SUWANEE, Ga. - Trinity University, thanks to a three game sweep of the University of Dallas, cracked the D3baseball.com Top 25 for the first time this season. The Tigers (18-5) join the Birmingham-Southern Panthers (No. 17, 16-3) as the only SCAC teams ranked. Rhodes College and Millsaps College continue to receive votes.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College had a tough
week, dropping all three of their games to fall to 11-11 overall
and 5-7 in conference play with losses to East Texas Baptist and
Southwestern. Against ETBU, the ‘Roos rallied from three
runs down to force extra innings but fell when ETBU scored in the
10th. Brian Buehler was 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI in
the loss. Against Southwestern, the Pirates used a 10 run
fourth inning to blow the game open on their way to handing the
’Roos a 17-1 defeat in game one, and in game two the
’Roos had a chance to tie the game late but fell short in a
10-9 loss. Scooter Merritt and Jordan Robison each had three
hits and Tyler Appelquist knocked in three runs in the
defeat. For the week, Buehler hit .636 with four RBI and
Merritt added a .545 hitting performance.
No. 17 Birmingham-Southern
posted three wins this week, moving their record to 16-3 and 2-1 in
conference play. They opened with a 15-5 win over NAIA
opponent Mid-Continent University on Wednesday. They dropped a
heart-breaker to LaGrange College on Thursday, 9-6, giving up all
nine LaGrange runs in the seventh and eighth innings. The
Panthers then moved into conference play with a three-game series
with DePauw. BSC dropped their second game in a row in game
one of Saturday’s double header 6-1 to the Tigers before
closing out the week with two wins, 6-2 in game two and 4-1 on
Sunday, to win the series two games to one. BSC will return to
action this Wednesday as they go on the road for the first time in
22 days when they take on in-state rival Huntingdon College in
Montgomery.
Centre went 3-0 on the week defeating Thomas
More 7-6 Wednesday, Alice Lloyd 8-3 Friday and Miami-Hamilton 7-6
Saturday. The Colonels jumped out to a 4-0 lead against the Saints
and held on as three Centre pitchers combined to allow only seven
hits and four earned runs over nine innings. The Colonels then
raced out to an 8-2 lead after three innings against Alice Lloyd
with a pair of Centre hurlers combining to walk only two and
strikeout eight. In Saturday's game against Miami-Hamilton, the
Colonels had to rally from 6-2 down scoring two runs in the bottom
of the eighth to rally for their third straight win and fourth in
the last five games. Centre, now 6-8 overall, will play at Milligan
Tuesday and Wednesday before returning home to host Rhodes.
DePauw posted a 2-4 record last week including a 1-2 record in its opening SCAC series of the season to move to 8-7 on the season. The Tigers opened with a doubleheader split against Webster on Tuesday as they lost the opener by an 11-6 score and took the nightcap, 4-3, in 10 innings. They then lost at Franklin, 11-1, on Wednesday. In the series at Birmingham-Southern, the Tigers won the opener, 6-1, in nine innings before losing game two, 6-2. The Panthers took the series with Sunday's 4-1 win. Alex Jacques hit .438 for the week and stole three bases, while Sam Linette led the team with eight hits and five RBI and a .583 slugging percentage. Elliott Ross posted a 2-0 record with a 2.25 ERA with six strikeouts in four innings.
Hendrix suffered a pair of non-conference mid-week losses to NCAA West Region foe UT-Tyler on Tuesday and Wednesday before dropping a three-game set to SCAC West Division foe Millsaps on Friday and Saturday. The Warriors stretched their losing streak to five games before winning Friday’s night cap against the Majors. Millsaps won the opener to earn its 11th straight regular season series victory against Hendrix. The Warriors fall to 9-12 overall and 4-8 in conference play. Senior C Nathan Skeen went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, a double, one run scored and five runs batted to lead UT-Tyler to a 10-0 win over Hendrix on Tuesday afternoon. The Warriors fell 6-3 in the opener despite out-hitting the Majors and the exploded for a 19-9 mercy run win in the night cap. Millsaps had three batters record three hits with at least two runs scored and two runs batted in to lead the Majors to a 15-3 mercy rule victory over Hendrix on Saturday afternoon.
Millsaps finished the week 5-1 to remain atop the SCAC’s West Division. The Majors opened play with a mid-week series sweep over Illinois Wesleyan. Jake Mills drove home Jules Roussel for the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh to for an 8-7, non-conference victory. Behind 9-5 after seven innings on Wednesday, Millsaps rallied to score three in the eighth and three in the ninth to claim an 11-10 come-from-behind win. Traveling to Hendrix for an important SCAC series over the weekend, Millsaps won the opening game of the doubleheader with the Warriors 6-3 before being run-ruled for the first time this season 19-9 in game two. After taking a 4-0 lead in game two, the Warriors responded by scoring in six of the eight innings played and closed the game with six runs in the eighth to earn the run-rule victory. In the rubber game on Saturday, Millsaps scored early and often and came away with a 15-3 mercy rule victory in seven innings. The Majors improve to 16-6 overall and 9-2 in the SCAC and return home for a mid-week game against cross-town rival Belhaven on Tuesday.
