Baseball Recap (Week 3) - Around the SCAC

Baseball Recap (Week 3) - Around the SCAC

SUWANEE, Ga. - Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play began this past weekend as Dallas and 22nd-ranked Trinity each swept their respective two-game series. The Crusaders beat Austin College 15-0 and 14-4 while Trinity beat Hendrix 7-2 and 10-0.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College fell to the University of Dallas in both halves of its SCAC opening doubleheader over the weekend, dropping a 15-0 decision in game one before falling 14-4 in game two. In game one the ‘Roos took a 1-0 game into the fourth before the Crusaders exploded for 10 runs over the next two innings to blow the game open. Austin College was unable to get much going offensively in the game, mustering just three hits in the loss. In game two the ‘Roos found themselves in a 6-0 hole after one inning despite giving up only two hits in the inning, and they were unable to overcome that deficit despite a monster game from Tyler Appelquist, who went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a homer and three RBI. Appelquist hit .714 for the weekend.

No. 25
Birmingham-Southern went 2-1 this week at the Methodist University Tournament. On Friday they split, losing to Lynchburg, 7-4, but then defeating Methodist 10-5, and on Saturday defeating Frostburg State 6-3. Against Lynchburg, junior Stephen Denton led with two hits and junior Bruce Maxwell led with two RBI. Against Methodist, senior Jon Walker and sophomore Austin Justice led with three hits each, and Walker led with four RBI. Then against Frostburg State, Denton led with four hits and two RBI. The Panthers open their home schedule this weekend, hosting a three-game series against Covenant with a single game on Friday at 4 p.m. and two games on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Centre will open its season Tuesday, February 21 when the y travel to Spalding. The Colonels are coming off a 13-22 (6-9 SCAC) 2011 season. Centre’s home opener is scheduled for Saturday, February 25 in a double-header with Earlham.

Dallas
(8-0, 2-0 SCAC)) went 2-0 in SCAC play during the week, sweeping Austin College in Sherman, Texas. The two league wins are the first-ever SCAC baseball wins for the Crusaders. The Crusaders won both games (15-0 and 14-4) in run rule contests. Dallas was led by junior right fielder Adam Farris who hit .444 on the week with four RBI, a double, a triple and four runs scored. Junior right-hander Michael Byers pitched five innings in the first game and struck out two and earned the win. Dallas returns to action on Wednesday traveling to Texas-Dallas before entertaining Trinity for a two-game series at home.

Hendrix
opened up SCAC play with a pair of losses at #22 Trinity on Sunday. The Tigers took the seven-inning opener 7-2, then run-ruled the Warriors 10-0 in seven innings in game two. In game one, senior right fielder Nathan Harr had a RBI-double and senior second baseman Clark Sims recorded a run-scoring triple. In game two, Collin Radack, Kyle Raskin and Harr each had a hit. With his hit, Harr extended his hitting streak to six games. Hendrix will face the University of the Ozarks on the road on Tuesday and host Webster in a three-game series on Saturday and Sunday for the Warriors’ first home games of the season.

Millsaps traveled to Ozarks to compete in the Ozarks Baseball Classic on Friday-Sunday. The Majors used great offense as they scored 31 runs on the weekend to take three wins. On day one, Millsaps used four runs in the first two innings and great pitching to pull away with the 9-1 victory over Westminster. Freshman West Hammond earned his first career win of the season while the Blue Jay's Tyler Ten Eyck took the loss. Hammond pitched six full innings while allowing no runs off three hits and striking out three. The Majors returned the next day with a thrilling, come-from-behind 11-10 victory over Simpson College. Millsaps used five runs in the eighth to complete the comeback as Zander Romano picked up the win. On the final day, the Majors used a five run sixth inning to pull away and rode the arm of junior Will Edwards (1-1) to defeat the home standing Ozarks and sweep the weekend.

Oglethorpe
suffered three defeats this past week, losing at Huntingdon (L, 7-1) before falling to Piedmont (L, 7-1) and LaGrange (L, 6-1) on successive dates in games played on Coolray Field, home of the Gwinnett Braves. Oglethorpe struggled to get the offense going, producing just three runs in twenty-seven innings throughout the week. While the starting pitching has been solid at the outset of the season, it’s fielding and timely hitting that have held the Petrels back. Oglethorpe will look to get back into the win column this week with a game at LaGrange on Tuesday and doubleheader versus Bates College on Saturday.

Rhodes
took two of three games against 2011 NCAA regional participant Wabash over the weekend. The Lynx won the first two games by scores of 4-3 and 5-2, respectively before dropping the series finale, 11-10. With the wins, the Lynx improve to 5-2 on the season. Rhodes returns to action on February 24-26 traveling to Georgia to take on Emory, LaGrange and York (Pa.).

In their opening weekend, Sewanee rode a pair of strong mound performances by veteran pitchers Jacob Simpson and Lee Schurlknight to sweep a doubleheader from visiting Johnson University on Saturday. The Tigers took Game 1 by the score of 15-2 and completed the sweep with an 8-0 shutout in the nightcap. Simpson pitched five scoreless innings, allowed no hits, struck out eight and walked only two batters to pick up the win in the first game. Schurlknight, the winner in Game 2, gave up no runs on no hits, struck out 13 and allowed three walks in five innings of work. Offensively, Sewanee pounded out 25 hits.

Despite the soggy conditions in central Texas Southwestern was busy this week, hosting four games at home this week. Tuesday Southwestern hosted soon-to-be SCAC opponent Schreiner for a double header. The Pirates rode a power surge, courtesy of Jeff Glasgow and Nate Shipp, to a pair of 5-4 victories. Glasgow went 3-3 in the opener, with two doubles, a homerun and drove in four runs while Shipp led in game two with a three-run shot over the fence in left center to jump start the 'Bucs. Friday, Southwestern was able to sneak in a game with Texas Lutheran before the rains came. Matt Stuart was sensational on the mound, throwing a complete game and allowing only one earned run while seven different Pirates had hits and six scored to support. SU took the game 8-1. After a deluge that forced a reschedule and relocation of Saturday's games, Southwestern once again faced Texas Lutheran at home for one nine inning game. After a strong start the Pirates led throughout most of the game, but gave up five runs in the ninth to lose 6-4 to the Bulldogs. After the week Southwestern sits at 3-8 on the season. They hit the road once again to face Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene on Tuesday before returning home to open SCAC action with a two-game series with Austin College on Saturday and Sunday.

No. 22 Trinity
went 4-1 over the past week, taking two out of three mid-week games from Centenary (La.), and sweeping a two-game SCAC weekend series against Hendrix. The Tigers opened the week by sweeping a doubleheader from Centenary in dramatic fashion, winning 10-8 and 6-5 on walk-off home runs. Centenary avoided a similar fate on Wednesday, though, coming from behind to steal a 6-5 win in the series finale. Trinity then turned its attention to the SCAC openers against Hendrix, and despite weather-related issues that delayed the start of the series, the Tigers still managed to win 7-2 and 10-0 to close out the weekend. Trinity will play three more games this week, beginning with a Tuesday afternoon tilt with Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Tigers will then continue SCAC play against the University of Dallas, which is undefeated heading into this week, and tied with Trinity atop the SCAC West Division.

For the complete SCAC Baseball Diamond Weekly for Week 3, click here.

Happy Holidays from the SCAC!
December 25, 2011 Happy Holidays from the SCAC!