Thursday, March 31, 2011
OUR FRIENDLY SCHEDULE I just finished putting together my travel bag for our road trip to Jonesboro, Arkansas this weekend for a Sun Belt series with Arkansas State. As I was double checking all the things you have to take on the road; it hit me that it's March 31st and this is the first time this year we've had to pack an overnight bag. The early season schedule has been very friendly to the Trojans as we have played 24 games and have not left the state of Alabama. Our three road games were all against in-state opponents and were one day trips back and forth. The other 21 games were played right here at home, on our beautiful surface in front of our great group of fans. It has been wonderful to spend so many nights in a row at home, that's for certain! One of my responsibilities here at Troy is to coordinate the scheduling for the program, which I have done for the last nine years. First of all, the conference schedule is handled by the Sun Belt office. Their staff posts the 10-week, 30 game schedule of which 15 are at home and 15 are on the road. That leaves four weekends and 26 non-conference games to schedule each year. Alabama, Auburn, Jacksonville State, Samford & UAB comprise 10 midweek games in the state that we typically play on Tuesdays throughout the year. We try and have three non-conference weekends in Troy and one weekend on the road. Two of the three weekends at home we will play a 4-game series. Add all those together and that equals 24 games that are built into the schedule. We have to locate two more games during the midweek to complete the schedule. The 2012 schedule has been completed for over a month as the arrangements are made well in advance. The 2013 schedule is halfway completed and should be done by the late spring or early summer. Our 2012 home schedule consists of two 4-game non-conference series and our five Sun Belt series along with our in-state midweek opponents. We also will host East Carolina in a Wednesday night game in early March which should be a great matchup. We have 29 games scheduled at Riddle-Pace Field in 2012. We lose a non-conference weekend at home as we have two return trips we must make. We continue our four-year home and home series with Southern Miss as we travel to Hattiesburg and we return a trip to Bethune-Cookman, who we hosted in 2010. The 2013 schedule will likely have 32 home games as that number is our target each year we schedule. I wish every year could be like this season, with six straight home weekends and 21 of the first 23 at home, but this year was a lucky scheduling year that we have all definitely enjoyed. Heading toward the bus now to load up the gear and head to Jonesboro. Be sure and tune in to your radios and computers this weekend and follow all the action. See you next week right back here at Riddle-Pace Field as we host Auburn on Tuesday and Florida International next weekend. Go Trojans!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Trojans Get Some Love in Polls
E-Mail Ricky Hazel
It took a while, but the Troy baseball team finally cracked into one of the major national polls this week. Baseball America had Troy as the No. 21 team in their latest poll. I traded e-mails with Aaron Fitt of Baseball America yesterday and he confirmed that it is the first time Troy has ever been nationally-ranked by the publication.
Here is a rundown of the BA Top 25 this week.
The other major polls continue to look the other way where Troy is concerned. Collegiate Baseball ranks the top 30 teams, and does not list an "others receiving votes" list.
The USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll does list the others receiving votes. Troy is 33rd in that poll this week.
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers (NCBWA) Poll, of which I am a voting member, lists the others who receive votes, but not how many votes they receive. They just list them alphabetically. Troy has been receiving votes for a while, but there is no way to know how many others besides yours truly has been voting for the Trojans.
There is one other poll, which is published by PerfectGame.org, which is a subscription site. That site is edited by Kendall Rogers, who covered college baseball for Yahoo! before taking his new gig. The folks at PG don't have Troy in their top 25 this week, but have a feature about the Trojans being one of several teams on the brink of cracking the rankings.
One of my favorite web sites for college baseball is SEBaseball.com. Publisher Mark Etheridge has his regional projections up for this week as well as a breakdown of potential seeding. He has Troy as a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In his regional projections, however, he has Southern Miss as a No. 1 and host while Troy is a No. 2 in the Gainesville Regional.
Obviously, there is still a lot of baseball to be played, and polls and projections will change dramatically over the next two months. If the Trojans continue to pitch and play defense they way they have, the polls and regional seeding will take care of themselves.
The Trojans will take their No. 21 ranking on the road tonight to face Auburn. It is just the third road game of the year for Troy, and the team is still looking for that first road win. Following the Auburn game, the Trojans will travel to face Arkansas State in Sun Belt play this weekend.
