SUWANEE, Ga. - The 2012 SCAC baseball tournament field is set as the six teams that will compete for the SCAC championship were determined this past weekend. Birmingham-Southern, Millsaps and Rhodes represent the Eastern Division while Trinity, Hendrix and Dallas represent the Western Division.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College dropped three games last week
against Division II Central Oklahoma, falling by scores of 14-8,
6-1 and 6-5 to fall to 6-28 overall this season. The ‘Roos
nearly pulled off a dramatic comeback victory in the third game,
scoring three runs in the ninth to square things at 5-5, but a solo
homer in the bottom half of the inning gave UCO the win. Chase
Muder batted .538 for the week, and Tyler Appelquist hit .400 with
a homer and four runs batted in to lead the ‘Roos
offensively. John Schulmeister also had a strong weekend, hitting
.385 with a double and also tossing a complete game in the 6-5 loss
on Sunday. This week the ‘Roos wrap up their season with a
three game set against Trinity in San Antonio.
No. 15 Birmingham-Southern went 4-0 this week, all on the
road, defeating LaGrange on Tuesday and sweeping Oglethorpe,
Saturday and Sunday. With the sweep, BSC clinched the top seed in
the SCAC East Division, finishing atop the standings for the fourth
straight season. The exception this year is that the Panthers are
finally eligible for post-season play and will participate in the
SCAC Championship for the first time in program history. BSC
returns home this week, facing Piedmont on Wednesday and then
finishing out the regular season this weekend with a series against
Millsaps.
Centre went 2-2 on the week. The Colonels fell 8-4 to
Thomas More on the road Wednesday and then won two of three from
Sewanee in Tennessee over the weekend. Centre lost game one 26-10,
but bounced back to win game two 11-3 and game three 11-0 to
improve to 13-21 overall and 3-8 in the SCAC. Centre has now won
six straight series against the Tigers. The Colonels will travel to
Maryville (Tenn.) Tuesday and then host Oglethorpe in the final
conference series of the year Saturday and Sunday.
Dallas (20-15, 10-10 SCAC) achieved a 3-1 record on the
week, and secured the No. 3 West Division seed in the SCAC
Championship Tournament. Unable to get much going against UT-Tyler,
Dallas fell 9-1 to the Patriots. The team then focused their
attention on Southwestern for a three-game weekend series. Trailing
2-1 through five innings in Game 1, an Adam Farris single scored
Mark Carlson, leveling the score at two apiece. Both teams remained
deadlocked on the scoreboard heading into the bottom of the
seventh. Varea Costello helped Dallas earn a 3-2 walk-off win when
he singled up the middle to score Luciano Villanueva. Michael Byers
improved to 9-1 on the season after helping Dallas pick up a 6-3
Game 2 triumph over Southwestern. It took eleven innings to settle
Game 3, but in the end Dallas prevailed on Sunday to the tune of a
6-5 win, giving the Crusaders a sweep of Southwestern. Dallas
trailed Southwestern 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth, but the
Crusaders countered with four runs of their own. Andrew Bossert hit
a clutch two-run home run for Dallas. Southwestern tied it 5-5 in
the seventh, but Dallas was able to net yet another walk-off when a
bases-loaded Hunter Berry walk scored Nolan Kipp.
Hendrix went 0-4 on the week, losing all four
contests by just one run. In an 8-7 non-conference loss to Rhodes
on Tuesday, sophomore left fielder Collin Radack recorded two hits
and three RBI and senior center fielder Aaron Bowen added two hits
and one driven in. On Saturday, #4 Trinity came to Conway and
topped Hendrix 5-4 and 10-9. Sims had three hits each in game two,
with Sims connecting on two doubles. Radack and senior first
baseman Mark Vlaskamp each drove in three runs. The Warriors
finished the weekend up with a 9-8 loss to the Tigers on Sunday.
Sims once again had three hits and senior shortstop Kyle Raskin had
a three-run double. Sims assaulted the Warrior record book over the
weekend, tying or setting the career record for games played (156),
at bats (592), runs (156) and hits (203) and the season record for
runs (52). Hendrix, who has already secured the second seed out of
the West Division, will wrap up the regular season with a
three-game series at Southwestern, beginning
Saturday.
