Super Bowl Update

Troy's baseball team begins practice today. The biggest thing, head coach Bobby Pierce said, was finding a solid Sunday and Tuesday starting pitcher.

"We feel great about Friday with Tyler Ray and Saturday with Jimmy Hodgskin," Pierce said. "If we can fill that third and fourth starting spot with quality people, we should have another very good ball club."

Ray, a RHP went 12-0 last year. He'll give Troy 7-8-9 innings each Friday night. Hodgskin, a LHP, is a supreme talent who showed flashes last year but is ready to take the next step and give Troy at least 6-7 innings each outing as opposed to 4-5 last year.

Beyond that, it's an open competition and Pierce needs someone to step up.

"We feel great about Friday with Tyler Ray and Saturday with Jimmy Hodgskin," Pierce said. "If we can fill that third and fourth starting spot with quality people, we should have another very good ball club."

There are some candidates. The top guy who keeps getting mentioned is junior RHP Chris Fisher, who pitched sparingly last year after rebounding from Tommy John surgery. RHP William Teal, another junior, pitched sparingly last year after coming back from the same surgery. Junior RHP Thomas Austin has a chance, but coaches like his versatility in the bullpen. Junior college transfers Adam Purdy and Ryan Brady, both RHPs, are in the mix.

"There’s several people that are perfectly capable," Pierce said. "We need for a couple of those to step forward and say, Hey, I’m your guy."

The bullpen should be very good, with senior RHP Tyson Workman and junior LHP Nate Hill returning from all-conference seasons to be the team's closers. When Troy has been good, the Trojans have had two guys at the end to finish games. You can add several names to that as guys who can bridge the gap in middle relief - Austin, senior LHPs Garrett McHenry and A.J. Howard and junior college transfer RHP Joe Hernandez.

I'm sure I left some guys off, but that's what the next 3 weeks of practice is for - guys to step up and win positions.

Pierce said everyone was healthy except for pitchers Ryan Sorce and Shane McCain, who had offseason surgery and will miss this season.