SUWANEE, Ga. - With an unblemished 4-0 mark, the Rhodes College Lynx won the 2009 Rawlings Classic hosted by Oglethorpe University and Emory University during the weekend of February 20-22. The final two SCAC teams, Centre College and DePauw University, got their seasons started and the Millsaps College Majors continued its best start to a season since 2002.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin went 2-2 on the week, stepping out of conference to play Northwood University last Tuesday before hosting Hendrix in a three game series. The ‘Roos jumped out to a 7-0 lead after one against Northwood but need a two run single in the fifth by Matt Finke to hold on for a 10-8 win. Jordan Robison tripled and had three RBI in the win, and Scooter Merritt was 3-for-4. Against Hendrix the ‘Roos opened the series with a tough 11-10 loss, storming back from a big deficit to tie things at 8 before Hendrix pulled away in the end. Drew McAdoo went 3-for-5 with three doubles in the loss. In the second game, the ‘Roos took advantage of seven Hendrix errors and 12 walks by the Warrior pitching staff to get out to a 16-2 lead and would cruise to a 16-5 win. In the final game of the weekend Will Chermak took a no-hitter into the sixth and finished with a complete game in which he allowed just one earned run on three hits while striking out six, but five Austin College errors proved too costly for the ‘Roos in a 4-3 loss. 

Birmingham-Southern (5-2) rolled up 42 runs this weekend on their way to a series sweep of Spalding (1-5). In game one, the Panthers used an eight-run fifth inning to 10-run the visiting Golden Eagles, 15-4. BSC continued their hot-hitting into Saturday, scoring in all but four innings over both games of the double-header. The Panthers took game two 14-2 in seven and game three 13-0. The Panthers prodigious run-production in the series saw every kind of offensive output, almost. BSC scored all 42 runs without a single home run. The Panther defense was equally strong. BSC hurlers allowed just 11 hits on the weekend and the fielders committed just three errors in three games. BSC is on the road for its next game, traveling to take on Huntingdon College, Friday, Feb. 27, at 4 p.m. The Panthers then have a big home weekend, playing Wabash College and Huntingdon at home on Saturday, Feb. 28, and Sunday, March 1.

Centre opened its 2009 season Saturday with a doubleheader against Transylvania. On a windy and cold day, the Colonels fell 18-3 in the opening game and then lost 5-2 in a rain/snow shortened game. The loss in game one was the first loss in a season-opening game in the last five years for Centre. Sophomore first baseman Steven Proctor had a strong day going 5 for 6 in the two games with two doubles, two runs batted in and a run scored. He also reached base twice on hit by pitches. Centre returns to action next weekend to host Franklin College in a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday.

DePauw opened the 2009 season with a doubleheader split at Maryville (Tenn.) College. The Tigers opened with a 2-1 and dropped the nightcap, 11-8. The Tigers were held hitless for the first 4 2/3 innings, but rallied with single runs in the fifth and sixth for the win. Starter Brad Gerlach picked up the win after allowing just one run and seven hits over five innings. J.B. Blanchard picked up the save in his first collegiate game after pitching two innings of scoreless relief. In the nightcap, Jon Newman collected three hits and drove in four runs, but it wasn't enough. Rob McPike and Drew Holy had two hits apiece. The Tigers' Sunday twin bill at Maryville was canceled due to weather.

Hendrix won its three-game series at Austin College over the weekend, 2-1. Hendrix split its doubleheader on Saturday with a 14-12 win in the opener and a 16-5 loss in the nightcap before winning the final game of the set 4-3. The Warriors improve to 4-6 on the year and 2-2 in conference play. Hendrix junior SS Matt Gaglio and first year 3B Kyle Raskin both went 3-for-5 with one run scored to lead the Warriors in the first game. Gaglio picked up a double and a solo home run, while Raskin collected two RBI in the contest. Hendrix P Drew Gustafson improved to 3-0 with the win and Geoff Lomax picked up his first save. Teddy Smoyer pitched a gem and the Warrior offense took advantage of five Austin errors to grab another big win on Sunday. Smoyer walked none and fanned two batters in 6.0 innings and allowed just four hits and two runs (both earned). Geoff Lomax earned the save for the Warriors.

No. 16 Millsaps is off to its best start since the 2002 season after a 4-0 week, including a three-game sweep on the road at Southwestern. Four starters hit over .460 on the week, led by sophomore Will Hawkins who was 9-of-18 with 14 RBIs, seven runs, three doubles and a home run. In a non-conference affair at Mississippi College on Tuesday, Millsaps exploded for 20 runs off 15 hits for a lopsided 20-3 victory to get the week started off right. They then followed with 13-6, 11-7 and 8-3 victories at Southwestern behind some powerful bats and timely pitching. The pitching staff combined for a 3.94 ERA and a save on the week The Majors will take the week off before traveling to Memphis for the annual Rhodes College Classic Feb. 27 - March 1, taking on Emory, LaGrange and host Rhodes.

