Troy University Athletics
Big Weekend For Troy Baseball
3/20/2009 5:00:00 AM | General
So far, the 2009 season has been an up-and-down affair for the Troy Trojans. The team has a winning record, but most who have watched the club play during the opening month of the season see so the potential for so much more.
The players know they have a good club, and that may be part of the problem. They are pressing too hard because they know they have a chance to have a special year.
The great thing is that the meat of the schedule is still in front of them, starting this weekend when Western Kentucky comes to town. The Hilltoppers were the overwhelming choice of the league's coaches to win the Sun Belt title this year and, so far, they have not disappointed.
WKU won the Sun Belt Tournament last May and returns virtually its entire team. In the first two weeks of Sun Belt play this year, the Toppers have recorded sweeps of both ULM (last year's regular season champ) and South Alabama to run out to a perfect 6-0 record.
WKU has very good pitching at the top of its rotation and the Hilltoppers hitters can rake, hitting a very impressive .354 as a team this year.
The bright spot is that WKU has not fared well away from Bowling Green so far this season. The Toppers are a perfect 11-0 at home, but have won just once in five games away from home.
For the Trojans to have success in the weekend series they will need to relax at the plate, get back to throwing strikes on the mound, and get great support from the Troy fans. A packed house at Riddle-Pace Field, full of enthusiastic fans for all three games will be the biggest boost this team could ask for.
The rest of March for the baseball team promises to be full of challenges, with games against Jacksonville State (on the road) and Auburn (at home) next week before going to New Orleans for a Sun Belt series next weekend. The Trojans will close the month with a mid-week home series against Southern Miss.
SPRING PRACTICE UNDERWAY
In addition to the baseball series at Riddle-Pace Field, the Troy football team opened spring practice on Wednesday. The squad will have its first practice in full pads on Saturday and will hold a short scrimmage at 2 p.m.
All Troy fans are encouraged to come out to watch any and all Troy spring practices which are, unlike other schools in the state, all open to the public.
The Trojans will continue with four practice sessions next week before holding a full scrimmage on Saturday, March 28, at 2 p.m. Even though the team will have six more practices in the spring after that scrimmage, that will be the big one.
LITTLE SPURS RODEO
Saturday marks the return of the annual Little Spurs Rodeo at the Pike County Cattlemen's Association facility. Children aged 4-14 are eligible to compete in the rodeo and they do not need their own horse.
The event is a fund raiser for the Troy University Rodeo team and will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday. For more information on the event, contact coach Josh Simmons at rodeo@troy.edu or 334-372-2371.
The Trojan Spurs will open their spring schedule next weekend at the University of Arkansas-Monticello in the first Ozark Region event of the spring.
GOLF TEAM BACK IN ACTION
The Troy University men's golf team will be back in action this weekend in Mobile at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of South Alabama.
The tournament will feature Akron, Arkansas State, Hartford, Illinois State, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Mississippi State, New Mexico State, Richmond, South Alabama, South Florida, Southern Mississippi, Texas-Arlington, Toledo, Troy and Xavier. It will be played on the Magnolia Grove Falls Golf Course, a par 72, 7,239 yard layout.
The tournament will feature single rounds each day, starting Sunday and finishing on Tuesday. Troy fans in the Mobile area should make plans to go out and support the team.
The Trojans are coming off three straight solid performances in their last three tournaments and are looking to breakthrough for a tournament victory in one, or both, of their final tuneups before the Sun Belt Championship in Houston April 13-15.
Following the tournament in Mobile, the team will head to South Carolina at the end of next week for the Furman Intercollegiate in Greenville.
The Troy University women's golf team will be back in action at the end of the month in the UALR Classic in Hot Springs, Ark.
That about does it for the teams I cover heading into the weekend. I hope to see you at Riddle-Pace for all three games against the Hilltoppers.
Go Trojans!
Ricky
