Troy falls to Auburn again
April 30, 2009
Not near as bad as Tuesday, but Troy fell to Auburn 13-8 Wednesday night. It was an odd game. Troy was held to just four hits, but Auburn issued 14 combined BBs and HBPs. Read it HERE.
Since we have to cater to our Alabama and Auburn readers when Troy plays either of the two, myself and Matt Nascone of the Troy Messenger had to wait around for AU coach John Pawlowski to talk to his team and do radio. No matter, as we finally caught up to Troy head coach Bobby Pierce in his office after he had changed out of uniform. That’s how they do it in the major leagues - talk to the skipper in his office. Normally, I’m talking to Pierce just minutes after the game is over and right before or right after Jerry Miller finishes his on-field interview for the radio broadcast.
Well, we started questioning the manhood of his players and his strategic decisions, and….
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OK, ok, no questioning of manhood or anything like that. But I did bring up the Hal McRae rant and figured I’d look it up.
The hitting was pretty sub-par tonight. Of note, the lineup did not include Ryan Ditthardt, Steven Felix and Michael Precise. Ditthardt got in the game late and hit a monster double off the wall. He’s probably the best offensive player on the team, but had been struggling lately. Maybe that’ll get him back in a groove because when he’s in the lineup and hitting well as the cleanup hitter (like he was early in the year), the team’s tough to beat.
Pierce said starter Steven Morelock was in a groove in the first inning and seemed to lose it in the next few. I don’t think he pitched as bad as his line indicates and because he’s shown some grit and went after hitters (and has had past success), he might get another start. Toward the end, Fred Lewis looked pretty good in his one inning of work. He’s a guy that Troy took a chance on - he had Friday night stuff before arm surgery and may not be completely recovered, but they’re hoping it comes back to him. He’s done well in spurts and could be worth a start - if not, then watch for him to challenge for a weekend spot next year depending on his progression. Chris Sorce can throw some gas.
But, I did as about the struggles of the midweek pitchers - guys who are also counted on to provide depth and bridge the cap between the three weekend starters (Ray, Walls, Burge) and the closer (Sorce).
“Going into the year, I definitely thought we had some pitching depth that we could rely on,“ Pierce said. “I thought they had performed very well during all of the fall and early spring and really the first part of spring (the season). When we lose command of the ball with four or five different guys, which has happened, that makes it hard for those guys to maintain the level of confidence to succeed at this level. It all starts with strike one and that’s been hard to get with the middle relievers. However, those guys have to find a way to regain some of that pitchability they’ve shown to be able to help our team down the stretch.“
It’s still a team that can win a conference tournament and get an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Some of the pieces are there - good weekend rotation, very good closer, no real automatic outs in the main lineup.
Troy hosts Middle Tennessee this weekend. I’ll be there Friday.
