Trojans land fourth seed in Sun Belt Conference tournament
Published 3:00 am Tuesday, May 24, 2016
![Messenger Photo/Mike hensley The Troy Trojans picked up a series win over the No. 23 ranked South Alabama Jaguars over the weekend. The Trojans will now get set for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in San Marcos, Texas on Wednesday afternoon.](https://www.troymessenger.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2016/05/DSC_4398web-300x169.jpg)
Messenger Photo/Mike hensley
The Troy Trojans picked up a series win over the No. 23 ranked South Alabama Jaguars over the weekend. The Trojans will now get set for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in San Marcos, Texas on Wednesday afternoon.
The Troy Trojans wrapped up their regular season on Sunday with a 8-0 win over the South Alabama Jaguars to give them a series win on Senior Day.
The Trojans ended their season with a 32-24 record and a Sun Belt Conference record of 17-13, good enough to secure the fourth seed in the Wednesday’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament in San Marcos, Texas.
“I was really pleased with how we played this weekend,” said Trojans head coach Mark Smartt. “Even though we lost game one I thought we played well.”
The Trojans have won their last four conference tournaments.
“We have played pretty well for the last month,” Smartt said. “We haven’t won all the games certainly, but we haven’t played poorly. If we continue to play well I think we will have a good opportunity and to have a chance at winning the tournament.”
The Trojans have received stellar pitching performances from their rotation over the past month. After Bennett went six innings and allowed three runs in game one, Lucas Brown pitched eight strong innings in game two and allowed two runs, both of which were unearned. Houston Mabray closed out he series by throwing six innings of shut out baseball. It’s performances like these that the Trojans hope to carry over into the tournament.
“All three were great, and they have been,” Smartt said. “That is going to have to continue. They are going to have to pitch well in their opportunities during the tournament. They need to get deep in the game’s like they have done most of they year and shorten the bullpen work.”
The Trojans will open the tournament against host Texas State Bobcats. Texas State finished the season with an overall record of 30-26 and a conference record of 16-14. The Trojans defeated the Bobcats in two of their three meetings this season.
The challenge for the Trojans will be facing familiar opponents.
“The challenge for all the teams in the tournament is that everybody has seen everybody now,” Smartt said. “When Grant throws his game, that team has seen him. When Lucas throws his game, that team has seen him. That is a challenge. Everybody has a game plan to beat you now. The pitcher has to make adjustments during the game, and I look for that to be the case.”
Everybody’s season will be on the line starting on Wednesday and all though there will be some subtle changes to the way Smartt will coach the game, the message will stay the same.
“From the managing the game stand point, you have to have a shorter leash in a pitching scenario. You have to manage things a little more closely,” Smartt said. “Our formula is not gong to change. We have to pitch well and we have to defend well. When we won our games as of late we got the right hit at the right time. Hopefully we can take advantage of scoring opportunities when we make them and we continue to pitch well.”
Round one for the Trojans will begin at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.