Around the Wall – March 15
Around the Wall is a weekly look at Troy Athletics, recapping the previous week and looking ahead to the next opponent.
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Women’s Basketball
Record: 24-8, 13-2 (Sun Belt Regular Season Champions)
Next game: Alabama (WNIT First Round) Thursday, 6 pm
WE WANT BAMA. The women are hosting Alabama for the first round of the WNIT Thursday night.
The bad news? Troy has never beaten Alabama at home, and it hasn’t beaten the Tide since 1978.
The good news? They’ve never played in Trojan Arena, and Alabama hasn’t played a Chanda Rigby team since before the dominance began.
Get your tickets now.
Men’s Basketball
Record: 20-11, 10-6 (4th Sun Belt)
Next game: CBI First Round vs. Abilene Christian – Sunday, March 20 6:30 pm
See? The men aren’t done yet. They’re headed to Daytona Beach this weekend to play Abilene Christian in the first round. The Wildcats lost the WAC Championship to New Mexico State, but ACU finished the season 23-10.
Abilene Christian’s strength of schedule is ranked 26 spots above Troy at TeamRankings.com. The Wildcats also lead the country with a +9 turnover margin.
That could be a major factor for the Trojans, but the Wildcats are also ranked 297th in the country in rebounding margin. If Troy can get hot quickly and protect the ball, the game might be over quickly.
Then, if Troy wins, one of two New Orleans Bowl opponents awaits: Ohio or Rice, Monday at 7:30 pm.
If you want tickets, here’s the link.
Softball
Record: 15-6, 2-1 (3rd Sun Belt)
Upcoming events: at NC State (Tuesday), ULM (weekend)
Troy was two innings away from a sweep of Coastal Carolina, but three runs in the sixth inning gave the Chants a win Sunday. The Trojans still began the season 15-5, and with 8 conference matchups still ahead, a 30-win season is very much in reach.
The Trojans go on the road to NC State Tuesday, a team that’s 19-6 but unranked for good reason. Their schedule has been mostly mid-majors. That’s not a knock against those teams, but it’s clear Troy will be the toughest team the Wolfpack has faced.
The weekend conference opponent, ULM, is also 15-6, 2-1. The Warhawks beat Jacksonville State, but they lost to Auburn twice. Knowing it’s a conference game, previous records should be thrown out the window; ULM will fight for a win.
Troy should take three of the four games this week, but two of four isn’t a concern either.
This was all written before the biggest news of the season dropped. Coach Mullins resigned after taking a medical leave of absence earlier this season. We all wish her the best.
Baseball
Record: 11-5 (4th Sun Belt)
Upcoming opponents: Samford (Tuesday), Louisiana
Troy is on a five-game win streak after sweeping Indiana this weekend. (We talked more about that here.) That impressive run is about to face another test when the Cajuns come to town.
Before that, Troy will host Samford, who’s 7-7 and near the bottom of the SoCon. It should be a tune-up game before hosting Louisiana. The Cajuns lost to Stanford, Indiana and Arkansas earlier in the year, but they won the series against Houston and beat Southern Miss once.
They were picked to finish third in the conference for a reason. If Troy can win the series, it’s a really good sign for this program in year one of the Skylar Meade era. Taking home two of the next four is the expectation though.
As hot as the bats have been, this team is finding its balance, and that’s important. As of Monday, the Trojans face the toughest stretch of the schedule in the next month.
If Troy can stay strong till then, we could be in for a fun May.
Men’s Tennis
Record: 12-6
Upcoming opponents: At Georgia State (Saturday), at Georgia Southern (Sunday)
Stat of the week: Nicolas Simkin leads the conference in No. 3 Singles
That’s four in a row! Troy took down UAB 5-2 to start the conference season with a win streak! The men travel across Georgia this weekend, taking on the 8-6 Panthers and the 6-5 Eagles.
Right now, VIto Llinares is second in the conference in All Singles among players who have played at least 12 matches. He and Noah Martens are 2-0 in No. 2 Doubles, also the best in the Sun Belt.
The tennis conference schedule only lasts a month, so the next few weeks are going to be busy for the men.
Women’s Tennis
Record: 5-8
Upcoming opponents: Georgia State (Saturday), Georgia Southern (Sunday)
The women take the opposite approach this weekend, hosting the two Georgia teams.
I’m going to take this time to complain about the Sun Belt’s website again. I went to find solid stats to add here, maybe do some analysis. The site is still garbage. I’m still finding men’s stats mixed in with women’s. I don’t know if that’s a system error, or if it’s a user input error, but I just wrote about Nicolas Simkin and Noah Martens. I double-checked Troy’s website, and yes, they are in fact part of the men’s team.
Men’s Golf
Rank: 6th Sun Belt
The Bash at the Beach teed off on Monday, and after one day of play… the Trojans are killing it.
Troy leads a field that includes Appalachian State, UConn, Penn and Marquette. If the men can pull this off, it may be the most impressive win so far this year.
Women’s Golf
Rank: 8th Sun Belt
Upcoming events: Bama Beach Bash (Gulf Shores, March 20-22)
The Spring Break Shootout teed off Monday, and the women are in fourth place after one day. The women are just seven shots back, so they’re very well in striking distance of winning as well.
After this tournament, the women head down to Gulf Shores for a weekend competition hosted by South Alabama.
One TWO Cool Things
TWO Trojans have been picked in the USFL Draft! Steven Rowzee was taken by the New Orleans Breakers, Jordan Chunn went to the Birmingham Stallions!