SUWANEE, Ga. - After starting the season 0-3, Birmingham-Southern has rattled off five consecutive wins to get to 5-3. Trinity also upped its win streak to five while Hendrix (four straight) and Millsaps (three straight) have also extended win streaks of their own over the past week.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College went 1-2 on the week including
splitting a two-game SCAC series with Southwestern. The ‘Roos
dropped a 3-2 decision to LeTourneau to start the week before
taking the first game between Southwestern, 5-2, and losing the
second one to the Pirates 14-10. Austin College is now 2-10 overall
and 1-3 in SCAC play. The ‘Roos return to action on Tuesday
hosting Texas-Tyler before hosting an SCAC two-game series with
Hendrix on Saturday and Sunday.
Birmingham-Southern swept a three-game series from
Covenant this weekend at home, defeating the Scots 3-2 on Friday
night and then 11-0 in seven innings and 6-4 in a Saturday
doubleheader. Junior Bruce Maxwell led the Panthers over the three
games, going 4-of-8 (.500) with three doubles, a home run, and six
RBI. Seven different BSC pitchers made appearances, led by freshman
right-hander Blake Stevens who gave up only one hit in six innings
and struck out seven batters. BSC is at home again on Tuesday
against LaGrange before traveling Huntingdon for a Saturday
doubleheader in Montgomery. The Panthers will return home for a
single game against the Hawks on Sunday.
Centre dropped five of six games in its opening week. The
Colonels fell 6-3 and 6-0 to Spalding on the road to open the
season and then split a doubleheader with Earlham (5-4 loss and 1-0
win in 9 innings), and dropped both games Sunday against Otterbein
(11-3, 8-6). Centre needed extra innings to defeat Earlham for its
first win of the season. Two Colonels’ pitchers allowed only
three hits and struck out nine to help secure the first win of the
season. Centre trailed 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning in its
second game against Otterbein, but had runners at second and third
with nobody out. A line drive was ruled a catch and turned into a
triple play to end the threat. Centre will next host Transylvania
Thursday and then Calvin and Defiance on the weekend.
Dallas (9-2, 2-2 SCAC) went 1-2 on the week. On Tuesday at
Crusader Field, Dallas was able to fend off the Texas-Dallas, 12-8,
despite the Comets producing an eight-run seventh inning on a two
out error. Sophomore first baseman Andrew Bossert had a three-run
home run in the sixth inning. Unbeaten, Dallas then turned their
attention to Trinity for two weekend games in Irving. The Crusaders
were handed their first losses of the season by the Tigers on a
12-1 defeat on Saturday and a 5-0 decision on Sunday.
Hendrix went 4-0 last week, topping Ozarks 19-11 on the
road on Tuesday and sweeping Webster at home in a three-game
series. Against Ozarks, Hendrix recorded the third most runs in
school history to go with 19 hits on the day. Sophomore left
fielder Collin Radack went 4-for-6 with a grand slam and two runs
scored in the game. The Warriors opened their home slate on
Saturday, by defeating Webster 4-3 in 10 innings and 9-5 in seven
innings. In the bottom of the 10th of game one, Sims hit a lead-off
triple and scored on a Mark Vlaskamp sacrifice fly to win the game.
Sophomore Justin Mosbey earned the win by fanning six and allowing
two hits, an unearned run and a walk over 4.2 innings of relief. In
the nightcap, Hendrix overcame a 5-0 deficit and put up eight runs
in the bottom of the sixth to win 9-5. The Warriors finished off
the Gorloks 12-3 in the series finale, racking up 14 hits and
allowing just six. This week, the Warriors will take on Ozarks on
the road again Tuesday and return to SCAC play with two games at
Austin College on Saturday and Sunday.
Millsaps took a wild road trip in Georgia on
Saturday. They started the afternoon in Atlanta as they came from
behind to defeat York College, 7-4 . Millsaps then defeated
LaGrange, 17-10 and then beat Emory on Sunday, 6-1. In the first
game freshman West Hammond picked up his second win of the season.
Against LaGrange, Millsaps scored runs in second, third, fourth,
and fifth innings to jump out to a 12-10 lead. Then, Doucet came
into the game and shut the door on the Panthers as Millsaps pulled
away for the 17-10 win. Gates finished the game going 5-for-6 with
two RBIs and a home run while Shumaker went 3-for-7 with a double
and two RBIs. Sophomore Wes Perkins, Zemke, and Doucet all added
multi-hit games as well. Millsaps improved to 8-2 overall and won
its third straight game. The Majors are back in action on Tuesday,
as they take on the Mississippi College at Twenty Field in the
second game of the Maloney Series. The Majors are 1-0 in the series
while MC is 0-1.They then hit the road on the weekend as they will
travel to Piedmont College for their Invitational.