The links above will take you to see the various polls this week. Below is a look at how I voted in the NCBWA poll. Hopefully I will see a lot of Trojans at the park tonight over in Auburn.
It took a while, but the Troy baseball team finally cracked into one of the major national polls this week. Baseball America had Troy as the No. 21 team in their latest poll. I traded e-mails with Aaron Fitt of Baseball America yesterday and he confirmed that it is the first time Troy has ever been nationally-ranked by the publication.Here is a rundown of the BA Top 25 this week.
The other major polls continue to look the other way where Troy is concerned. Collegiate Baseball ranks the top 30 teams, and does not list an "others receiving votes" list.
The USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll does list the others receiving votes. Troy is 33rd in that poll this week.
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers (NCBWA) Poll, of which I am a voting member, lists the others who receive votes, but not how many votes they receive. They just list them alphabetically. Troy has been receiving votes for a while, but there is no way to know how many others besides yours truly has been voting for the Trojans.
There is one other poll, which is published by PerfectGame.org, which is a subscription site. That site is edited by Kendall Rogers, who covered college baseball for Yahoo! before taking his new gig. The folks at PG don't have Troy in their top 25 this week, but have a feature about the Trojans being one of several teams on the brink of cracking the rankings.
One of my favorite web sites for college baseball is SEBaseball.com. Publisher Mark Etheridge has his regional projections up for this week as well as a breakdown of potential seeding. He has Troy as a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In his regional projections, however, he has Southern Miss as a No. 1 and host while Troy is a No. 2 in the Gainesville Regional.
Obviously, there is still a lot of baseball to be played, and polls and projections will change dramatically over the next two months. If the Trojans continue to pitch and play defense they way they have, the polls and regional seeding will take care of themselves.
The Trojans will take their No. 21 ranking on the road tonight to face Auburn. It is just the third road game of the year for Troy, and the team is still looking for that first road win. Following the Auburn game, the Trojans will travel to face Arkansas State in Sun Belt play this weekend.
The links above will take you to see the various polls this week. Below is a look at how I voted in the NCBWA poll. Hopefully I will see a lot of Trojans at the park tonight over in Auburn.
| Rank | Team | Record |
| 1 | Virginia | 24-2 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 22-3 |
| 3 | Florida | 21-4 |
| 4 | South Carolina | 18-5 |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 19-5 |
| 6 | Oklahoma | 19-6 |
| 7 | Arizona State | 18-6 |
| 8 | Florida State | 18-6 |
| 9 | Fresno State | 18-2 |
| 10 | Troy | 19-4 |
| 11 | Texas | 17-7 |
| 12 | Arizona | 17-7 |
| 13 | Arkansas | 18-6 |
| 14 | North Carolina | 23-3 |
| 15 | Georgia Tech | 21-4 |
| 16 | LSU | 17-7 |
| 17 | Rice | 16-11 |
| 18 | UCF | 18-6 |
| 19 | Southern Mississippi | 18-5 |
| 20 | Auburn | 14-10 |
| 21 | Stetson | 20-5 |
| 22 | New Mexico State | 19-5 |
| 23 | Mississippi | 18-7 |
| 24 | TCU | 15-8 |
| 25 | Charlotte | 19-6 |
| 26 | Oklahoma State | 18-6 |
| 27 | East Carolina | 18-5 |
| 28 | Tulane | 18-6 |
| 29 | UC Irvine | 14-6 |
| 30 | California | 16-5 |
It Seems Like Pitchers Have Become Targets
It Seems Like Pitchers Have Become Targets
As of recently, hitters are trying to hit the ball back at pitchers. At least it feels like they are.
I don’t know if they are frustrated with the BBCOR bats and decided to take it out on us, the pitchers, or what, but I’ve seen more balls in the past two weekends come back and hit pitchers than I have in my entire life.
Unfortunately, I was a victim of it twice … on the shin … exact same spot … with the skinniest legs on the team.
Wasn’t fun!
But that was no problem for Sean Boland, the best college baseball trainer in the country. Thanks to him and the proper care, I was able to be back out there the following week!
Sometimes its hard to understand the rankings and the voting that goes into determining the weekly Top 25. When it’s all set and done, its just a number and it all gets erased when regionals start. But with that said, it is pretty special to get the recognition for the start of the season that we have deserved.