Oglethorpe went 1-3 this past weekend in the Rawlings Southern Classic. On Friday, they fell to Ferrum 12-1,  and topped Franklin 19-12. In the winning nightcap, Oglethorpe pounded out 23 hits in the victory over Franklin. The onslaught was lead by Stephen Archer, who had not been starting recently for the Petrels. However, he got the start at designated hitter in the game against Franklin, and certainly made the most of it, going an incredible 6-for-6 with five doubles (which tied a Division III record) and four runs scored. Andy Farrey added an excellent 4-for-6 line with a home run, a stolen base, three RBIs and three runs scored. On Saturday the Petrels fell to York, 12-7 and on Sunday were downed by N.C. Wesleyan, 12-0 to finish off the weekend. The Petrels are back in action this Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. when they face LaGrange on Anderson Field.

Rhodes went 5-0 on the week including going 4-0 at the Rawlings Classic hosted by Emory University. Rhodes won the Rawlings Classic by defeating Piedmont 10-7 on Friday, Greensboro College 9-3 on Saturday, and Emory 6-1 and N.C. Wesleyan 10-8 on Sunday. Rhodes was the only the only undefeated at the Rawlings Classic. The Lynx also defeated Rust on Tuesday afternoon, 11-1. The Lynx offense was led by Senior RF Mason Mosby who hit .588 on the week (10-17) with a double, 6 runs, 7 RBIs, 4 walks, and stole 5 bases. Sophomore 3B Brent Lindsey hit .571 (8-14) on the week with 2 doubles, a homerun, 5 runs scored, 8 RBIs, 5 walks, and stole 2 bases. Sophomore DH/1B Matt Gilbert went 4-12 (.333) with a homerun, 2 doubles, 3 runs, 6 RBIs, 4 walks and stole 4 bases. Sophomore 1B Brogan Jayne went 7-17 (.412) with 6 runs scored, drove in one, walked once and stole a base.  Senior Andy Holt had his best pitching performance of the year going 6 strong innings against Emory limiting them to 4 hits, no runs, struck out 4 and walked one. Rhodes will host the Rhodes College Classic this weekend against Millsaps, Emory, and LaGrange College.

Sewanee went 1-1 at LaGrange this weekend to go to 1-3 so far in 2009. In Sunday's win, Sewanee trailed 14-10 going into the ninth and earned the win with a 10-run inning on nine hits and three walks. Sewanee head coach Scott Baker is just three victories shy of the all-time win record at Sewanee (106) held by legendary coach Shirley Majors. Senior Trey Axe was the standout for the Tigers, going 8-11 on the weekend, including a perfect 5-5 performance on Saturday. Axe is batting .722 so far this year. The Tigers will host Blackburn this weekend.

Southwestern dropped four contests this week, including their conference opener against Millsaps over the weekend. Tuesday, the Pirates traveled to Texas Lutheran and fell 14-6 on a rainy afternoon. Junior centerfielder Todd Boone was 3-5 with two runs on the afternoon. Nate Shipp went 2-2 with 1 run and 1 RBI. Over the weekend, Southwestern dropped all three match-ups with Millsaps, falling 13-6, 11-7 and 8-3. In game one, senior Wes Willis took the loss, allowing seven runs (four earned) on five hits, walking three and striking out one in three innings. Senior catcher Michael Murphy was 1-2 with one run and two RBI's. Sophomore Brantley Freeman had the loss in game two, allowing nine runs (7 earned), on 7 hits, 6 walks and 3 strike outs in 6.2 innings of work. Murphy continued his strong batting, going 4-5 with three runs and 1 RBI. Sophomore first baseman Kyle Belski also had a strong showing at the plate going 3-5 with 3 RBI's and 1 run. Sophomore Chris Churchwell was picked up the loss in Sunday's game even with a solid performance. He allowed three run (two earned) on 6 hits, 2 walks and five strikeouts in seven innings. Murphy went 3-5 and Belski was 2-4 with one RBI. The Pirates travel to UT-Dallas on Tuesday and Austin College on Saturday and Sunday.  They are now 6-8 overall and 0-3 in conference action.

Trinity finished the week with a 3-1 record, following a mid-week loss at Mary Hardin-Baylor by sweeping a three-game weekend series at Sul Ross State University. Trinity lost 16-5 on Tuesday afternoon, dropping the team to 1-6 to start the season. Over the weekend, though, the team turned things around in a big way, scoring 10 or more runs in each of the three games against Sul Ross. Trinity won 13-5 on Friday, 18-9 on Saturday, and 10-7 on Sunday to sweep the series. Four Trinity players hit .400 or better over the week, and the team hammered out 19 doubles, a triple, and five home runs. Nick Pappas hit for the cycle in Saturday's game, going 4-6 with four runs scored and three RBI. Pappas had a ninth-inning double to complete the cycle. Evan Bronson was 1-0 with an ERA of 0.00 last week, tossing seven innings of one-hit ball in the series opener against Sul Ross. Bronson struck out 11 and walked three in the victory, which was the 17th in his career at Trinity. Trinity will travel to Schreiner on Tuesday afternoon, followed by a two-game weekend series in SCAC play against Hendrix.

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