SUWANEE, Ga. - Last week saw the opening of the first full conference schedule weekend with Rhodes, Southwestern and Trinity hosting four game series. Birmingham-Southern (4-0) remained the only undefeated team in conference play however DePauw, Millsaps and Southwestern all posted SCAC records of 3-1.

- AROUND THE SCAC -

Austin College went 2-4 on the week, including 1-3 in their weekend series with Southwestern and fell to 11-11 overall this year.  The ‘Roos split a pair of games with the University of Dallas, dropping their first game 5-4 before taking an 18-8 win in game two.  Austin College got the weekend off to a good start with a 9-4 win over Southwestern but fell in each of the next three, losing by scores of 8-7, 5-1 and 11-7.  Stefanie Faith had a big week at the plate, hitting .417 with two homers and 15 runs batted in and Heather Farquhar hit .500 with six RBI.  Carolyn Stone added five runs batted in and Suzanne Beltran hit .357 for the week and had a pair of doubles while scoring six runs.  Ashley Johnson improved to 6-1 on the season with her complete game victory over Southwestern, in which she pitched all nine innings of the extra inning affair while giving up four runs on 11 hits.

 Birmingham Southern went 3-3 this week, all on the road, dropping a doubleheader to in-state NAIA rival Spring Hill College, Tuesday, by the scores of 4-3 and 5-1, and going 3-1 at the Maryville College Classic, Saturday and Sunday, with two wins over the Scots (9-0, 3-0), a 5-2 win over Centre College, and a 6-1 loss to Ohio Northern. The Panthers are now 13-3 on the season, and led by freshmen Brittany Berkopec and Jordan Allen, who are both batting .500. BSC has out-scored its opponents 138-35 so far this season, out-hit them 156-85, and recorded more doubles (24-9), triples (4-1), home runs (14-4), and RBIs (121-29). The Panthers are also 33-of-37 on the basepaths and have a .979 fielding percentage as a team. The BSC pitching staff owns a 1.76 ERA with six shutouts, 126 strikeouts, and a .227 opponent batting average. The Panthers return home this weekend for the first time in a month, taking on conference rival Rhodes College, Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Centre took part in the Maryville College Classic on Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21.  On the first day of action the Colonels took on host Maryville College, where Centre fell 7-4.  In the second game of the day for Centre they took on Ohio Northern and the Colonels again couldn’t come away with a win as they lost 11-3.  During the second day of play Centre faced Ohio Northern.  The Colonels were able to tie the game at three a piece in the bottom of the fourth, but Ohio Northern scored the winning run in the top of the sixth to give them the 4-3 advantage.  Centre then took on conference rival Birmingham Southern in the fourth and final game.  The Panthers had a big fourth inning where they scored five runs and Centre was unable to recover as they lost 5-2.  In the four games Catelyn Teague had one run, three hits, and two RBI’s in 10 at bats.  Centre will host Spalding University in a double header on Wednesday, March 24 before taking on The University of the South and Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28.  Two games will be played on both Saturday and Sunday.

DePauw improved to 9-2 on the season after winning three of four games in the first SCAC series of the year at Rhodes. The Tigers split the opening doubleheader on Saturday as they won the opener, 7-2, and dropped the nightcap by a 6-5 score. The loss snapped DePauw's 33-game SCAC win streak which dated back to 2007. DePauw then won the opener on Sunday, 20-0, and the second game by a 4-1 score in five innings of a game shortened to darkness. The Tigers hit .313 for the week with Rachel MacBeth leading the way at .455 followed by Emma Minx at .444 and Jen Kosinski at .417. Kosinski scored eight runs, hit three homers and drove in 13 runs including a school-record seven in Sunday's  first game. Megan Soultz posted a 3-1 record with a 2.21 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 19 innings. With her win in Sunday's second game, Soultz moved into a tie for 10th place on the Division III all-time pitching victories list with 92.

Hendrix returned from its Spring Break road trip with an 11-7 overall record after winning six of its eight contests at the 2010 Rebel Spring Games. The Warriors went 3-1 in their last two days of the tournament with wins over Nazareth College, Framingham State University and Utica College, and then a loss to Montclair State University in the final game.  Hendrix opens the heart of its SCAC season at Austin College on March 27 and 28. Hendrix outscored its opponents 17-0 and improved to 5-1 at the Rebel Spring Games with a pair of victories on Tuesday afternoon.  The Warriors posted a 9-0 win over Nazareth in the opener and then earned an 8-0 mercy run win over Framingham State in the night cap. Hendrix first year RHP Ashley Halbert allowed just three hits and two free passes with seven strikeouts over 6.0 innings to improve to 4-0 on the year against Nazareth.  Halbert gave up just one hit in the first four frames and retired the side in the third. Herrera tossed a one-hitter with four strikeouts against Framingham State for her third victory of the year.  The Rams’ lone hit came from their first batter of the game, a single to center field.  Herrera retired the next 12 batters she faced until she walked the leadoff batter in the fifth inning. Herrera then went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run and sophomore RHP Liz Vaughan was a perfect 4-for-4 to lead the Warriors to a 7-2 win over Utica College, while junior DP Ellen Burr went 3-for-4 and senior C Christina Byler hammered two solo homers in a 6-4 loss to Montclair State on Thursday afternoon. Vaughan earned the victory after scattering 11 hits over 6.0 innings.  She allowed just one free pass and punched out five batters. The Warriors left nine runners on base and fell behind early after giving up four runs in the first inning against Montclair State.  The Red Hawks collected just five hits in the game with three coming in the opening frame. Halbert suffered her first loss of the year after 6.0 innings.  She allowed five free passes and just one strikeout.