As of this week, we got ranked No. 21 in Baseball America. That’s great recognition for us, but its just a number and we still have a very long ways to go. Not to mention, we have a very tough conference schedule ahead against competitive teams with the same goals.
We take our first weekend road trip of the year to Arkansas State this week … yes it is April and we are just now leaving Troy! We were very spoiled ball players until now, but back to reality.
It was an awesome six weeks at home to start the year and couldn’t have asked for better support from the Trojan baseball fans. All of you have earned a weekend off from baseball at Riddle-Pace Field but it is a great opportunity to tune into the radio and listen to one of the best radio announcers in college baseball, Barry McKnight.
Thanks again for all the support! We look forward to returning home with another series win!
Go Trojans!
#12 Tyler Ray (@TroyTrojan12)
"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." -1 Timothy 4:8
As of recently, hitters are trying to hit the ball back at pitchers. At least it feels like they are.I don’t know if they are frustrated with the BBCOR bats and decided to take it out on us, the pitchers, or what, but I’ve seen more balls in the past two weekends come back and hit pitchers than I have in my entire life.
Unfortunately, I was a victim of it twice … on the shin … exact same spot … with the skinniest legs on the team.
Wasn’t fun!
But that was no problem for Sean Boland, the best college baseball trainer in the country. Thanks to him and the proper care, I was able to be back out there the following week!
Sometimes its hard to understand the rankings and the voting that goes into determining the weekly Top 25. When it’s all set and done, its just a number and it all gets erased when regionals start. But with that said, it is pretty special to get the recognition for the start of the season that we have deserved.
As of this week, we got ranked No. 21 in Baseball America. That’s great recognition for us, but its just a number and we still have a very long ways to go. Not to mention, we have a very tough conference schedule ahead against competitive teams with the same goals.
We take our first weekend road trip of the year to Arkansas State this week … yes it is April and we are just now leaving Troy! We were very spoiled ball players until now, but back to reality.
It was an awesome six weeks at home to start the year and couldn’t have asked for better support from the Trojan baseball fans. All of you have earned a weekend off from baseball at Riddle-Pace Field but it is a great opportunity to tune into the radio and listen to one of the best radio announcers in college baseball, Barry McKnight.
Thanks again for all the support! We look forward to returning home with another series win!
Go Trojans!
#12 Tyler Ray (@TroyTrojan12)
"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." -1 Timothy 4:8
Friday, March 25, 2011
All In, All The Time
All In, All The Time
From the minute the alarm clock goes off, until you lay your head down at night, the Troy Trojans’ baseball team is on the grind. Not only dealing with the practice and workouts, but with studying and study hall.
Workouts and practice are the payoff, the fun part that you look forward to during the day. Unfortunately, we don't get to be on the field all day.
Classes go anywhere from 8 a.m. to around 3 p.m. for our players. We usually have practice at around 3 or 4, with the occasional night practice. Our mandatory workout schedule is Sundays at 7:15 p.m. and Wednesday at 8:15 p.m.
However, our players are so dedicated that we end up being in the weight room pretty much every day. That's the fun part. The downer comes after the workouts – study hall.
Study hall can be frustrating at times, and very stressful but, in the end, it is good for you. As a college athlete, it’s great to have because it forces you to study. However, sometimes you just can't do it and that's just reality.
These are the times when you procrastinate and, as baseball players, go get some more work in at the field and make up your study hall time the next day.
Different players have different opinions on the daily routine of college athletes. Here are some one line summaries from your Trojans on a day in the shoes of a Trojan baseball player.
Ivan Carter – "It’s a struggle sometimes, but always grinding."
Nathan Hill – "Since I was a young boy I played the silver ball."
Ali Knowles – "It's a full time job with no pay."
Joshua Dozier – "I might as well not even pay for housing or rent because I live at the field and at study hall."
Day-in and day-out, your Trojans are giving everything they can, therefore you should come out and support and show some love because nothing’s better than looking up into a packed stadium.
Come out this weekend. Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1p.m. and support.
Go Trojans
Jimmy Hodgskin
From the minute the alarm clock goes off, until you lay your head down at night, the Troy Trojans’ baseball team is on the grind. Not only dealing with the practice and workouts, but with studying and study hall.Workouts and practice are the payoff, the fun part that you look forward to during the day. Unfortunately, we don't get to be on the field all day.
