Tim Lamb’s status

May 11, 2009

By Drew Champlin

Redshirt freshman Tim Lamb was taken in by Troy Police in April 18 for theft of property, third degree. Lamb, 21, is from Tallahassee, Fla., and didn’t play last year after coming in overweight. His half-brother is sophomore linebacker Xavier Lamb.

Head coach Larry Blakeney said Lamb was suspended indefinitely.

“I would think that he’s in some trouble there (legally) but not only that, he’s got other areas he’s dealing with as well,“ Blakeney said.

Theft of property third degree is explained here.

5:10 p.m. UPDATE - On case specifics, from Troy P.D. Sgt. Benny Scarbrough. He was caught shoplifting at Wal-Mart in Troy and transported to the Troy City jail.

“A store employee viewed him concealing property on his person,“ Scarbrough said. “He was detained after he left the store.“

Troy basketball update

By Drew Champlin

First off, Troy did sign Levan Patsatsia, a 6-foot-6 wing player from Pensacola Junior College. Patsatsia signed with Arkansas out of the Republic of Georgia and played sparingly as a freshman in the 2007-08 season before transferring to PJC. 

He was a bench player for PJC and scored 6.7 points per game on a team that didn’t appear to be very good and he wasn’t the first option. Don’t take that the wrong way - Mike Vogler barely did anything at Chipola and now he’s probably the best point guard in the Sun Belt.

The Trojans have just signed Patsatsia and 6-foot-4 guard Vernon Taylor from Spartanburg (S.C.) Methodist College, but are still looking for more recruits and Division I-A transfers.

“He’s a perimeter player and a very hard-nosed type guy,“ Troy head coach Don Maestri said. “He plays with a lot of intensity and has a good feel for the game. He’s got a good basketball IQ and we think he’ll help us right away.“

The current scholarship roster is at 10 - seniors Brandon Hazzard, Mike Vogler, Richard Delk, Antywan Jones, Regis Huddleston, Travis Lee, juniors Trayce Macon and Bernard Toombs and the two newcomers, both juniors in Vernon Taylor and Levan Patsatsia. The Trojans can add three more scholarship players. Walk-on Kyle Greenwood, a junior, is also on the roster.

———————————————————-

I did ask Maestri and women’s coach Michael Murphy some about the new arena for a story for tomorrow’s paper, just getting some of their thoughts, wishes, etc.

Maestri said he and Murphy were hoping for a separate practice facility so the Trojans won’t have to practice at the rec center when other stuff is going on at the main arena. Maestri mentioned Arkansas-Little Rock (HERE is one look at Derek Fisher Court) and a weight room like Samford has (HERE and click on Varsity Weight Room).

Currently, all athletes work out in the football weight room. If the new arena gets one, both basketball and the volleyball team could use it.

As far as the LOCATION, Maestri mentioned that the top choice right now is on the golf course. Think about where the golf clubhouse is—if you’re stepping out of the press box side of Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium, you go upward to the parking lot and the golf course and golf clubhouse is on the right. Behind the golf clubhouse, which would likely have to be removed, is the top choice for the arena, but the ground has to be tested for support.

You’ve also heard about the new cafeteria and fraternity village, which Murphy is also excited about.

“In my six years here, every building that has gone up has been first class,“ Maestri said. “I don’t expect the arena, cafeteria or fraternity village to be any different. When Trojan Village (student dorms) went up and when the Jack Hawkins Jr. Building (education building) went up, it helped us in recruiting.“

Trevor Tyre named Sun Belt Player of the Week

By Drew Champlin

From the Sun Belt office….
You know, looking at Tyre’s stats again, if he had been hitting and/or playing every day in the first half of the season like he is now, the second baseman might have 15-20 HRs. He’s really been on a tear the past few weeks.

........TYRE, FERGUSON CLAIM WEEKLY SUN BELT BASEBALL HONORS

NEW ORLEANS – Troy’s Trevor Tyre and Arkansas State’s Andy Ferguson have been named the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, as decided on by the league’s member institutions.

