanding player despite playing with a painful spider bite suffered prior to the tournament.
Troy is expected to send one of two juniors to the mound to face Southern Miss in the tournament opener. It will be either left-hander Joe Hallahan (6-3, 4.17) or right-hander Clegg Snipes (7-0, 4.56) who will face Southern Miss sophomore right-hander Barry Bowden (3-2, 3.95).
The CoachesTroy head coach Bobby Pierce (Alabama, ?˜82) is in his fourth season at Troy and has a 145-84 record after guiding the Trojans to a 37-21 record a year ago. Pierce was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year and the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2005 after leading the Trojans to an A-Sun title. He earned Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors for 2006 after leading the Trojans to the regular season and tournament titles. Pierce has won 680 games in his career as a college head coach, including 259 at Chipola (Fla.) Junior College. His record at four-year schools stands at 421-192 and he is in his 11th season.
Pierce is assisted by Mark Smartt, Todd Lamberth, Mike Murphree and Brian Bennett.
On the AirThe Troy Network will carry all of Troy's games in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with Barry McKnight handling the play-by-play. Live stats and audio are available for all games at TroyTrojans.com.
