Trojans Set for Season Opener

Game Notes

HAMMOND, La. – The Troy softball team will get its season underway on Friday as the Trojans travel to Hammond, La., for the Southeastern Louisiana Lion Classic.

The Trojans will take on Jackson State and Kansas on Friday at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., respectively. Troy will continue play in the tournament on Saturday when they take on Nicholls State and Northern Illinois before closing out the weekend with Akron on Sunday.

The 2012 season is setting up to be a interesting one for the Trojans who return their top seven hitters from a season ago, based on batting averages, but don't return any pitchers from last year's team.

Preseason All-Sun Belt infield selections Nikki Hollett and Hayden Gann are two pieces of the offense that return from 2011 and two members of a five-player senior class. Hollett posted 20 home runs a season ago, the second most in school history, while hitting a team-high .354. Gann also hit over .300 for the Trojans at .320 last year and posted a team-high .415 on-base percentage.

Joining Hollett and Gann in the 2012 senior class are infielder Sarah Shields and outfielders Michelle Hewett and Sarah Harris. Harris, along with the rest of the senior class, knows what this year's squad is capable of.

“This is our last chance to win a conference ring,” Harris said of the senior class. “And as a team, that is what we want.

“I expect us to come out strong early and get stronger going into conference play. We are good enough to make postseason play and that is our main goal this year.”

Championship rings have become a norm in Troy lately as the entire town saw three former Trojans win Super Bowl rings last weekend. Jerrel Jernigan, Osi Umenyiora and Lawrence Tynes of the New York Giants all have the Trojans proud of their history and tradition, especially head coach Melanie Davis.

“It's great to see everybody getting excited and see everybody that's proud to be a Trojan,” Davis said. “That winning attitude is something that we've talked about with our players and I know this senior class is hungry for those rings.”

To get those rings, the senior class will have to rely, not just on their talents, but also on a very talented incoming class. The Trojans welcome 11 newcomers to the squad this year, including seven true freshman.

The Trojans lost all three of their pitchers from a season ago and will rely on four freshman and one junior college transfer to make up the 2012 pitching staff. One of those true freshmen, Sarah Thomas, is excited about the transition to the Division I level and she's learning what it will take to be successful.

“You have to be consistent,” Thomas said. “You have to hit your spots and have a strong relationship with your catcher.”

Thomas is one of two Canadian pitchers on the squad, along with Jaycee Affeldt, who brings a different level of experience to the Troy pitching staff.

Affeldt, a member of the Canadian Junior National Team, spent her winter break pitching for her country in the ISF Junior World Championships in South Africa, were she posted a flawless 0.00 ERA. Affeldt made four appearances in relief and threw shutout softball against the United States, Chinese Taipei and China.

Affeldt also hit over .400 for the Canadians while playing first base and hitting in the cleanup spot in the lineup in South Africa.

Affeldt and Thomas, along with the rest of freshman class will relied upon early and often in 2012, but they still have a group of seasoned veterans to help them along as the Trojans look to make some noise in 2012.

Be sure to check back with TroyTrojans.com throughout the week for results and recaps from all of the action. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics or become fans on Facebook.

Troy University Athletics

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