The sixth-seeded Troy baseball team was eliminated from the Sun Belt Tournament after falling to No. 7 Middle Tennessee State in pool play on Saturday, 8-5. The Trojans were in a tough spot. The way the tournament worked out, Troy would have had to win all three pool play games in order to advance to the championship game.

Danny Collins, Tyler Ray, and Nate Hill were named to the All-Tournament Team. ULM went on to win the tournament and will take on LSU in the Baton Rouge Regional.

Troy (28-30) played much better in the second half of the season than the first, winning six of its final seven weekend series. They finished the Sun Belt Tournament 2-1 with wins over Florida International and Arkansas State before falling the MTSU.

I wrote VERY early in the season that Troy was on pace to hit a team-record low number of home runs. Well, I should have held off on that little factoid a while longer. The Trojans ended up tied for 21st in the nation in home runs with 47. I had calculated they were on pace for 27 in mid-March.

As is common for Pierce’s teams, Troy finished tied for eighth in the country in doubles with 125.

Troy losses just four major contributors – Tyler Hannah (SS), Tyler Ray (P), Boone Shear (OF), and Tyson Workman (INF, P).

Other departing seniors are Garrett McHenry (P) and A.J. Howard (P).

If Troy can get some consistency  out of guys like Joe Hernandez, Ryan Brady, Adam Purdy, and Jimmy Hodskin on the mound, they could be good next season.