Classes go anywhere from 8 a.m. to around 3 p.m. for our players. We usually have practice at around 3 or 4, with the occasional night practice. Our mandatory workout schedule is Sundays at 7:15 p.m. and Wednesday at 8:15 p.m.
However, our players are so dedicated that we end up being in the weight room pretty much every day. That's the fun part. The downer comes after the workouts – study hall.
Study hall can be frustrating at times, and very stressful but, in the end, it is good for you. As a college athlete, it’s great to have because it forces you to study. However, sometimes you just can't do it and that's just reality.
These are the times when you procrastinate and, as baseball players, go get some more work in at the field and make up your study hall time the next day.
Different players have different opinions on the daily routine of college athletes. Here are some one line summaries from your Trojans on a day in the shoes of a Trojan baseball player.
Ivan Carter – "It’s a struggle sometimes, but always grinding."
Nathan Hill – "Since I was a young boy I played the silver ball."
Ali Knowles – "It's a full time job with no pay."
Joshua Dozier – "I might as well not even pay for housing or rent because I live at the field and at study hall."
Day-in and day-out, your Trojans are giving everything they can, therefore you should come out and support and show some love because nothing’s better than looking up into a packed stadium.
Come out this weekend. Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1p.m. and support.
Go Trojans
Jimmy Hodgskin
Monday, March 21, 2011
Another week, another snub by the national polls
E-mail Ricky Hazel
I've been at this college baseball gig for quite a number of years now, but there is one thing that has always escaped me. I just don't understand how the people who put out national polls come to the conclusions they reach.
I have voted on all kinds of polls in my career. I voted in the AP Football poll when I worked in the newspaper business, I have "helped" three different head coaches vote in the USA Today Coaches poll, heck I even had a Heisman Trophy vote one year.
But I just do not understand the college baseball polls.
I can look at teams results and see who is playing well and who is not. It is not all that hard. My feeling is that if you are playing well, you deserve to get votes. If you are not playing well, you don't deserve to get votes.
If you are Florida and you just swept a series at LSU, then you deserve to be ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation. That is a fairly unanimous pick.
Other teams that are fairly obvious to me are Vanderbilt, Virginia and Arizona State. Even Florida State, Oklahoma and LSU, who are all coming off tough weeks, are still deserving because their losses came to teams ranked ahead of them.
Where I lose it is after those first five or six teams.
Teams like TCU, Clemson, Cal State Fullerton, Stanford, Rice and Oregon continue to receive enough votes each week to maintain their spots in the polls even though they are regularly posting 2-2 records during each week. Heck, Stanford hasn't even played in two weeks, but at 6-5 they are still a nationally ranked team.
Those teams all opened the season ranked high and I think some of the polls keep them ranked just to save face. I am not saying these teams are bad, I am just saying they have not played well enough to continue hogging poll positions from other quality teams who have played well.
If you look at my vote this week in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll, I have 10 teams ranked who were not in last weeks poll. Of those 10 teams that I voted for, exactly one received enough votes to be ranked.
I even have to laugh at that one team because of their three losses this year, two came at Riddle-Pace Field to the Troy Trojans. Southern Miss is 15-3 on the year and deserves a national ranking, but they don't deserve a spot over Troy, who they lost to twice.
In my vote, I have Southern Miss ranked 17th, one spot behind Troy. I think this is fair.
I am also amazed by the coaches poll. Last week Troy had 15 poll points. This week the Trojans only got 11. The only Sun Belt coach who votes on the poll is South Alabama's Steve Kittrell and I can't see him dropping the Trojans after losing a series to Troy. So, who changed their vote, and better yet, why?
I guess the only way for Troy to get the attention of some of these pollsters is to go on a long winning streak. Wait, that happened back in 2006 when Troy won 14 in a row, but never got ranked. Maybe a 20-game win streak would be enough, who knows.
I know the joys of having home cooking every night are quickly coming to an end. After this weekend's series against UALR, the Trojans will play four straight on the road, first at Auburn and then at Arkansas State.
You hate to make the two or three games each year against the "big boys" in the state seem more important than any other games but, for the Trojans to get into the national conversation, those games are critical.