Oglethorpe went 1-2 this past week, winning at LaGrange
(W, 14-5) on Tuesday before being swept in a home doubleheader by
Bates College (L GM1, 7-5; L GM2, 6-0) on Saturday. Against
Lagrange, the Petrels plated 8 runs, all after two outs had been
recorded, in the fourth inning to break the game open. Cory Leff,
Casey Tuttle and Hunter Riley each drove in two runs apiece to led
the Oglethorpe offense to victory. In game one against Bates on
Saturday, Oglethorpe rallied from a 6-run deficit but could not
quite catch the Bobcats en route to a 7-5 loss. Batters three
through seven in the Oglethorpe lineup each collected a hit and an
RBI in the loss. In Saturday’s game two, Oglethorpe was
stifled by the Bobcat pitching on their way to being shutout 6-0.
The Petrels are now 2-5 on the season and will be back in action
Wednesday when they face Piedmont College ion Demorest,
Ga.
Rhodes went 2-2 this week, playing all four games in the
Rawlings Classic hosted by Emory and LaGrange. Rhodes opened the
weekend with a 12-5 loss to Emory on Friday afternoon, before
rebounding with a 15-2 victory over LaGrange on Saturday. Rhodes
then split on Sunday, defeating LaGrange for the second time in two
days, 7-5, then fell to York (Pa.) 10-8. The Lynx offense was led
by sophomore OF Walker McWherter who hit .750 (9-12) on the week,
with 2 doubles, 5 runs scored, 5 RBIs, and got hit by a pitch.
McWherter had a .833 on base percentage and slugged .917. Junior SS
Lynden Pindling hit .438 (7-16) with 2 doubles, 5 runs scored, 3
RBIs, walked twice and stole a base. On the mound, senior RHP
Austin Carden needed just 58 pitches to collect his third victory
of the season in as many attempts. Carden worked 5 innings against
LaGrange on Saturday, scattering 5 hits, 1 run, struck out 1, and
did not allow a walk. Junior RHP Matt Burnick improved to 2-0 on
the year as he worked 6.1 innings against LaGrange on Sunday.
Burnick scattered 9 hits, allowed 2 earned runs, and stuck out 2 in
his first collegiate start. Rhodes will return to action this
weekend at home with a three game set against defending national
champions and the No.1 team in the country, Marietta
College.
Sewanee was dropped all three games to Spalding on
Saturday and Sunday. The Tigers lost 6-4 on Saturday before coming
up short 6-4 and 4-3 on Sunday. The losses drop Sewanee to 2-3 on
the season. The Tigers return to action March 3-4 hosting Earlham
for three games.
Southwestern opened SCAC play this weekend with
a two-game series against Austin College. Saturday, SU posted just
as many hits as the 'Roos, 10, but couldn't convert base runners
into runs as they fell 5-2. The Pirates posted the first run of the
game in the bottom of the first, but AC was able to score
consistently throughout the game. The bats came alive on Sunday
afternoon for both teams as a combined 24 runs were scored in the
single nine inning game. Austin College scored one to start off the
game, but Southwestern stormed ahead with a three run bottom half
of the inning. After scoreless second the 'Roos scored one more
before the Pirates unleashed their offensive power to score six in
the third, one in the fourth and four in the fifth to take the
14-10 victory. With the split Southwestern moves to 4-10 on the
season and 1-1 in the SCAC. They return to non-conference action on
Tuesday afternoon as they host Mary Hardin-Baylor before returning
to conference play hosting the University of Dallas on Saturday and
Sunday for a two-game series.
No. 9 Trinity went 3-0 this week, playing all of its games
on the road, and including a two-game SCAC weekend series at
previously unbeaten University of Dallas. The Tigers opened the
week with a 5-3 win at Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday evening, then
opened the series at Dallas with a lopsided 12-1 win on Saturday.
Ben Klimesh struck out a career-high 14 batters in the game. Sunday
afternoon, Ryan Lucero pitched his second straight shutout to beat
Dallas 5-0, striking out 12 batters. Trinity will have off during
the week, but will be back in action with a three-game weekend
series against #11 Chapman (Calif.). The two West Region
powers will kick off the series with a game on Friday night (7
p.m.), followed by afternoon games on Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday
(Noon).
For the complete SCAC Baseball Diamond Weekly for
Week 4, click here.