Millsaps finished the week an impressive 7-1 by sweeping four games against Rust College and claiming three of four games on the road at Trinity University to open SCAC play. Last Monday, the Majors opened the week with a pair of easy wins over Rust by scores of 21-0 and 32-0. Kasey Thibodeaux and Brittney McAllister combined for a one-hit shutout in the opening game and all 13 hitters that saw action for Millsaps recorded at least one hit and one RBI on the day. Facing the Bearcats again on Tuesday, the story remained the same as the Majors dominated 18-1 and 12-0 to compete the series sweep. Millsaps hit four home runs in the two games, none bigger than a grand slam from Amanda Berry, her first career home run. Heading to San Antonio for a weekend series at Trinity, the Majors split the games on Friday claiming game one 5-0 before falling 7-4 in the second game. Thibodeaux pitched a complete game shutout in the conference opener for both teams and Millsaps scored all five runs in the third inning highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of Josie Matthews. In game two, Trinity took an early lead scoring two unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning but Majors got one in the second inning with a sacrifice fly by Emily Spicer to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Tigers added to their lead with two runs in the third to take a 4-1 lead and Millsaps could not recover falling 7-4. On Saturday, the Majors’ bats caught fire and the team quickly disposed of Trinity run-ruling the Tigers in each game after five innings. Jennifer McKinley claimed the league-lead in the SCAC in RBIs with six in the first game as Millsaps won 14-0 led by another complete game shutout by Thibodeaux. The Majors opened game two right where they left off in the first game scoring four runs in the top of the first to take an early 4-0 lead. Millsaps broke the game wide open with eight runs in the fourth for a comfortable 13-0 advantage. Trinity got on the scoreboard for the first time on the day with a run in the bottom of the fourth but could not get back into the game as the Majors claimed the victory, 15-3, by way of the mercy rule. Millsaps will return home for a make-up doubleheader with the University of West Alabama on Tuesday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m.

Rhodes wrapped up their Spring Break trip to Cocoa Beach with four more wins to start the week, finishing the trip with a 6-0 record. Rhodes knocked off Mt. Ida and Delaware Valley by scores of 12-4, then came back on Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep of Delaware Valley, winning the first game 5-1 and the second game 8-2. The Lynx returned to Memphis with an 18-4 record and riding a 15 game winning streak, the second longest in school history, and opened SCAC play with Depauw on Saturday.  After dropping the first game 7-2, Rhodes snapped Depauw’s 33-game SCAC winning streak with a thrilling 6-5, come from behind win.  With the Lynx trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the 7th, Jennifer Whatley led off with a single, and after Kelli Zomer walked, Megan Matthews singled to load the bases for junior Allison Conn.  Conn hammered a 1-1 pitch over the left centerfield wall for a walk-off grand slam and a 6-5 Lynx win. Depauw bounced back on wet and cold Sunday, pounding the Lynx by a score of 20-0 in game 1, then taking game two by a score of 4-1 in a game called after 5 innings due to darkness. Rhodes was led at the plate on the week by Allison Conn, who .586 (17 for 29) with a .724 on base percentage (21 for 29), including a triple, and 3 home runs, accounting for 11 runs scored and driving in 11 runs, including the walk-off grand slam against Depauw.  Rebekah Moore also had an impressive week, hitting .448 (13-29) with 3 doubles, 2 home runs and 12 RBI.  In a doubleheader against Delaware Valley, Moore went 5 for 7 with a double, 2 home runs and 5 RBI.  In the circle, Sara Bowen posted a 3-1 record and 1.96 ERA, giving up just 24 hits and striking out 33 hitters in 25 innings pitched. 

Sewanee did not play. The Tigers (0-4) are not scheduled to hit the diamond again until a pair of SCAC doubleheaders at Centre College on March 27 and 28.

After a strong showing in Arizona, Southwestern returned home to open up SCAC action. Austin College came in with visions of besting the Pirates to start the conference but Southwestern overpowered and prevailed, taking three of four. Errors once again plagued SU in game one as winds gusted around Taylor Sanders field. After forcing extra innings SU allowed five 'Roo runs in the top of the ninth and couldn't recover to fall 9-4 in the opener. Austin College picked up where they left off, posting four runs to start game two but the Pirates slowly worked their way back and forced the game even at the end of the sixth as night fell on Georgetown. The game resumed on Sunday and AC scored one in the seventh but SU posted two, the final run on a game winning single by Bre Lewis. With momentum in hand SU cruised to the final two wins, posting runs easily, winning 5-1 and 11-7. With the wins SU improves to 15-6 overall and 3-1 in the conference. They hit the road for a four game series with Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. over the weekend.

 Trinity played six games over the past week, splitting a mid-week doubleheader with Midland Lutheran, but losing three out of four games in their SCAC series against Millsaps. Trinity won 10-0 in its opening game last week, but then fell 12-3 in the second half of the doubleheader. On Friday, opening up the SCAC series, the Tigers lost 5-0 before bouncing back for another split with a 7-4 victory.  Saturday, Trinity lost both ends of the doubleheader as Millsaps won three out of four over the weekend. Trinity will host four more games this week, taking on Simon Fraser on Tuesday, then hosting the University of Dallas in a pair of games on Saturday afternoon.  The Tigers resume SCAC play on April 2-3 at Austin College.

To view the entire Fast Pitch Weekly for week five, click here.