Playing well on television is also a big factor. Troy has two regionally televised games coming up in the next couple of weeks. First, the game at home against Auburn on April 5 will be televised on CSS with Joe Davis, the Montgomery Biscuits' radio voice, and former Atlanta Braves/Atlanta Falcons star Brian Jordan on color.
The Trojans will make their lone appearance on the Sun Belt Conference game of the week on Saturday April 9 against FIU. That game is being moved to a 7 p.m. start to accommodate TV. Like the Auburn game, the FIU tilt will be on CSS.
I'll be out of commission for the next couple of days. Having a little sinus surgery tomorrow morning. Hopefully everything will go well and I'll be able to breathe much better after the procedure. I'll be back at Riddle-Pace Field this weekend for the battle of the Trojans.
Here is how I voted in the NCBWA poll this week. You can click here to see how the poll turned out.
I've been at this college baseball gig for quite a number of years now, but there is one thing that has always escaped me. I just don't understand how the people who put out national polls come to the conclusions they reach.I have voted on all kinds of polls in my career. I voted in the AP Football poll when I worked in the newspaper business, I have "helped" three different head coaches vote in the USA Today Coaches poll, heck I even had a Heisman Trophy vote one year.
But I just do not understand the college baseball polls.
I can look at teams results and see who is playing well and who is not. It is not all that hard. My feeling is that if you are playing well, you deserve to get votes. If you are not playing well, you don't deserve to get votes.
If you are Florida and you just swept a series at LSU, then you deserve to be ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation. That is a fairly unanimous pick.
Other teams that are fairly obvious to me are Vanderbilt, Virginia and Arizona State. Even Florida State, Oklahoma and LSU, who are all coming off tough weeks, are still deserving because their losses came to teams ranked ahead of them.
Where I lose it is after those first five or six teams.
Teams like TCU, Clemson, Cal State Fullerton, Stanford, Rice and Oregon continue to receive enough votes each week to maintain their spots in the polls even though they are regularly posting 2-2 records during each week. Heck, Stanford hasn't even played in two weeks, but at 6-5 they are still a nationally ranked team.
Those teams all opened the season ranked high and I think some of the polls keep them ranked just to save face. I am not saying these teams are bad, I am just saying they have not played well enough to continue hogging poll positions from other quality teams who have played well.
If you look at my vote this week in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll, I have 10 teams ranked who were not in last weeks poll. Of those 10 teams that I voted for, exactly one received enough votes to be ranked.
I even have to laugh at that one team because of their three losses this year, two came at Riddle-Pace Field to the Troy Trojans. Southern Miss is 15-3 on the year and deserves a national ranking, but they don't deserve a spot over Troy, who they lost to twice.
In my vote, I have Southern Miss ranked 17th, one spot behind Troy. I think this is fair.
I am also amazed by the coaches poll. Last week Troy had 15 poll points. This week the Trojans only got 11. The only Sun Belt coach who votes on the poll is South Alabama's Steve Kittrell and I can't see him dropping the Trojans after losing a series to Troy. So, who changed their vote, and better yet, why?
I guess the only way for Troy to get the attention of some of these pollsters is to go on a long winning streak. Wait, that happened back in 2006 when Troy won 14 in a row, but never got ranked. Maybe a 20-game win streak would be enough, who knows.
I know the joys of having home cooking every night are quickly coming to an end. After this weekend's series against UALR, the Trojans will play four straight on the road, first at Auburn and then at Arkansas State.
You hate to make the two or three games each year against the "big boys" in the state seem more important than any other games but, for the Trojans to get into the national conversation, those games are critical.
Playing well on television is also a big factor. Troy has two regionally televised games coming up in the next couple of weeks. First, the game at home against Auburn on April 5 will be televised on CSS with Joe Davis, the Montgomery Biscuits' radio voice, and former Atlanta Braves/Atlanta Falcons star Brian Jordan on color.
The Trojans will make their lone appearance on the Sun Belt Conference game of the week on Saturday April 9 against FIU. That game is being moved to a 7 p.m. start to accommodate TV. Like the Auburn game, the FIU tilt will be on CSS.
I'll be out of commission for the next couple of days. Having a little sinus surgery tomorrow morning. Hopefully everything will go well and I'll be able to breathe much better after the procedure. I'll be back at Riddle-Pace Field this weekend for the battle of the Trojans.
