Troy Trojan Baseball Preview vs. Owls in Alabama
3/12/10 - Troy Trojan Baseball is played home at Riddle Pace Field, in Troy, Alabama. (c. 1931) Named for Chase Riddle who was skipper from 1979-1990, he collected five conference titles and two D-II National Championships.
Leading this year’s team with .457 batting and .829 slugging over the first ten games this season is Adam Bryant. Bryant’s on base percentage is .596 while defensively he is at 1.000%.
Just behind Bryant is Chase Whitley with a .405 batting, .676 slugging and .490 on base percentage. You will find the heart of this team with their upperclassmen.
Statistically, both Steven Felix and Michael Precise lead in 80% of all offensive categories, and are both on the current roster.
In his 7th season as the Trojan’s Coach, Bobby Pierce has won two Conference titles. He was granted two NCAA Regional’s, five consecutive NCAA statistical national Champions, eight All-Americans and sent 15 players on to Professional Baseball.
Returning thirteen seniors, Pierce says team experience is a major strength. In addition, they site their bullpen, who settles down the team from late inning runs.
“It’s all about Pitching, Pitching, Pitching” said Coach John McCormack. An answer to what is most important for his team success.
FAU’s anchor is Senior Mike Gipson (2-0), who will pitch on Saturday and has started twice this young season.
When asked about the disparity between his young team versus Troy’s Junior and Senior rotation, McCormack said, “We give ourselves as good a chance as any team out their, we come to play and we come to win.”
Troy sports a 5-5 record overall. At home they are 5-2 and away they are 0-3. So far they have not played any team in the Sun-Belt Conference.
When asked about the familiarity of this field compared to others on the road, McCormack said, “All fields are basically the same, ninety feet to the bases and sixty feet to the mound” Baseball is baseball no matter where you go.”
A recent quote from Pierce in the 2010 Media Guide, says, “I don’t remember having a team with this much experience, both from the number of years in college baseball and the number of years in Division I baseball.”
Last years Sun-Belt Freshman of the Year, Tyler Ray took a 7-3 record into the off season in 14 starts with a 4.60 ERA where he led the team in wins, innings (88.0) and strikeouts (62).
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