Troy Travels to Pensacola For Cox Diamond Invitational

NOTES

TROY, Ala. – The Troy baseball team heads to Pensacola, Fla., for the 2020 Cox Diamond Invitational to square off with Michigan State, Samford and Louisiana. This leg of the Trojans' 11-game road swing takes them to Blue Wahoos Stadium, the first of two minor league stadiums Troy will play in this season.

COX DIAMOND INVITATIONAL
The Matchups: Troy (8-5) vs. Michigan State (8-4) / Samford (10-1) / Louisiana (5-8)
Date: March 6 / 7 / 8
Time: 6 p.m. / 11 a.m. / 3 p.m.
Location: Pensacola, Fla. - Blue Wahoos Stadium
Radio: Troy Sports Radio Network (WTBF 94.7 FM)
Audio Stream: TroyTrojans.com/watch
TV: Sunday - Cox Sports Television
Live Stats: TroyStats.com
Tickets: Blue Wahoos Ticket Office

Troy looks to get back in the win column after dropping four-straight contests. The Trojans will look to one of the best lineups in the country to get the job done.

Rigsby Mosley and Caleb Bartolero both rank inside the top ten nationally in hits with 23 and 22, respectively. Bartolero leads the nation with eight doubles and has batted in a team-best 18 runs this season, the 11^th-most in the country. Drew Frederic has been effective on the base paths and had the third-most stolen bases in the country (9 sb/11 att).

The Trojans will stick with their same weekend rotation of Levi Thomas, Orlando Ortiz and Tyson Ellis – all right-handers. Thomas' strikeout-to-walk ratio of 15.50 ranks 17th in the country while his 31 strikeouts are the 11th-most nationally.

Troy will meet Michigan State for the first time since 2016 and just the second time since 2001. The Spartans hold a 3-2 series lead over the Trojans and won the last meeting, in Pensacola, 3-0.

Samford is a familiar opponent for the Trojans having been on Troy's schedule every year for the past 24 seasons. Troy owns the overall series against the Bulldogs 43-24, but this will be just the fourth time the teams have met at a neutral site.

The Trojans will close out the weekend with a non-conference matchup against Louisiana. Troy trails in the series 33-20 but went 3-1 against Louisiana last season and has won seven of the last ten.

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Michigan State
RHP Levi Thomas (2-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Mason Erla (1-0, 1.42)

Samford
RHP Orlando Ortiz (1-0, 3.71) vs. RHP Jalon Long (0-1, 4.97)

Louisiana
RHP Tyson Ellis (0-1, 3.52) vs. RHP Will Moriarty (0-1, 3.52)

Promotions – Troy vs. Samford (Saturday, March 7, 2020)
The first 100 Troy fans for the Trojans' March 7 contest against Samford at the Cox Diamond Invitational will receive a free ticket courtesy of the Troy University Alumni Association. Tickets may be picked up outside of Blue Wahoos Stadium beginning at 9:30 a.m.

All Troy fans are invited to join Troy Athletics and the Troy University Alumni Association on the patio on the third base side.

A reception will take place following the game with refreshments provided by the Troy University Alumni Association where fans will be treated to a program featuring Director of Athletics Brent Jones, head baseball coach Mark Smartt and several other Troy Athletics and Alumni Association staff members.

Samford Promos

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Troy Travels to Pensacola For Cox Diamond Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Caleb Bartolero

Tyson Ellis

Drew Frederic

Rigsby Mosley

Orlando Ortiz

Levi Thomas

Troy University Athletics