Opening Weekend Was a Success

The first weekend of the college baseball season is behind us and the Trojans came away pretty happy.

It was a long trip to Myrtle Beach, but Troy was able to go there and win three of the four games the Trojans played. It was good to be able to knock off some rust ? the team and myself ? and get the season off to a good start.

Of course, it would have been nice to have won all four games, but it was good to see the team bounce back from a less than stellar performance on opening day.

Here is a few observations from the first weekend of play:
    ●    The Troy pitching staff is good. I know that opening day starter Jason Walls struggled a little, but everyone else was solid. Junior Fred Lewis did a good job in relief of Walls and freshman Tyler Ray was just short of spectacular. The other two starters, Travis Burge and Jeff Green, both had strong outings and the bullpen, especially Chris Sorce, was solid.
    ●    The Trojans are going to hit, and hit a lot. Early in the season, hitting almost always lags behind pitching, and that was the case for Troy on the opening weekend. But, a lot of the Trojans had some very good at bats and the competition for playing time all over the field is going to go on all season long.
    ●    I think the Trojans have already been spoiled by getting to practice everyday on a perfect field. Last year, Troy set a school record and led the Sun Belt Conference in fielding percentage after practicing during the fall on the grass field at Charles Henderson High. This year, the Trojans have worked every day at Riddle-Pace Field where every bounce is true, and they struggled a little defensively on the grass field at BB&T Coastal Field.
    ●    It is pretty obvious that coaches Mark Smartt and Mike Murphree aren't overjoyed by having to wear helmets in the coaching boxes this year. I don't think there are many coaches who are happy about the new rule but, if the change saves even one life in the next 50 years, it is worth the inconvenience.

● Myrtle Beach is a great place to visit, and the Caravelle Resort was a nice place to stay. I only wish it had been a little warmer while we were there, and that we'd had a little time to spend seeing the sights. The balcony of the room I stayed in looked out directly over the Atlantic Ocean, and Myrtle Beach has enough in the way of entertainment to spend a month there and not scratch the surface.

The Trojans will get back on the field on Wednesday at Kennesaw State. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. (CT) first pitch. There will be no radio coverage for the game because all of our radio equipment will be in Lafayette, La., for basketball tomorrow night.

There will be live stats available for the game. Here is the link: LIVE STATS!

Junior right-hander Robby Loew will get the start on the mound for Troy while junior left-hander Justin Edwards will start for Kennesaw State. Loew pushed hard for a spot in the opening weekend rotation, and his credentials are impeccable.

During two seasons at Southern Union Community College, Loew had a combined record of 16-5 and recorded 145 strikeouts. His ERA dropped from 3.60 during his freshman year to a sparkling 1.90 as a sophomore. In fact, he was the teams' No. 1 starter, ahead of Walls, all of last year. The only reason he was not in the weekend rotation for the Trojans to start the year was that he had a sub-par fall, but he has been coming on hard and may be in the weekend rotation before long.

One of the things from the weekend that I failed to mention in my game stories was that head coach Bobby Pierce notched his 750th career victory in Troy's 6-3 decision over James Madison. After 18 innings of baseball on Saturday, the fact simply slipped my mind.

One of the things I am going to do in my blog during the season is provide reviews of the movies that are shown on the bus during road trips. On the trip to and from Myrtle Beach five flicks made it onto the screen of Dale Neal's Southern Coaches bus. Here they are, in order of screening.

    ●    The Dark Knight ? starring Heath Ledger in his final role. He was deserving of the Academy Award for what was at the same time a gripping and disturbing portrayal of “The Joker”. I enjoyed the movie on the big screen and, even though it didn't have the same impact on a nine-inch monitor on the bus, it was a solid home run.
    ●    Step Brothers ? starring Will Farrell. A typical Farrell comedy, it had some moments but I am not an especially big Farrell fan. Of course, like all of his movies, it was loaded with crude jokes, so it is not a family film but, most often, the bus is not a place for families. It was OK, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it again. Single
    ●    Dumb & Dumber ? starring Jim Carey. Classic Carey slapstick and a staple of baseball team bus rides the country over. Some of the humor in the film is timeless. Triple
    ●    Mr. Woodcock ? staring Billy Bob Thornton as an over-the-top gym teacher. The movie was funny in places, but seemed to try too hard to be funny in others. I imagine that the gym comedy is lost on a lot of younger folks who never had physical education classes in elementary school. Single
    ●    The Good, The Bad and The Ugly ? starring Clint Eastwood. A classic spaghetti western from the 1960s. I don't think the players cared much for it, mainly because it starts slow and runs long, but the coaching staff and I enjoyed it. The version we saw was the director's cut, which ran well over three hours, which is fine when you are trapped on a bus for nine. Double

The Trojans will open a five-game home stand at Riddle-Pace Field on Friday when the Memphis Tigers come to town. Memphis opened the season with a pair of wins over Kansas sandwiched around a loss to Bradley. The Tigers have a game with Murray State before coming to Troy.

There probably aren't many players left on the Memphis squad who remember the last time the two schools met. In 2006, the Trojans went to Memphis and scored 56 runs in three games, demolishing the Tigers in all three.

I remember feeling a little sorry for Tigers pitching coach Michael Federico during that series, mostly because I know him from our days together at Southern Miss. I didn't however, feel sorry enough that I wouldn't like to see the same kind of results when the teams play again this weekend.

By the way, Federico's father, Carmen Federico, is the Business Development Director of the Troy University Southeast Region site in Tampa, Fla. He will be in Troy this weekend to see his son's team face the Trojans.

Next Tuesday will be a big night on the Troy campus. The Alabama Crimson Tide, who lost two of three games to Southeast Missouri opening weekend, will make their first trip to Riddle-Pace Field since the 1998 season.

That night will also likely see the Troy University women's basketball team host a first round Sun Belt Conference Tournament game at Trojan Arena, so it will be busy that day. Hopefully, the Trojans will post a pair of victories that night.

The homestand will close with a game against Samford before the team embarks on a seven-day road trip to Florida. I'll be handling radio duties for the games against FIU on my own, unless anyone out there plans to be there and wants to sit in with me for a few innings.

We'll hold open auditions during the weekend series while the basketball teams have Barry McKnight occupied in Hot Springs capturing a pair of Sun Belt titles. It will be fun, I promise.

One thing I can tell you for sure is I am glad it is baseball season.

See you at the park this weekend.

Go Trojans!

Ricky

Troy University Athletics

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