Here is how I voted in the NCBWA poll this week. You can click here to see how the poll turned out.
| Rank | Team | Record |
| 1 | Florida | 18-2 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 19-2 |
| 3 | Virginia | 19-2 |
| 4 | Arizona State | 15-4 |
| 5 | Florida State | 16-4 |
| 6 | Oklahoma | 17-5 |
| 7 | LSU | 16-4 |
| 8 | South Carolina | 14-4 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 15-5 |
| 10 | Texas | 15-5 |
| 11 | Arizona | 15-5 |
| 12 | Auburn | 14-6 |
| 13 | Fresno State | 14-2 |
| 14 | UC Irvine | 14-2 |
| 15 | Arkansas | 15-4 |
| 16 | Troy | 16-4 |
| 17 | Southern Mississippi | 15-3 |
| 18 | North Carolina | 18-3 |
| 19 | Rice | 13-9 |
| 20 | Georgia Tech | 17-4 |
| 21 | UCF | 16-4 |
| 22 | Georgia State | 18-4 |
| 23 | Tulane | 16-4 |
| 24 | Mississippi | 15-6 |
| 25 | TCU | 12-7 |
| 26 | College of Charleston | 15-6 |
| 27 | Stetson | 16-4 |
| 28 | East Carolina | 16-4 |
| 29 | New Mexico State | 15-5 |
| 30 | UNLV | 17-6 |
Friday, March 18, 2011
The Real Season Starts Tonight
E-mail Ricky Hazel
So far, the 2011 baseball season has been great for the Troy Trojans. With the exception of one rain-soaked night in Tuscaloosa, no one could have expected more from the team when the year started.
Now that the preliminaries are over, it is time for the team to get down to the serious business of conference play. Like in any sport, the most important games during the season are the ones you play against conference foes.
I've heard Coach Larry Blakeney talk about the important of league play literally hundreds of times. He makes a valid argument that without conference play, teams literally have nothing to play for but pride.
But more than pride will be at stakes when the Trojans host South Alabama this weekend in baseball and ULM this weekend in softball. Both series will begin the road to a conference title, which is something every college student-athlete wants to accomplish.
For the baseball series, it will be the first of two times for Troy and South Alabama to face off. The teams will meet in another three-game set in Mobile at the end of the season. That series will mark the final home games for Jaguars coach Steve Kittrell, who is retiring after this year.
But, before that big season-ending series, the Trojans have nine weeks of conference play to deal with. The Trojans have the advantage of opening the season with not only the first three league games at home, but the first six.
After the first two weeks, Troy will alternate road and home series until the tough final stretch of the year. The last three weeks of the season will include a trip to Monroe, a trip to Mobile and then, hopefully, another trip to Monroe for the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
Speaking of the tournament in Monroe, the event will have a new format this year. There will be two four-team pools. Each team will play the other three squads in their pool and, after round-robin play is completed, the teams with the best records in pool play will meet for the league title.
The benefit of the new format is there will only be three games played each day, so no more midnight or later starts. No team will have to play more than once on any day, and every team will have a day off during the week.
The new format should make the games more competitive and should also leave any teams advancing to NCAA Regional play with healthy pitching.
Pitching and defense have been the reasons Troy is off to a 14-3 start this year, the best since the 1990 team opened 19-1. The Trojans lead the Sun Belt in both ERA and fielding percentage, and those categories are always the best indicators of success.
I didn't get a chance to post my National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll vote last week, but I'll make every effort to update my blog each week with that vote as well as the results of the poll. You can see all of the national college baseball polls in the game notes for each weeks series, or you can find them on the various college baseball sites.
One site I use almost every day is www.d1baseball.com. In addition to live scoring updates from every game played, there are also plenty of links to other items of interest.
Here is how I voted this week as well as how the poll turned out.
And here is how the voting turned out.
I don't understand why so many voters choose to vote for teams with bad records just because of who they are (Rice, Oregon, UCLA, Stanford, Clemson, Cal State Fullerton). To me, rankings should always be about performance on the field. Obviously, quality competition plays a factor, which is why I do have Stanford and Clemson in my vote, although they are both in the bottom 10.
I can tell you that Clemson, without a big weekend, will be out next week after dropping mid-week games again this week. Stanford is on the verge of dropping out as well because the Cardinal hasn't played much in a while.
