Baseball Recap (Week 7) - Around the SCAC

Baseball Recap (Week 7) - Around the SCAC

SUWANEE, Ga. - Multiple pitching performances stood out during the week as Rhodes' Matt Burnick, Centre's Joe Nash and Trinity's Ben Klimesh all displayed dominant efforts on the mound during the week of March 12-18.

Burnick was named SCAC Pitcher of the Week after throwing a 9-inning complete game against Denison. He scattered six singles and struck out seven. Nash threw a complete game while earning a win over sixth-ranked Rowan. Nash struck out two and yielded just two earned runs. Klimesh rounded out the pitching gems by tallying 14 strikeouts in his eight innings of work in a 7-1 win over Austin College.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College (4-15, 1-7 SCAC) went 1-2 on the week beating LeTourneau in a non-conference matchup (7-6) before dropping two SCAC games to #3 Trinity (7-1/4-1) over the weekend. Against LeTourneau, John Schulmeister led the Kangaroos as he was 4 for 5 with five RBI and hit for the cycle in the win. The ‘Roos return to action on March 19 and 20 when they take on Manhattan Christian.

Birmingham-Southern
went 3-0 this week, extending its current win streak to eight games by sweeping Maryville (Tenn.) on the road in a three-game series on Saturday and Sunday. Junior Bruce Maxwell hit two home runs and led with four RBI this week. Seven different pitchers saw action, led by senior Jesse Meier who threw seven innings in game three while giving up only four hits and no runs. The pitching staff combined for a 1.12 ERA and a .207 allowed batting average. BSC returns home this week, facing Hendrix on Tuesday and Wednesday and Berry on Saturday and Sunday.

Centre
went 1-2 on the week in three games against top 20 programs. The Colonels fell 9-5 to No. 19 Thomas More Wednesday before heading south for their annual spring break trip. Against No. 6 Rowan at Piedmont on Saturday, Centre rallied from a 2-0 deficit early in the game to win 7-2 in its first win over a ranked opponent since a 4-2 win over Millsaps in 2009. One day later, the Colonels led 3-0 against No. 7 Piedmont, but fell 5-3 to the Lions. Centre, now 9-9 overall, will play No. 7 Piedmont again Monday, followed by a single game each Tuesday and Wednesday against Lagrange. The Colonels will then open its conference season Saturday and Sunday against SCAC preseason Eastern Division favorite Rhodes.

Dallas
(12-8, 3-5 SCAC) went 1-1 on the week. On Tuesday, the Crusaders fell 4-3 (F/9) to Texas-Dallas in Richardson, Texas. Dallas was able to snap a four game losing-skid when they took down Arlington Baptist College 12-1 (F/9) on Thursday at Rangers' Ballpark in Arlington. Notable fetes versus the Patriots included a successful triple-steal (Devin Arnold stole home) and a two RBI squeeze play. This week, the Crusaders will host Texas Wesleyan University before venturing out to San Antonio for a three-game series with Trinity University.

Hendrix
had a balanced attack of hitting and pitching and went 3-0 on the week. They recorded double digit hits and runs in all three games and allowed four or less runs in each. Also sixth-year head coach R.J. Thomas earned his 100th career win and needs just four more wins to pass Jim Holland’s program record of 103. Hendrix opened the week with a 14-2 victory over Ozarks at home on Wednesday. Senior first baseman Mark Vlaskamp went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and senior second baseman Clark Sims was 3-for-5 with a double. Hendrix returned to SCAC play with a 10-4 win against Southwestern on Saturday. Sims went 3-for-5 again and scored twice. Senior right fielder Nathan Harr extended his hitting streak to 17-games with a double. Hendrix ended the week with a 11-1 seven-inning win over the Pirates. Sims hit a triple, walked three times and scored four runs. Sophomore Nino Tutino earned the win by fanning three in 2.1 innings of relief. The Warriors are now 8-0 at home on the year and have won 11 of their last 12 games. Hendrix will travel to Birmingham-Southern for games on Tuesday and Wednesday, then return home for a three-game set against Austin beginning on Saturday. 