Oglethorpe suffered a tough week on the field,
dropping all five of their scheduled contests. Huntingdon College
earned a doubleheader sweep of the Petrels last Tuesday, taking
game one 7-5 and game two, 6-1. The Petrels were then swept by
Rhodes in a three game weekend series in Memphis. OU dropped game
one 4-2, game two 16-4 and then fell in extra innings 7-6 in the
series finale. Matt Cornwell pitched six strong innings in game
one, only allowing four runs but the Petrels bats could not get
going to help him out offensively. The Lynx scored two in first and
two in the third and made that four runs hold up for the victory.
The Petrels could only muster five hits on the afternoon with Adam
Brazenas driving in two runs in the top of the sixth. The Lynx
jumped all over Oglethorpe in game two, posting five runs in the
first inning on their way to the 16-4 victory. Andy Farrey
and Joe Parillo had multi-hit games for Oglethorpe in the loss. In
Sunday's finale, the Lynx tied the game in the bottom of the ninth
and then stole the 7-6 victory in the eleventh inning to send
Oglethorpe to their seventh straight defeat. Oglethorpe is now
10-10 on the season and will travel to N. C. to face Greensboro in
a doubleheader Wednesday.
Rhodes baseball team went 5-1 this week with wins
over Methodist University, Greensboro College and a three game
sweep over visiting Oglethorpe University. The lone loss for
the Lynx came on Tuesday against Lynchburg College. The Lynx
offense was lead by junior 1B/DH Brent Lindsey who hit .480 (12-25)
on the week with a home run, five doubles, eight runs scored, seven
RBIs, and walked twice. Junior RF Matt Gilbert hit .550
(11-20) with a .600 on base percentage. Gilbert had a home
run, triple, seven runs scored, five RBIs, four walks, and stole
four bases. Junior CF Andy Meier hit .450 (9-20) this week,
with a home run, double, eight runs scored and six RBI. Junior
RHP Hunter Chandler continued his strong season, pitching in three
games, 8.1 IP, allowing nine hits, one earned run, no walks, and
struck out 10. Rhodes will return to action this weekend as
they travel to Danville, Ky. for a three game set against
Centre.
Sewanee ended its play in the Russ-Matt Invitational in Florida this week and was 5-4 overall in the tourney. Saturday's finale was a 23-2 win over SUNY Cobleskill, in which freshman Alan Komorowski highlighted the effort with a grand slam homerun. He also had a triple, knocked in six RBIs and scored five times in the win. Sewanee is 6-12 overall. The Tigers return to action on Wednesday when they host Emory University at Montgomery Field in a 2 p.m. game.
Southwestern has hit a hot streak and extended their wins with strong plate appearances and solid pitching and defense. The Pirates got back to action, hosting Cardinal Stritch on Wednesday. CSU struck first but after tying the game in the fourth SU put up a four run fifth to take the lead for good, winning 7-5. Southwestern came out with bats blazing against Austin College Sunday as they piled five runs on in the first two innings and then added a 10-run fourth to take a commanding 17-1 win. Alan Lowry was sensational on the mound, earning the complete game win with three hits, one unearned run, one walk and five strike outs. Game two was a complete opposite as a well balanced game ended with a fury of action. After seven innings the game was tied at seven a piece. Southwestern held the 'Roos scoreless in the top of the eighth and then went on a three-run scoring spree to take the lead for the first time, 10-7 before Chris Churchwell shut the door for the 10-9 win.
No. 25 Trinity had a week of non-conference action on the schedule, and the Tigers were able to take three wins over the University of Dallas over the weekend. Tuesday’s game against Cardinal Stritch was cancelled and the three-game weekend series with Dallas had to be adjusted because of weather and subsequent field conditions. Trinity overcame the distractions over the weekend, though, doubling Dallas in runs during a three-game sweep. The Tigers won 14-9 on Saturday evening, then won 7-1 (7 innings) and 13-7 on Sunday afternoon. Trinity has won four straight games and nine of its last 10, heading into an important weekend of action. After a pair of Tuesday games in Abilene, Texas, against McMurry and Hardin-Simmons, the Tigers will host defending SCAC Champion Hendrix College in a three-game weekend series. Earlier this season, Hendrix handed Trinity a pair of losses in Conway, Ark.
For the complete SCAC Diamond Weekly for Week 7, click here.