I hope to see you at the ball park this weekend. I'd also like to send out a big congratulations to former Troy punter, and media relations graduate assistant, Jason Wright and his fiance Amy Adams on their wedding, which will be on Saturday.
So far, the 2011 baseball season has been great for the Troy Trojans. With the exception of one rain-soaked night in Tuscaloosa, no one could have expected more from the team when the year started.Now that the preliminaries are over, it is time for the team to get down to the serious business of conference play. Like in any sport, the most important games during the season are the ones you play against conference foes.
I've heard Coach Larry Blakeney talk about the important of league play literally hundreds of times. He makes a valid argument that without conference play, teams literally have nothing to play for but pride.
But more than pride will be at stakes when the Trojans host South Alabama this weekend in baseball and ULM this weekend in softball. Both series will begin the road to a conference title, which is something every college student-athlete wants to accomplish.
For the baseball series, it will be the first of two times for Troy and South Alabama to face off. The teams will meet in another three-game set in Mobile at the end of the season. That series will mark the final home games for Jaguars coach Steve Kittrell, who is retiring after this year.
But, before that big season-ending series, the Trojans have nine weeks of conference play to deal with. The Trojans have the advantage of opening the season with not only the first three league games at home, but the first six.
After the first two weeks, Troy will alternate road and home series until the tough final stretch of the year. The last three weeks of the season will include a trip to Monroe, a trip to Mobile and then, hopefully, another trip to Monroe for the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
Speaking of the tournament in Monroe, the event will have a new format this year. There will be two four-team pools. Each team will play the other three squads in their pool and, after round-robin play is completed, the teams with the best records in pool play will meet for the league title.
The benefit of the new format is there will only be three games played each day, so no more midnight or later starts. No team will have to play more than once on any day, and every team will have a day off during the week.
The new format should make the games more competitive and should also leave any teams advancing to NCAA Regional play with healthy pitching.
Pitching and defense have been the reasons Troy is off to a 14-3 start this year, the best since the 1990 team opened 19-1. The Trojans lead the Sun Belt in both ERA and fielding percentage, and those categories are always the best indicators of success.
I didn't get a chance to post my National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll vote last week, but I'll make every effort to update my blog each week with that vote as well as the results of the poll. You can see all of the national college baseball polls in the game notes for each weeks series, or you can find them on the various college baseball sites.
One site I use almost every day is www.d1baseball.com. In addition to live scoring updates from every game played, there are also plenty of links to other items of interest.
Here is how I voted this week as well as how the poll turned out.
| Rank | Team | Record |
| 1 | Vanderbilt | 16-1 |
| 2 | Florida State | 15-1 |
| 3 | Florida | 14-2 |
| 4 | Virginia | 16-1 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 16-1 |
| 6 | LSU | 15-1 |
| 7 | South Carolina | 11-2 |
| 8 | Arizona State | 11-3 |
| 9 | Arizona | 13-3 |
| 10 | Texas A&M | 12-4 |
| 11 | College of Charleston | 14-3 |
| 12 | Texas | 11-5 |
| 13 | UC Irvine | 12-1 |
| 14 | Arkansas | 13-2 |
| 15 | Auburn | 11-5 |
| 16 | Fresno State | 11-2 |
| 17 | Troy | 13-3 |
| 18 | Southern Mississippi | 11-3 |
| 19 | Mississippi | 13-4 |
| 20 | TCU | 10-5 |
| 21 | North Carolina | 14-3 |
| 22 | Rice | 10-8 |
| 23 | Stanford | 6-5 |
| 24 | Clemson | 7-6 |
| 25 | Louisville | 11-3 |
| 26 | Oregon State | 13-3 |
| 27 | UCF | 13-3 |
| 28 | UNLV | 16-3 |
| 29 | Oklahoma State | 12-3 |
| 30 | Georgia Tech | 12-4 |
And here is how the voting turned out.
