Wawa Weekend Classic preview
Published 10:56 pm Thursday, February 21, 2013
Overview: Troy baseball is in Orlando, Fla., this weekend for the Wawa Weekend Classic hosted by Central Florida. The Trojans are coming off a four-game sweep of Florida A&M to open the season last weekend. The status of center fielder Ali Knowles (hand) is still unknown though it appears he will not play.
GAME 1: Troy (4-0) vs. Texas Tech (4-0) – 11 am Friday
Texas Tech comes in undefeated after beating Northern Illinois twice and Northern Colorado and BYU. The Red Raiders allowed just two runs over the four games. Baseball America picked Texas Tech to finish sixth in the Big 12 Conference coming off a 29-26 campaign in 2012. RHP Trey Masek and SS Jake Barrios are listed as two of the top 2013 draft prospects in the conference. The Trojans are scheduled to see right-handed fireballer Dominic Moreno who struck out 11 batters in his season debut against Northern Illinois. Troy will counter with Will Starling (1-0) who threw three innings of Friday’s season opener.
GAME 2: Troy vs. Connecticut (1-2) – Noon Saturday
UConn participated in the Big East/Big Ten Challege last weekend and fell twice to Purdue before defeating Indiana. Coonecticut advanced to the 2011 Super Regionals. Baseball America picked the Huskies to finish fourth in the Big East. L.J. Mazzilli is listed as the No. 5 prospect for the 2013 Draft in the Big East and was selected as a preseason All-American. Troy will likely throw Shane McCain (1-0) against the Huskies.
GAME 3: Troy vs. Central Florida (2-2) 2 pm Sunday
Host Central Florida won two-of-three from Siena to open the season before falling to No. 17 Florida in a mid-week bout. The Knights are led by RHP Ben Lively and LHP Eric Skoglund. Central Florida also has one of the conference’s top newcomers in junior college transfer RHP Spencer Davis.The team has yet to announce a rotation for the weekend so it remains unclear who the Trojans will face. UCF is selected to finish fifth in a strong Conference USA field. The team went 45-17 a year ago.
TROY LEADERS
Batting – 1.) Danny Collins .571/1/9
2.) Ali Knowles .545/0/5
3.) Justin Hancock .444/0/3
Pitching – 1.) Will Starling 1-0/0.00/3 IP
2.) Joe Hernandez 0-0/0.00/3 IP
3.) Shane McCain 1-0/2.25/4 IP