Troy baseball will travel to take on Southern Miss this weekend. I’m trying to get everything locked down in Troy so I can make the trip but we shall see.

Southern Miss is ranked as high as 28th in one poll. Head coach Bobby Pierce said he was pleased to pick up a series win but is hoping to see improved performances from a couple of guys.

Blake Martz and Jakob Nixon both batted under .100 for the series while Brandon Brown was 0-for-10 at the plate.

Newcomers Jo-El Bennett and Danny Collins put together a good series offensively. Bennett was 3-for-8 with a trio of walks. Collins went 6-for-13 (.462) with a pair of RBI and doubles to lead the Trojans.

The Trojans were great on the mound at time but fell apart at times as well. Troy SID Adam Predergast reported Troy’s 37 strikeouts of Central Michigan batters was the most by any school playing a three game series last weekend.

Conversely, Chippewas catcher William Arnold was named Louisville Slugger Player of the Week for his performance at Riddle-Pace Field. Arnold was 6-for-12 with four home runs and eight RBI in the three games.

The Trojans will go with Tyler Ray (1-0, 1.50 ERA) on Friday, Jimmy Hodgskin (0-0, 10.38) on Saturday but have yet to name a Sunday starter. More than likely, it will be either Adam Purdy (0-1, 18.00) or Chris Fisher (0-0, 11.25).

Tyson Workman tossed 2.2 solid innings, earning a pair of saves. Hate Hill looked good also in the set up role.

Troy will need to play a little better defense after committing six errors last weekend. Not to make excuses but opening weekend on top of the sour weather probably played a factor, not to mention Central Michigan had several well placed bunts and swinging bunts that caused Troy a little trouble.

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Alan Jones will return to the starting lineup for the Trojans basketball team tonight. The junior has not started since Dec. 29 against Denver. He has led the team in scoring in two of the last three games and will be replacing Steven Cunningham.

Head coach Don Maestri told me that winning these next two games on the road would be a huge boost in moral and momentum heading in to the conference tournament. Middle Tennessee (24-4, 13-1) is obviously the team to beat but Maestri feels everyone else is relatively evenly matched.

Troy will tip with FIU tonight at 6:30p.m. CST. Game preview story HERE.

The game will be broadcast, as always, on WTBF.