Troy Brown gets start for USM

Ellsworth’s Troy Brown is not a power pitcher.

But that certainly doesn’t bother his University of Southern Maine baseball coach, Ed Flaherty.

Brown, a junior, has put together another quality season at USM and he will get the start in Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. NCAA Division III College World Series opener against No. 1-ranked California Lutheran College.

USM is 30-9 and California Lutheran is 39-4.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Brown will enter the tournament with a 6-1 record and a 2.72 earned run average.

In 56 1/3 innings, Brown has surrendered 45 hits and only nine walks while striking out 30. Besides leading the team in innings pitched, he is also tops in complete games with two. Opponents are hitting only .216 against him.

A year ago, Brown was 6-1 with a 3.46 ERA over 52 innings. He fanned 37 and walked 22.

“Troy has been very consistent,” said Flaherty. “He throws strikes and he keeps the hitters off balance. He isn’t overpowering, but he’ll sneak the ball in there pretty good.”

“I’ve been happy with my season so far, but you always want to do better and you can’t get content,” said Brown, who features a fastball, curve, and a changeup. “I had set my goals on improving everything. I don’t strike out many, but I wanted to improve on my ERA, get more innings in, and throw more strikes. That’s the big key. I wanted to get ahead of the hitters more this year.”

Brown said he has a little more movement on his fastball this year “and I’ve learned to hit the corners. I’m learning how to be a pitcher.”

Brown, who considers his fastball and curve to be equally effective as his out pitches, has won his last five decisions and hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in any of those games.

“I’m going to mix up my pitches well and try to get a lot of ground balls. They have guys who can hit it out of the park, so I’ve got to be careful,” said Brown.

The Huskies will enter the tournament with a team batting average of .336.

Leading the USM hit parade are Brewer’s Jon Collins, who is hitting .438 with a homer, 22 runs batted in, and 44 runs scored. Center fielder Collins was the MVP of the Northeast Regional. First baseman Jim DiMillo (.425-3 homers-21 RBIs), right fielder Bob Prince (.347-7-43), left fielder Gary Williamson (.340-5-37), and shortstop Jim Broughton (.331-6-33) have been the other catalysts.

The pitching staff, which has a 4.39 ERA, has featured Brown, lefties Shawn Brown (3-1, 8.13) and Prince (2-3, 4.34), and relievers Steve Giroux (1-0, 2 saves, 0.49), Mike Welch (4-2, 6 saves, 3.16), and Tim Sullivan (7-1, 1 save, 4.12).