| No | School | Record | Pvs |
| 1 | Vanderbilt | 16-1 | 2 |
| 2 | Florida | 14-2 | 1 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 16-1 | 3 |
| 4 | Florida State | 15-1 | 5 |
| 5 | Virginia ACC | 16-1 | 6 |
| 6 | South Carolina | 11-2 | 4 |
| 7 | LSU | 15-1 | 10 |
| 8 | Arizona State | 11-3 | 7 |
| 9 | TCU | 10-5 | 9 |
| 10 | Texas | 11-5 | 12 |
| 11 | Arkansas | 13-2 | 15 |
| 12 | Texas A&M | 12-4 | 16 |
| 13 | Arizona | 13-3 | 18 |
| 14 | Clemson | 7-6 | 8 |
| 15 | UC Irvine | 12-1 | 21 |
| 16 | UCLA | 8-6 | 11 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 14-3 | 14 |
| 18 | Stanford | 6-5 | 17 |
| 19 | Louisville | 11-3 | 20 |
| 20 | Cal State Fullerton | 8-6 | 13 |
| 21 | College of Charleston | 14-3 | 22 |
| 22 | Georgia Tech | 12-4 | 25 |
| 23 | Coastal Carolina | 11-5 | 24 |
| 24 | Rice | 10-8 | 19 |
| 25 | Fresno State | 11-2 | 26 |
| 26 | Auburn | 11-5 | 23 |
| 27 | California | 10-4 | 29 |
| 28 | Oregon | 8-7 | 27 |
| 29 | Baylor | 11-5 | NR |
| 30 | Oregon State | 13-3 | NR |
I don't understand why so many voters choose to vote for teams with bad records just because of who they are (Rice, Oregon, UCLA, Stanford, Clemson, Cal State Fullerton). To me, rankings should always be about performance on the field. Obviously, quality competition plays a factor, which is why I do have Stanford and Clemson in my vote, although they are both in the bottom 10.
I can tell you that Clemson, without a big weekend, will be out next week after dropping mid-week games again this week. Stanford is on the verge of dropping out as well because the Cardinal hasn't played much in a while.
I hope to see you at the ball park this weekend. I'd also like to send out a big congratulations to former Troy punter, and media relations graduate assistant, Jason Wright and his fiance Amy Adams on their wedding, which will be on Saturday.
The Bat: The Ultimate Weapon on the Playing Field
The Bat: The Ultimate Weapon on the Playing Field
The 2010 Troy Trojans posted an unbelievable stat last year, stroking 100 home runs. This is a number most people would laugh at in disbelief. Power hitters filled the roster as they do for this years' squad.
However there is a huge difference in this year and last year -- the bat they get to swing.
Last years' bat was dominant. Hitters would smile when they put it in their hands. This year the TPX is a log however.
It is extremely difficult to make such an adjustment, bat-to-bat, however our unbelievably dominant hitters easily do so.
With guys like as Blake, AB, Boosie Boo, Hayden, T.J., Tyson, Petey, Prichard, Clay, McGowan, Logan, Big Country Kyle, Boone, Toddy Todd, Dixon, Ali, JMac, Siegel and Vaughn -- you know, the whole team -- with guys like this in the lineup, it's too tough for the opposing pitcher.
Not only are their skill levels and abilities unbelievable, but with good bats in their hands and it got out of control. Balls soared off there bats into other orbits and atmospheres.
Now we break out the newer version of the TPX this weekend and I'm sure bombs will continue to be dropped.
Come out and support the Trojans this weekend as we take on USA in our first conference game.
Jimmy Hodgskin
The 2010 Troy Trojans posted an unbelievable stat last year, stroking 100 home runs. This is a number most people would laugh at in disbelief. Power hitters filled the roster as they do for this years' squad.However there is a huge difference in this year and last year -- the bat they get to swing.
Last years' bat was dominant. Hitters would smile when they put it in their hands. This year the TPX is a log however.
It is extremely difficult to make such an adjustment, bat-to-bat, however our unbelievably dominant hitters easily do so.
With guys like as Blake, AB, Boosie Boo, Hayden, T.J., Tyson, Petey, Prichard, Clay, McGowan, Logan, Big Country Kyle, Boone, Toddy Todd, Dixon, Ali, JMac, Siegel and Vaughn -- you know, the whole team -- with guys like this in the lineup, it's too tough for the opposing pitcher.
Not only are their skill levels and abilities unbelievable, but with good bats in their hands and it got out of control. Balls soared off there bats into other orbits and atmospheres.
Now we break out the newer version of the TPX this weekend and I'm sure bombs will continue to be dropped.
Come out and support the Trojans this weekend as we take on USA in our first conference game.
Jimmy Hodgskin
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