Troy University Athletics
Friday, April 20
Bowling Green, Ky.
6:00 p.m.
Troy University
at
Western Kentucky
Photo by: Lisa Ray
Troy Heads to Western Kentucky for Sun Belt Baseball Series
4/19/2012 10:04:00 AM | Baseball
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TROY, Ala. – The Troy baseball team travels to Western Kentucky this weekend looking to ride the momentum of a big series win last weekend over a hot Middle Tennessee squad. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday at Nick Denes Field.
Troy (16-20, 5-10) outscored Middle Tennessee 22-5 over the final 20 innings of the series last week and five Trojan pitchers limited one of the top hitting teams in the league to just nine hits in the final two games – both of which were Troy victories.
The Trojans have won six straight games in the series, but this will be Troy's first visit to Bowling Green since 2008; Troy has won four straight at WKU and eight of the last 10.
This is a key series for both squads as the entire Sun Belt enters the second half of the league schedule. Troy is one game back of WKU in the league standings heading into the weekend.
Led by the hot bats of Logan Pierce, Danny Collins, Boone Shear and Jake Harrell, the Trojans are starting to find their offensive rhythm. Troy averaged 10.3 runs per game in four games last week and scored 26 runs in the three games against Middle Tennessee after the Blue Raiders came in with the third-best ERA in the league. The Trojans are now hitting .271 as a team with 77 doubles and 26 home runs.
Pierce leads the Sun Belt batting at a .382 clip and is second with a .491 on-base percentage. Collins, who is the reigning Sun Belt Conference Hitter of the Week, had an RBI double in Troy's loss at Auburn on Tuesday and has two doubles, a triple and two home runs over Troy's last five games.
Shear has reached base safely in 23 straight games, is second in the league with 39 RBIs and is tied with Collins for fourth in the Sun Belt with seven home runs. Harrell has hit safely in seven straight starts for the Trojans and has scored in four straight starts behind the dish.
Senior right-hander Tyler Ray (2-4, 5.04) will get the Friday-night start for the Trojans and the Hilltoppers will counter with sophomore right-hander Justin Hageman (2-4, 5.75).
Saturday's starting pitching matchup will feature Troy junior right-hander Joe Hernandez (3-1, 4.20) against WKU junior left-hander Tim Bado (3-4, 2.86). Hernandez is the reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week after he held Middle Tennessee to a pair of unearned runs with eight strikeouts last week; it two Sun Belt starts, Hernandez has a 2.31 ERA with 13 strikeouts and just nine hits allowed in 11.2 innings of work. Neither team has announced a Sunday starting pitcher.
WKU (15-22, 6-9) is batting .250 as a team led by Casey Dykes .292 average. Ryan Hutchison leads WKU with 14 extra-base hits, including a team-high four home runs.
The Hilltoppers feature a strong bullpen led by Taylor Haydel's 2.64 ERA, 47 strikeouts and just four walks in 44.1 innings of work; however, Haydel has started each of the past two Sundays for WKU. The Hilltopper defense is one of the best in the Sun Belt as they enter the weekend third with a .969 fielding percentage.
WKU split a pair of mid-week games with Belmont and Lipscomb after dropping 2-of-3 at Arkansas State last weekend. The Hilltoppers rallied with three runs in the ninth and one in the 10th to defeat Lipscomb 4-3 on Wednesday; WKU did not get its first hit of the game until the ninth inning.
TROY, Ala. – The Troy baseball team travels to Western Kentucky this weekend looking to ride the momentum of a big series win last weekend over a hot Middle Tennessee squad. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday at Nick Denes Field.
Troy (16-20, 5-10) outscored Middle Tennessee 22-5 over the final 20 innings of the series last week and five Trojan pitchers limited one of the top hitting teams in the league to just nine hits in the final two games – both of which were Troy victories.
The Trojans have won six straight games in the series, but this will be Troy's first visit to Bowling Green since 2008; Troy has won four straight at WKU and eight of the last 10.
This is a key series for both squads as the entire Sun Belt enters the second half of the league schedule. Troy is one game back of WKU in the league standings heading into the weekend.
Led by the hot bats of Logan Pierce, Danny Collins, Boone Shear and Jake Harrell, the Trojans are starting to find their offensive rhythm. Troy averaged 10.3 runs per game in four games last week and scored 26 runs in the three games against Middle Tennessee after the Blue Raiders came in with the third-best ERA in the league. The Trojans are now hitting .271 as a team with 77 doubles and 26 home runs.
Pierce leads the Sun Belt batting at a .382 clip and is second with a .491 on-base percentage. Collins, who is the reigning Sun Belt Conference Hitter of the Week, had an RBI double in Troy's loss at Auburn on Tuesday and has two doubles, a triple and two home runs over Troy's last five games.
Shear has reached base safely in 23 straight games, is second in the league with 39 RBIs and is tied with Collins for fourth in the Sun Belt with seven home runs. Harrell has hit safely in seven straight starts for the Trojans and has scored in four straight starts behind the dish.
Senior right-hander Tyler Ray (2-4, 5.04) will get the Friday-night start for the Trojans and the Hilltoppers will counter with sophomore right-hander Justin Hageman (2-4, 5.75).
Saturday's starting pitching matchup will feature Troy junior right-hander Joe Hernandez (3-1, 4.20) against WKU junior left-hander Tim Bado (3-4, 2.86). Hernandez is the reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week after he held Middle Tennessee to a pair of unearned runs with eight strikeouts last week; it two Sun Belt starts, Hernandez has a 2.31 ERA with 13 strikeouts and just nine hits allowed in 11.2 innings of work. Neither team has announced a Sunday starting pitcher.
WKU (15-22, 6-9) is batting .250 as a team led by Casey Dykes .292 average. Ryan Hutchison leads WKU with 14 extra-base hits, including a team-high four home runs.
The Hilltoppers feature a strong bullpen led by Taylor Haydel's 2.64 ERA, 47 strikeouts and just four walks in 44.1 innings of work; however, Haydel has started each of the past two Sundays for WKU. The Hilltopper defense is one of the best in the Sun Belt as they enter the weekend third with a .969 fielding percentage.
WKU split a pair of mid-week games with Belmont and Lipscomb after dropping 2-of-3 at Arkansas State last weekend. The Hilltoppers rallied with three runs in the ninth and one in the 10th to defeat Lipscomb 4-3 on Wednesday; WKU did not get its first hit of the game until the ninth inning.
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