Andrew Crane

TROY, Alabama – Andrew Crane arrived on Troy's campus in the fall of 2015 coming off a combined 12 wins to just three losses in two seasons at East Mississippi Community College and 5A Mississippi Pitcher of the Year honors at Pascagoula High School.

However, his 2016 season ended before it even started due to offseason surgery to repair a partial tear in his labrum.

Fast forward to the spring of 2017 and Crane has established himself as one of the top pitchers in the nation with unbelievable numbers and a record-breaking streak in tow.

The redshirt junior enters the final weekend of the regular season ranked second nationally with a 0.98 ERA as he has allowed just six earned runs over 55 innings of work. Crane also checks in 10^th nationally with a 0.85 WHIP and 18^th with 5.73 hits allowed per nine innings.

His overall numbers are amazing in their own right, but when you look at what he has done in his six starts the numbers move into the video game range. Crane has tossed 37 innings over those starts and has allowed just two earned runs, which equals out to a 0.49 ERA.

There are plenty of eye-popping numbers to tell the story of Crane's 2017 season, but the most impressive is one that lives and dies with every pitch that sails from his right hand.

Crane has not allowed a run in 36.2 consecutive innings. Not a single run. Not an earned run. Not an unearned run. No runners have crossed the plate with Crane on the mound. That would be the equivalent of throwing four consecutive shutouts, plus two additional outs.

"It's unheard of when you really dive into what he's done and how he has done it," Troy pitching coach Brad Phillips said. "The most impressive part is how it has lifted our team. He is a very energetic, competitive kid and that has spread around our team. I think that is what he is prouder of with the streak than anything. The team has really piggybacked on it to do anything to help him out in the streak."

The streak started with two outs at the end of his first start of the season at UT Arlington on March 31 and continued over six subsequent appearances – five of which were starts.

Crane followed with a dominant performance against Georgia Southern where he struck out seven and allowed just three hits over 8.1 scoreless innings. A bullpen appearance was next the following week at Georgia State to not overload his surgically repaired shoulder and he responded with 3.2 scoreless frames.

The bulk of his streak came over his next four starts against Texas State, Coastal Carolina, Appalachian State and ULM. Crane threw six innings in each of those appearances and combined to allow just 12 hits with 29 strikeouts.

"When you look at his stuff, it is very good, but there is nothing electric. He is doing it with pure competitiveness and a will of wanting to win," Phillips said. "He can throw strikes, has a competitive fastball and the most important thing from his package is that he can throw anything he wants at any time and he never backs himself into a pattern. When you have four or five different pitches you can throw at any time, the batter has to guess right and the percentages are in Andrew's favor almost every pitch."

Crane already has the Troy and Sun Belt record for consecutive scoreless innings in his pocket. Next up? The NCAA record of 60.2 which was set 62 years ago by Vermont's George Plender during the 1954 and 1955 seasons – Plender also holds the single-season record with 57.2 during the 1954 season.

"His fastball has good tilt so it is hard to hit coming from his 6-foot-4 frame into the bottom of the zone," Phillips said. "The breaking ball he is throwing is probably taken for a strike 95 percent of the time because of the angle and the way it comes out of his hand it's tough to tell whether it's going to be a strike or a ball and guys these day don't see a 12-to-6 curveball that much."

Crane will get a limited opportunity during Troy's upcoming series at South Alabama but will be on a pitch count as the Trojans are eyeing him on the mound when the team opens play in the Sun Belt Tournament next Wednesday in Statesboro, Ga.

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