Trojans to Host Southern Miss for Weekend Series

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There is little question about the road Troy baseball coach Bobby Pierce would like to see his Trojan baseball program travel in the years to come.

The objectives are simple. Compete for conference titles on an annual basis and win them regularly. Make appearances in NCAA Regional play an annual event. Host NCAA Regionals at Riddle-Pace Field regularly. Frequently advance to NCAA Super-Regional play. Finally, catch lightening in a bottle every few years and take the Trojans to the College World Series in Omaha.

For the Trojans to travel down that road of success, they only have to follow the blueprint that has been established by this weekend's foe – Southern Miss.

The Trojans and Golden Eagles will open a three-game series at Riddle-Pace Field on Friday night at 6 p.m. The teams will also play single games on Saturday and Sunday, with both games scheduled for 1 p.m. starts.

All three games will be broadcast over the Troy Sports Network with Jerry Miller and former Trojan hurler Jordan Mathers calling the action. Fans can listed over the air on WTBF-FM 94.7 or online at www.wtbf.com. All three games will also be web streamed on Troy's official athletics web site, TroyTrojans.com through Trojans All Access.

The Golden Eagles, who come to Troy with a perfect 5-0 mark on the young season, have been to NCAA Regional play the last eight years, have won the Conference USA Tournament title twice during that stretch and, in 2009, rode lightening to Omaha in former coach Corky Palmer's final season.

“What Southern Miss has done over the years is have a tremendously consistent team with good pitching, great closers, great fans and great followers,” Troy coach Bobby Pierce said. “Their past is very similar to where we are now at Troy and what we are trying to do is catch up with what they have been doing.

“They have been able to get the better players in the state of Mississippi and that is the same thing we are trying to do in our state. We have a lot of respect for their program, their coaches and their players, and how they play the game. We would love to get to the level of consistency they have reached over the years.”

This year, the second for Southern Miss under Scott Berry, the Golden Eagles return three All-Americans from last years' C-USA tournament title winning club. They are expected to make their NCAA Regional streak nine years and have a club capable of a return to Omaha.

USM is led by senior RHP Todd McInnis, the 2010 C-USA Pitcher of the Year, senior closer Collin Cargill and junior shortstop B.A. Vollmuth, who is seem by many to be at least the equal of Troy's All-American shortstop Adam Bryant.

“They are all great players, and the players who play along side of them are also very good players, and that is what it takes to have a great team,” Pierce said. “Southern Miss has been running those type of players out there for some time, which is why they have the respect of the entire baseball community. They do everything the right way, and that is what we respect about them. Our challenge will be great in trying to win a series at home against a quality opponent like them.”

For the young Trojans, the series against Southern Miss will serve as a proving ground of sorts. To a man, Troy players will tell you their goal is to make it to Omaha, but most teams start the season with the college baseball mecca as a stated goal.

The Trojans must improve on back-to-back sixth place finishes in the Sun Belt Conference first if they are to make it to an NCAA Regional for the first time since the 2007 season.

Troy made a positive first step last weekend with a four-game sweep of High Point, a team that will play better as the season moves forward. But the challenge presented by Southern Miss is completely different from what High Point brought to the table last week.

“I was pretty pleased with our first weekend,” Pierce said. “We had a couple of guys come out of the bullpen and throw better than they had, so we want to get those guys back out there. Our defense was very good even though we had a couple of miscommunication plays, which I hate because we work on that so much. I think we will be fine there. We want to use this weekend to gage where we are and with an opponent like Southern Miss coming in here, I think we will have a good idea of where we are.”

The Trojans got solid offensive production up and down the lineup last weekend, hitting .333 as a team against High Point. Junior Blake Martz had the best offensive weekend, batting .571 with eight RBI in the series. He reached base 12 of the 18 times he went to the plate, had his first career triple and his first career stolen base.

“What he did was get into some hit-ability with his game,” Pierce said. “He has been a guy who has been focused on hitting the long ball too much. Blake appears to have taken some steps to move in the direction of being a good hitter first and then letting the power come. Without hitting a home run, he did a lot of damage his first weekend and I think that is a great lesson for him.”

Troy's pitching staff also had a solid weekend, once the starters were able to get over some first inning jitters. All four starters in the series last week surrendered at least one run in the first inning but the Trojans slammed the door on High Point for the rest of the series, allowing the Panthers to score in just three of the other 33 innings the teams played.

This weekend, veteran right-handers Tyler Ray (1-0, 1.50) and Drew Hull (1-0, 1.50) will make their second starts with sophomore left-hander Ryan Sorce (0-0, 3.18) sandwiched between.

“Looking back at the tape, we didn't see much difference for those starters from the first inning and the innings they were putting zeroes up on the board,” Pierce said. “You have to credit our guys for staying with the plan and having maybe and inch or two better execution. They all threw well and we have to continue to have our starting pitching throw well.”

Ray will square off with McInnis (1-0, 0.00) in the series opener. Sorce will face sophomore Geoffrey Thomas (1-0, 1.29) on Saturday and Hull will face junior Josh Thomason (1-0, 0.00) in the series finale. All three USM starters are right-handed.

“Not only is McInnis a fine opposing pitching for Tyler, but he comes with a fine and experienced offensive team,” Pierce said. “They are a team that will be tough to hold down, and that is his challenge because you know going in that you aren't going to score a great number of runs against their starting pitching. I think Tyler will come to pitch and will be competitive.

“It would be a big win for this program if we can get that first win on Friday night.”

Friday is “Autograph Friday” – The first 30 kids under the age of 13 to enter Riddle-Pace Field will receive a poster autographed by the seven senior Trojan baseball players.

Saturday “Daddy's Day Out” – With the purchase of on ticket for dad, he can purchase up to four general admission tickets for the kids for $2 each.

Sunday is “Slide into Sunday” – Bring your church bulletin and receive a complimentary ticket. Kids can stick around after the game and run the bases. Also on Sunday, bring a can food item and receive a free box of popcorn.

Troy University Athletics

Trojans to Host Southern Miss for Weekend Series

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