LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The SCAC baseball season opened up this past weekend with five of the seven SCAC teams taking the field for the first time in 2015.
Austin College
The 'Roos did not play this past weekend. They will open up their season on Friday, February 13th, against Arlington Baptist College in Sherman.
Centenary College
The Gents opened up their season this past weekend in San Antonio, going 1-2 over the weekend. In the opener, a 14-6 win over UT-Tyler, Centenary received a strong offensive outing and pitching efforts from starter Holden Novak and reliever Grant Debevec. Novak notched the win on the bump allowing three run on six hits in 5.0 innings of work. Novak fanned five in the effort. Michael Schimpf paced the squad's effort at the dish going 3-for-4 with two RBI and four runs scored. The sophomore was one of six hitters with multi-hitting performances. Christian Sebastien led the team in RBI with four, including three off a homerun in the eighth inning to ice the contest. Carson finished with three RBI as Quintanilla added two RBI to join Schimpf with multiple-RBI. In a 7-6 loss to George Fox, four Gents logged multiple-hit performances led by Graham's three hits. Zapata, Quintanilla and Cole Lavergne each added two hits each in the contest. The following day, Centenary fell to Concordia (TX) 4-3. The Gents amassed nine hits on the day as Cole Lavergne guided the offense going 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored. Christian Sebastien joined the sophomore with a multiple-hit performance going 2-for-4 with a RBI. Centenary returns to action on Friday, Feb. 13 as it travels to East Texas Baptist for a three-game, weekend series. First pitch on Friday is slated for 6 p.m.
University of Dallas
The Crusaders opened up two weekends ago, earning a split with Sul Ross State, taking game one 3-0, before falling in game two, 3-0. Dallas prevailed in the first contest of the twin bill, with five different players contribute to the team's nine hits. Alex Stack boasted the Crusader bats with a perfect 3-for-3 effort at the dish. Trevor Keele also notched a multi-hit game with a pair of his in three at bats. One of the first baseman's knocks was the UD's only extra base hit counting for a double. Denton Martin (1-0) made his first start on the bump going the distance in the seven inning affair. The native of Denton, Texas, limited the Red and White to a pair of hits while walking one and fanning 10 in the shutout. Game two went in favor of the Lobos from Sul Ross State University evening the series 1-1. Dallas was outhit in this contest 11-3 and could not take advantage of four errors by SRSU. Nolan Kipp, junior Rene Vargas Jr., and McRoberts combined for the trio of base knocks that were all singles for UD. Next up, Dallas travels to Frisco, Texas for a neutral site meeting against Hardin-Simmons University at Dr. Pepper Ballpark on Feb. 13.
Schreiner University
Hayden Ray gave up one run and scattered six hits in seven innings to lead Schreiner Baseball to a 3-1 opening day win over Sul Ross State on Friday afternoon. The Mountaineers would split the following day with the Lobos to go to 2-1 on the young season. Connor Ver Schuur, Hagen Fryrear, Brad Holmes and Jayme Kidder each had a pair of hits in the game. Holmes finished with a pair of RBIs on the day while Ver Shuur, Fryrear, and Ryan Martin all had doubles. Jayme Kidder went six strong innings, allowing one earned run on five hits and also drove in a pair of runs in Schreiner's 5-2 win over Sul Ross State in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. The Lobos took advantage of Mountaineer pitching in the finale for a 17-6 win to avoid the sweep. Carreon had two of Schreiner's six hits in the first game of the doubleheader and scored twice as did Holmes. Brady Tumlinson and Trevor Wren each had an RBI. In the finale, Martin had three RBIs and Kidder had two. Schreiner travels to Jackson, Miss. for its next contest at the Millsaps Tournament. On Friday evening, Schreiner squares off with Birmingham Southern at 6:30 pm. Two more games are set for Saturday.
Southwestern University
The Pirates did not play this past weekend. They will open up their season on Tuesday, February 10th, against Howard Payne University in Brownswood.
Texas Lutheran University
The Bulldogs opened the season with three wins at home this past weekend. Texas Lutheran opened up its season with a bang, scoring nine runs in the first two innings of 2015 on its way to a 12-1 season-opening win over Whittier College on Friday night under the lights at Katt-Isbel Field. Four of the nine runs scored were driven in by Lincoln Baylor including a bases-clearing, three-run triple in the first inning. Baylor finished with five RBIs on the night. As good as the offense was, Aaron Aleman was just as good, if not better. The senior tossed six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on just two hits. He struck out a career-high 10 and gave up five walks during his outing. The following night, Tony Gennusa's eighth-inning triple drove in the winning run in Texas Lutheran's come-from-behind 8-6 win over Texas-Tyler on Friday night, capping off a two-win day after the Bulldogs defeated Whittier 10-0 earlier. Gennusa finished the game 4-for-5 with three runs and the all-important RBI. He and Holden Bryant combined to go 7-for-9 from the plate with five runs between them. Nathan Malinovsky was credited with the win over the Patriots while Aaron Milone earned the save. The Bulldogs have another non-conference tournament on tap for next weekend. They will travel to Tyler, Texas to take part in the Clements Fluid Classic on Feb. 13-14. They will face off against Louisiana College, LeTourneau and the same Patriots team they just beat in Seguin.
#16 Trinity University
The 16th-ranked Tiger baseball team opened its 2015 campaign with a 9-7 victory over the University of Texas-Tyler on Friday afternoon followed by wins over Whittier and George Fox the following day to go to 3-0 on the season. Drew Butler went 2-4 with four RBI, picking up a double in addition to his base-clearing homer. Austin Singer batted 3-4 with two RBI and scored two runs. Jeremy Wolf also picked up two RBI, and Colin Serkowski's two hits consisted of a double and a triple. A two homerun outing from Singer proved to be the difference against George Fox, as he drove in four runs in the victory. Carter McEachern also drove in a pair of runs, while Butler smacked two hits, and Serkowski scored twice. Butler added four more RBI to his day against Whittier, giving him nine in the first three games. Serkowski scored three more runs, picking up a hit to go with two walks. Brody Fehmel went 2-4 with two runs scored, while Jeremy Wolf also had a pair of hits. Trinity played 19 different players - not including the three Tiger pitchers that came into the game. Gray actuallly came on for the second consecutive game, striking out the side in the ninth to finish off the win. Nick Griffith (1-0) earned the win, giving up one run on three hits, and striking out six over five innings of work. Matt Tindall pitched three scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits, and striking out a trio of Poets hitters. Up next for the Tigers will be a three-game weekend away from home, as Trinity will face off against tough competition in East Texas. Trinity begins with a game at LeTourneau in Longview, Texas, on Friday night. The Tigers then face Louisiana College at Texas-Tyler on Saturday afternoon, followed by the weekend finale against Texas-Tyler on Sunday.