Super Bowl Update

Just like when he was in high school, Troy pitcher Joe Hernandez has stepped out of his comfort zone to help make his team better.

Hernandez, a 5-foot-11 junior right-hander, was signed by Troy to be a top option in the bullpen. Injuries and ineffectiveness forced him into the starting rotation, and he’s responded with two Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week awards in the last four weeks.

When he was a junior at Baker High School in Mobile, he had to move into the starting rotation, and he helped the Hornets reach the playoffs his last two years. After two years as a top reliever at Faulkner State, helping the Sun Chiefs reach the Junior College World Series as a freshman and a state runner-up spot last year, Hernandez came to Troy.

“I started (in high school), but I was really more comfortable with a relief role,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez, who threw a four-hit complete game in last Saturday’s 8-1 win at UL-Lafayette, has helped the Trojans turn it around after a slow start. He’ll pitch on Saturday in this weekend’s home series against UL-Monroe, which begins tonight at 6. Troy is fighting for a spot in the Sun Belt Tournament, but the Trojans have won three out of their last conference series.

Hernandez shook off a rocky first inning at ULL, where he gave up a run off a hit and two walks. He threw 110 pitches in the outing.

“He commanded his fastball at a very high rate,” Troy head coach Bobby Pierce said. “He rarely used his breaking ball or offspeed pitches. I think he threw maybe 10 of them. They were taking strike one and strike two because he was burying it on the corners.”

Hernandez (4-2, 4.84 ERA) also won the award for striking out eight and giving up no earned runs in a 6-2 win over Middle Tennessee on April 14. He’s the second Trojan to win the award twice in a season. Andrew Dickinson won it twice in 2010.

But to speak of the difficulty of the award, Tyler Ray went 12-0 last year for Troy and won Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year, but didn’t win the weekly award. Hernandez’ transformation from middle reliever to effective weekend starter hasn’t surprised coaches that much.

“It’s not like he was totally under the radar,” Pierce said. “For me, the best thing is his attitude every day. 

The guy does the right thing. When presented with whatever role, he’s all in and gives everything he’s got.”

Hernandez admitting struggling out of the bullpen early this season, but coaches gave him a start on March 27 at Jacksonville State. With three innings of one-hit shutout ball, Hernandez got the win.

“I’d say a little bit of jitters, moving from JUCO to the Division I level,” Hernandez said of early struggles. “I just needed to get more confidence. Once I got more confident, I started making better pitches.”

At his best, Hernandez is peppering the corners with fastballs in the high 80s, and he mixes in a slider. He considered himself more of an outfielder when he went to Faulkner State, but coaches recognized that his future was in pitching.

“I couldn’t hit for power,” Hernandez said. “Pitching is what helped me get noticed. Things weren’t going well at the plate, so the coaches just told me to focus on pitching and I never looked back. I haven’t picked up a bat since.”

On March 18, Hernandez had an ERA of 11.57, but had two scoreless relief outings before getting the start at JSU.

“He pitched well in the fall,” Pierce said. “We still felt things were in place for him to have success, even if he wasn’t having success at the time.”

Hernandez said the Trojans, sparked by winning three of its last four SBC series, seem to be peaking at the right time and can make some noise in these final two weeks of the regular season and in the Sun Belt Tournament. Pierce said the Trojans are playing with more determination, executing better and playing much better defense.

“Now that we’ve caught fire, it’s a different atmosphere at practice,” Hernandez said. “It’s all about how you play at the end of the year. The best teams get in, but it’s the hottest team that wins it.”