Millsaps finished 2-2 on the weekend including dropping
two out of three to Rhodes at Twenty Field. After defeating
Mississippi College on Tuesday, 10-9 to gain a leg up in the
Maloney Series, Millsaps came back by splitting a doubleheader with
the Lynx on Friday, taking Game One 7-2 before falling 8-3. Will
Edwards earned his seventh win of the season in the first game to
go to 7-2 while throwing his third complete game of the season. He
only gave up two hits on the afternoon while striking out eight as
he continues his stellar season. Wes Perkins was terrific going
3-for-4 with a home run, a double, and four RBI. Game Three proved
to be a wild one as each team came from behind to take the lead,
but a five run ninth inning by the Lynx proved to be the difference
as they knocked off Millsaps 14-12. Millsaps drops to 23-12 overall
and 8-3 in the SCAC after the loss. Millsaps must pick up two out
of three over Birmingham-Southern next weekend or a Rhodes loss to
Sewanee to clinch the No. 2 seed in the SCAC Tournament. The Majors
are back in action on Tuesday against Belhaven. Then they square
off against Birmingham-Southern over the weekend.
Oglethorpe went 3-4 during a very busy week. The Petrels
fell to nationally ranked Piedmont on Tuesday 9-4 before sweeping a
three game series from Rust on Thursday and Friday. Though the
weekend games against Birmingham-Southern on Anderson Field were
mostly close, the Petrels were swept by the Panthers. Oglethorpe is
now 10-24 on the season and will face nonconference foe Emory on
Wednesday before a weekend series at Centre.
Rhodes went 3-1 this week, defeating Hendrix
8-7 in Conway, Ark. on Tuesday before traveling to Jackson, Miss.
for a three game set with conference foe Millsaps. The Lynx dropped
the first game of the weekend 7-2, before bouncing back with a 8-3
victory in the second game on Saturday. Junior RHP Jackson Baker
earned his sixth victory of the season and junior RHP Stuart Voges
collected his second save of the year in the second game. On
Sunday, Rhodes came from behind to earn the 14-12 victory, as
senior RHP Brian Lainoff earned his second victory of the year,
pitching the final 2 2/3.. Junior C Matt Shaw lead the Lynx offense
with two home runs on the weekend, a three run shot in the second
game on Saturday and a two run home run on Sunday. Rhodes will take
on Christian Brothers University on Thursday before hosting Sewanee
in the final week of the regular season.
Sewanee posted a 3-2 record last week. Sewanee opened with
14-0 and 26-0 wins over Rust, before winning against Centre 26-10.
After that, the Tigers dropped two straight games to the Colonels.
In total, when the Tigers’ offense clicks, Sewanee wins. The
Tigers are 4-1 win Sewanee scores at least eight runs. This week,
Sewanee will play a single non-conference game against Tennessee
Temple before traveling to rival Rhodes this weekend.
After a pair of big wins last weekend
Southwestern had renewed life and confidence and
headed to Dallas with a chance to secure a spot in the SCAC
tournament. SU hosted McMurry on Tuesday afternoon. The Pirates
fell behind early but rallied back to pull within three heading
into the final inning. The Warhawks added one more run and held
SU's strong offense to win 11-7. Needing to win two of three to
wrap-up a spot in the post season, Southwestern wasn't able to pull
out the wins they needed. In game one on Saturday Dallas scored the
game winner in the bottom of the seventh to steal the contest out
of the Pirates' grasp. In game two Dallas jumped on top early. SU
posted three runs of their own in the second half of the game to
tie it up, but the Crusaders had the final say with a three run
eighth to win 6-3. With bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th of
game 3, Dallas drew a walk to bring home the game winning run and
take all three games over the weekend. Southwestern is 10-24 &
6-11 in SCAC play. They wrap-up the regular season with a two-game
series against Hendrix on Saturday.
After suffering through a tough week last week, No. 4
Trinity bounced back with a 4-0 record this week, which
included a three-game road sweep of Hendrix. With the wins, the
Tigers clinched the West Division’s top seed at the SCAC
Championship Tournament. Trinity opened the week with a 13-5 home
win over Texas Lutheran on Tuesday night, scoring nine unanswered
runs to complete the comeback win. Over the weekend, the Tigers
faced off against Hendrix for a battle of the top two teams in the
West. Trinity clinched the division with three one-run victories,
which also gave the Tigers a series sweep against the Warriors this
season. Ben Klimesh broke Trinity’s career record for wins in
game one against Hendrix, surpassing Trinity Hall of Famer Mickey
Mahler with his 29th victory. Another win would tie him for the
most for a Tiger pitcher in one season (12) – a record that
has stood for 40 years. Klimesh is also five strikeouts from tying
Trinity’s career record in that category, and six away from
tying the SCAC single season record of 132 strikeouts. Trinity
wraps up its final week of the regular season with four games,
beginning with a Tuesday afternoon matchup at Schreiner. The Tigers
will finish with a three-game SCAC series against Austin College on
Saturday and Sunday. Trinity went 4-1 against the ‘Roos
last season.
For the complete SCAC Baseball Diamond Weekly for
Week 11, click here.