Troy Opens Sun Belt Tournament Thursday vs. FIU
By: Josh Rultenberg
Updated: May 21, 2012
From Troy Media Relations:
Winners of four straight Sun Belt series to end the season, the sixth-seeded Troy Trojans will open the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament on Thursday at 11 a.m. against third-seeded FIU at Bowling Green Ballpark in Bowling Green, Ky.
The Trojans defeated South Alabama 8-5 Saturday to secure the sixth seed in the tournament and the series victory. Troy's run of four straight series victories came against No. 1 seed Florida Atlantic No. 4 seed South Alabama, No. 5 seed ULM and Louisiana-Lafayette.
For the second straight year the Sun Belt Tournament will feature pool play with the winners advancing to the Championship Game on Sunday. Troy's pool includes No. 2 Arkansas State, No. 3 FIU and No. 7 Middle Tennessee.
Troy's second game of the tournament will be against Arkansas State at 3 p.m. on Friday and then the Trojans will conclude pool play against Middle Tennessee on Saturday at 11 a.m.
The Trojans played the Red Wolves, Panthers and Blue Raiders in three consecutive weeks at the end of March and beginning of April. Arkansas State won a tightly contested series after winning the final two games of three-game set. FIU swept Troy the following week after rallying in the opener and winning a pair of two-run games to close out the series.
Troy's series against Middle Tennessee officially started the Trojans resurgence in the league. Troy outscored Middle Tennessee 22-5 over the final 20 innings of the series to start the Trojans run of winning five of the final six Sun Belt series of the season; Troy closed out Sun Belt play with an 11-6 league record after opening the year 3-10.
2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Seeds (Season Record)
1. Florida Atlantic (31-20, 19-8 SBC) - A
2. Arkansas State (32-12, 19-9 SBC) - B
3. FIU (31-23, 15-14 SBC) - B
4. South Alabama (21-33, 15-15 SBC) - A
5. Louisiana-Monroe (28-27, 15-15 SBC) - A
6. Troy (26-29, 14-16 SBC) - B
7. Middle Tennessee (29-27, 14-16 SBC) - B
8. Western Kentucky (24-31, 13-17) - A
