Troy University Athletics
Trojans Set to Host North Texas
4/15/2010 7:00:00 PM | Softball
TROY, Ala. - The Troy Trojans softball team will return home this weekend after nine straight games on the road to host the North Texas Mean Green in a three game Sun Belt series.
The Trojans and Mean Green will play a single game on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. with a doubleheader scheduled for 1:00 p.m., all at the Trojan Softball Complex.
Troy (20-20, 8-7) enters the weekend after splitting a doubleheader with Florida Atlantic on Saturday before having Sunday's game rained out. Troy fell to the Owls 6-5 in nine innings in game one and bounced to take game two 4-1, snapping a five game losing streak.
Junior pitcher Ashlyn Williams leads the Trojans in the circle with a 16-15 record in 33 appearances including 23 complete games and five shutouts. Williams' 306 strikeouts is tops in the Sun Belt and the third highest total in the nation, she is also seven K's away from breaking her own single season school record.
At the plate things run through leadoff hitter Kala Moore. The senior shortstop leads the squad with a .346 batting average and 28 runs scored. Her 24 stolen bases is the highest mark in the Sun Belt. Sophomore right fielder Hayden Gann represents Troy's main power threat with a team high five home runs and 23 RBI on the season.
The Trojans offense will look to ride the hot streak of a couple of Aussie's. Third baseman and Melbourne, Australia native Nikki Hollett was quite a force in Troy's doubleheader against Florida Atlantic on Saturday. The sophomore went a combined 5-for-8 in the two games with a home run and 3 RBI.
Also another Aussie, junior catcher Belinda White, enters the weekend on a five game hitting streak, the longest active streak on the team. That streak includes her first home run in a Trojan uniform against WKU a couple of weeks ago.
The Mean Green (21-13, 7-5) enter this weekend's contests having swept a doubleheader from Texas State on Wednesday. North Texas took two of three from Middle Tennessee last weekend and have won eight of their last ten.
The Mean Green are hitting .293 as the team, the second best mark in the Sun Belt with six players at or above .300. They have also hit 43 homers, the most in the conference.
The pitching staff is led by Ashley Lail who enters the weekend at 10-4 in 18 appearances with a 2.05 ERA.
The Trojans lead the all-time series over the Mean Green 9-7. North Texas swept the Trojans in Denton last season, and the Trojans are 5-3 against the Mean Green in Troy, including two Sun Belt Tournament games in 2008.
All of this weekend's games can followed through live stats at the link above. Also, Saturday's doubleheader will be streamed live at the above link. Plus, game one of the doubleheader can be heard on either WTBF 94.7 FM or 970 AM, or at the above link.
Be sure to check back with TroyTrojans.com for more news and notes from the softball diamond, as well as all of Troy Athletics.