Tyre led the Troy to a weekend sweep of ULM by hitting .538 (7-13) with a double, two homers and six RBI. The senior opened the weekend with a 3-5 effort on Friday that included an RBI double in the first and a solo homer in the fourth. He followed that on Saturday with another 3-5 effort that included two RBI. On Sunday he had just one hit, a two-run homer, but also walked and was hit by a pitch. During the week he was also named the Troy University male Student-Athlete of the Year, Tyre, who was a CoSIDA Academic All-America nominee, had a .600 on-base percentage and a 1.077 slugging percentage and was flawless in the field. Over the last 21 games, Tyre has raised his season batting average 116 points to .306 and he now leads the team with 10 home runs on the year.

Ferguson started and went eight innings to pick up the win Saturday in Arkansas State’s 11-4 victory over visiting Florida Atlantic.  Ferguson struck out seven batters - five looking - and did not issue a walk while allowing just two runs on six hits.  The right-handed hurler surrendered both runs in the second inning, then retired 20 of the final 24 batters he faced, giving up just four singles the rest of the way. In the middle innings, Ferguson retired nine consecutive and 15 of the 16 batters who came to the plate.

Back to the grind

By Drew Champlin

Seems like usually the stuff hits me right when I come back from vacation and still feel in that vacation mode, but some big things happened last week. The series with Navy was finally announced, the Trojan athletics across the board passed all phases of the APR, some bonding was approved for the new arena (read the story from Jon Johnson), and Troy finished the weekend with a sweep of UL-Monroe.

Troy is 30-19 and the RPI has climbed up to 51. I asked SEBaseball.com’s Mark Etheridge, one of the leading college baseball writers in the country, if Troy’s RPI can climb up if they sweep this week, win some Sun Belt Tournament games (May 20-23 in Troy), and get an at-large, but we’ll hear from him tonight. Troy hosts Kennesaw State Tuesday and travels to South Alabama Thursday-Saturday.

Trojans are 17-8 in Sun Belt play. Looks like Western Kentucky will win the league, but Middle Tennessee (19-8) is percentage points ahead of Troy with a series with WKU this week. The bad thing is that Troy didn’t get to play two games at league-worst Arkansas-Little Rock or else the Trojans are likely 19-8, tied with MTSU but holding the tiebreaker because of a series win. FIU is 17-10 and plays FAU this week, so it looks like Troy will go into its conference tournament as the 2, 3 or 4 seed.

Looking at stats, I’m not sure that any Trojans will wind up on the all-conference teams at the end of the year, though pitcher Tyler Ray has a very good chance to be the league’s Freshman of the Year (and since no other freshmen are close to the top in any stat categories, I think he’s the logical choice). However, there are no automatic outs in the batting order and plenty of guys capable of hitting the ball well enough to put the Trojans on a late-season roll.

Football-wise, what I hope to do is provide some updates on the players Troy signed in February - the ones that will be playing for Troy this fall or grayshirting. As you know, several on that list will head to junior college, but I hope to talk to the ones that will be on campus within a year and give you an insight into their lives. Just something to look forward to as we approach the slow summer months.

On vacation this week

May 03, 2009

By Drew Champlin

Paid vacation, thankfully. At least these few days. I’ll be out for the week, taking trips all over the Southeast. It starts with New Orleans for a vacation, then to Madison, Miss., to visit some relatives and to Tuscaloosa to watch my little sister graduate from college.

Just wanted to give you guys a heads up on why there won’t be any postings this week.

But what’s been going on? Troy took a series from Middle Tennessee in baseball. Don’t be surprised if these two schools are seeded No. 2 and No. 3 (in some order) for the Sun Belt Tournament. Trojans host UL-Monroe next weekend.

The man, the myth, the legent Richard Shaughnessy got a top honor. Why are so many Trojans getting camp invites? Mostly because of him.

Also around the Sun Belt, New Orleans athletics is fighting a losing battle, and may have to give it up altogether. I think it’s pretty sad that the students wouldn’t all vote on it. But, Troy’s days of playing New Orleans in sports are likely over, and that’ll mean a lot of schedule rearrangements in some sports.

See you guys in a week. Check dothaneagle.com for any breaking news.