Baseball Recap (Week 12) - Around The SCAC - SCAC

Posted: Apr 25, 2011

SUWANEE, Ga. - Trinity University won its second straight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship with a 9-1 win over Hendrix in the championship game at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn. The back-to-back league championships are a first for the Trinity baseball program.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College did not play last week.

Birmingham-Southern (No. 12 – ABCA) wrapped up the season with a three-game series against in-state rival Huntingdon, losing on the road, 10-5, on Friday, but sweeping the Hawks in two home games on Saturday, 4-1 and 15-1. Saturday was Senior Day for BSC's 16 graduating Panthers, the first senior class since the program moved to Division III in 2006 and did not field a team in 2007. BSC ends the season with a 30-9 overall record after finishing with the best record in the East Division for the third straight year. As of April 17, the Panthers are ranked third in the nation in doubles, sixth in home runs, seventh in doubles per game, and eighth in both runs and hits. Individually, SCAC Player-of-the-Year senior Drew Leachman ranks second in the nation in both runs and hits, and senior JD Hulse is ranked third in runs and sophomore Bruce Maxwell ranks third in RBI. Senior pitcher Clay Malcolm ranks fifth with his eight wins.

Centre did not play last week.

DePauw finished fourth at the SCAC Baseball Championship after rallying for a 7-2 win over Millsaps before dropping a 7-4 decision to Trinity and losing to Hendrix, 8-1. Zach Galyean hit a team-best .444 in the tournament with two homers and four RBI, while Alex Wright hit .417. Hobs Donovan posted the Tigers' lone pitching win as he tossed a complete game, allowing just four hits and no earned runs. The 16-20 Tigers wrap up the season with a Saturday home doubleheader against the Washington University before traveling to the University of Chicago on Sunday.

Hendrix completed a remarkable run in the 2011 SCAC Tournament by surging all the way to Sunday’s championships game against No. 24 Trinity. The Warriors fell 9-1 against the Tigers as Trinity junior righty Ben Klimesh scattered eight hits, 10 strikeouts and just four walks in a complete-game victory. Hendrix junior right-hander Teddy Smoyer allowed just four hits, one walk and nine strikeouts in a complete-game win over Rhodes on Saturday night to send the Warriors to their second SCAC Championship game in three years. The first six batters in Hendrix’s lineup recorded multiple-hit performances as the Warriors exploded for 14 hits in an 8-1 victory, eliminating DePauw in the Warriors’ first game on Saturday. Juniors Clark Sims and Kyle Raskin combined to go 5-for-8 with four runs scored and seven RBI to keep Hendrix alive after a 12-5 victory over Millsaps on Friday. Rhodes junior right-hander Austin Carden fired a complete-game and finished with five shutout innings to hand Hendrix a 5-4 loss in the opening game of the tournament on Thursday afternoon. Hendrix now stands at 18-21 overall and owns an 8-4 record in SCAC postseason play.

Millsaps went two-and-out at the 2011 SCAC Baseball Tournament in Millington. The Majors fell 7-2 to DePauw on Thursday. The Tigers scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, leaving too little time for the Majors to mount a comeback. Friday, Hendrix put up ten runs between the fifth and seventh innings to pull away for the 12-5 win to eliminate Millsaps from the tournament. The Majors finish the year 24-18. Kevin Wall (2B), Will Hawkins (3B), Aaron Williams (P), and Jason Riggins (P) were all named to the 2011 All-SCAC Baseball Team.

Oglethorpe went 0-2 in the SCAC Tournament at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn., this week. They lost their first game to Trinity, 10-1, on Thursday. Then on Friday, they lost to Rhodes, 8-7, in what is believed to be the longest game in NCAA Division III history. It lasted 21 innings and nearly seven hours. On Thursday against Trinity, the Petrels fell behind the Tigers early, 4-0, and were never able to get anything going against Trinity pitching. They scored one run on five hits, and tallied only one extra-base hit. On Friday against Rhodes, the Petrels fell behind 6-0 in the first two innings, but were able to claw back to within a run in the third. A pair of two-RBI hits by Andy Farrey and Jake Spear provided the big blows in the inning. The Petrels were able to tie the game in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Pope, and broke through for a 7-6 lead in the seventh on a Nick Manai RBI single. But Rhodes tied the game with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning, setting off the marathon extra-innings session. Rhodes finally took the 8-7 lead in the 21st inning, and though Oglethorpe loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half, they could not get a run home and the longest game in SCAC history had finally come to a close. Oglethorpe relievers Matt Cornwell and Cory Leff pitched a combined 15 innings, striking out 22 and giving up just a single run between them. Cornwell went six innings and did not allow a hit, but gave up the tying run in the ninth after he got on-base via a wild pitch. He walked just one and struck out 10. Leff went a full nine shutout innings, scattering nine hits. He walked just three and struck out 12.

Rhodes went 2-2 in the conference tournament this past weekend. Rhodes got off to a good start defeating Hendrix in the first game 5-4 behind a complete game performance by junior Austin Carden. In the second round, Rhodes defeated Oglethorpe 8-7 in 21 innings. The 21 inning game is believed to be a Division III record. Seniors Hunter Chandler and Taylor Babich combined to throw 15 2/3 innings and allow only 1 run. Chandler threw 10 2/3 and Babich worked the final 5 innings as he picked up his third victory of the season. On Saturday, Rhodes took on the eventual SCAC Champions, Trinity, losing 4-2. Sophomore Jackson Baker threw a complete game, but still took the loss for the Lynx. Baker limited the Trinity offense to 3 hits and did not allow a hit after the third inning. Rhodes then took on Hendrix for the second time in the tournament Saturday night, and fell to the Warriors 7-2, and was eliminated. Rhodes will return to action this weekend in a 2 game set against Hendrix, with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Sewanee did not play this week. The Tigers finished the regular season with a 10-21 overall record and an 0-11 conference record.

Southwestern did not play last week.

No. 19 Trinity won its seventh SCAC Championship over the weekend, finishing 4-0 at the SCAC Tournament, and winning back-to-back conference titles for the first time in school history. The Tigers also won the SCAC in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2006, and 2008 – as well as winning the College Athletic Championship (later re-named the SCAC) in 1990. A number of players led Trinity in its run to the championship, and the Tigers earned wins over four different teams. Trinity opened play with a 10-1 win over Oglethorpe, followed by a 7-4 victory against DePauw. On Saturday, with a spot in the championship on the line, the Tigers held off Rhodes for a 4-2 win, and then avenged a loss in the 2009 tournament in beating Hendrix 9-1 for the championship. Ben Klimesh earned his 10th win of the season, in the victory on Sunday, striking out 10 batters, and surpassing 100 K’s this season. He is just the eighth player in Trinity history to strike out 100 or more in a season, and he is the 10th to reach 200 in a career – which he also did this weekend. Kevin Jackson became Trinity’s second player this season to reach 200 or more hits in a career, and he is also the 29th player in SCAC history to do so. Jackson is just the eighth Tiger player to reach that mark. Trinity earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs, and will almost certainly play at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, for the Regional Tournament, which begins May 18.

For the complete SCAC Diamond Weekly for Week 12, click here.