Millsaps got back on track this week as they took two out of three from LaGrange. Things didn’t start off well for Millsaps as their struggles continued in Game One of the three game series. The Panthers got three runs early on and added two more later in the game as they got a dominant performance from starter Robby Williams to defeat Millsaps 5-1. In Game Two, the duo of junior Wes Perkins and senior Ryan Zemke had a huge day offensively as they combined to drive in seven runs on the day to lead Millsaps to a 9-7 win over LaGrange on Saturday afternoon with the rubber match to come on Sunday. The Majors finished their weekend trip to Georgia with a bang as they pounded 17 hits on the day to cruise to a 10-0 win over the LaGrange Panthers. Seven Majors recorded multi-hit games as junior Will Elmore pitched a complete game gem to earn his first win of the season. The Majors clinch the series and improve to 12-8 on the season. They return home on Tuesday as they welcome in the Huntingdon Hawks to Twenty Field. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.

Oglethorpe
dropped its only two contests of the week, losing at home to Covenant 15-6 on Tuesday and in Orlando to Ramapo 21-6. On spring break, Oglethorpe will continue action this week against Amherst College and Washington and Jefferson before returning home for a weekend series with Millsaps. The Petrels are currently 6-10 on the season.

Rhodes
went 5-0 during the week of March 12– 18, playing all five games in the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. Rhodes opened the weekend with a 6-4 victory over #12 Heidelberg on Monday, then defeated Denison 6-0 on Tuesday. After taking Wednesday off, the Lynx defeated Utica and Ohio Wesleyan on Thursday, 10-2 and 6-3, respectively. The final game of the spring trip was a 2-1 victory over Wooster. Rhodes will open SCAC play this weekend as they travel to Danville, Ky. for a three game set against Centre.

Sewanee
opened last week with a pair of convincing victories at Rust College. The Tigers earned a 14-1 win and a 32-4 victory. Over the weekend, Sewanee opened its spring break trip in Florida at the Russ Matt Invitational. The Tigers dropped a 6-4 decision against New Jersey City University and then loss to Clarkson University by a score of 16-4. Individually, Blake Williams had four hits in five at bats against Rust. On the mound, freshman Marshall Ussery earned his first win while classmate Charles Warren also picked up a victory over the week. This week, the Tigers will continue their Florida swing with five more games.

Southwestern
dropped three games during Spring Break to fall to 6-17 on the season and 2-6 in the SCAC. Tuesday, SU ventured to Brownwood, Texas to take on Howard Payne for one game. The Pirates posted six hits in the contest but couldn't link them together as they were held scoreless to lose 4-0. Cruz Luna led with two hits while Cray Betts went 1-2 from the plate and drew two walks. Over the weekend Southwestern dove back into SCAC conference action, taking on Hendrix in Conway, AR for two games in two days. The Warriors' offense was hot and hammered out 21 hits to generate 21 runs. Once again Southwestern's bats were solid, pounding out 13 hits, but only generated five runs in the process. Nate Shipp had a strong weekend at the plate, posting a .600 batting average with three hits in five at bats including a triple and homerun. Southwestern looks to return to their winning ways as they return home to face Hardin Simmons University on Tuesday.

No. 1 Trinity
swept its SCAC road doubleheader at Austin College over the weekend, winning 7-1 and 4-1 over the ‘Roos to remain unbeaten in conference play. The Tigers improved to 19-3 with the victories, and the team has won six of its past seven games against Austin over the past two years. Starting pitcher Ben Klimesh became just the second player in SCAC history to reach 300 career strikeouts, after punching out 14 batters in Saturday’s win over Austin. It was the fifth time this season that Klimesh has struck out 13 or more batters in a game. Klimesh is currently third on Trinity’s all-time list, trailing SCAC record-holder Mike Frost (310) and Trinity Athletics Hall of Famer Paul Stanley (342). The Tigers will face Texas Lutheran University on Tuesday afternoon, then Trinity will continue its bid for the top seed in the SCAC West Division this weekend, hosting the University of Dallas in a three-game series.  The Tigers beat Dallas 12-1 and 5-0 in Irving, Texas, earlier this season.  Last year, Trinity split with Texas Lutheran, with each team winning at home.

For the complete SCAC Baseball Diamond Weekly for Week 7, click here.