SUWANEE, Ga. - Birmingham-Southern College and Rhodes College combined to post a 2-1 record against Top-25 teams during the week of March 1-7. The Panthers beat #11 Adrian 9-5 while the Lynx split a pair of games with #14 Marietta (3-0 loss, 4-3 extra-inning win).

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College dropped three of four games last week, topping East Texas Baptist 11-2 before falling to Northwood 5-1 and dropping both games against Millsaps over the weekend by scores of 14-9 and 21-11. The ’Roos are now 8-8 overall this season and 5-5 in conference play. Against ETBU, Andy White went 3-for-5 with two RBI and Brian Buehler went 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead the ’Roos to the win. Matt Burke picked up the victory in relief, scattering four hits while giving up one run in 2.1 innings of work. Against Northwood, the ‘Roos jumped on top early but a four run second inning put them in a hole for good as the team just couldn’t get their bats going in the four run loss. Over the weekend at Millsaps, the ‘Roos led 6-2 on Saturday but an eight run third put the Majors on top and sealed the win. Scooter Merritt went 2-for-5 with two homers and three runs batted in, while Tyler Steed gave up nine runs, eight earned, in 2.0 innings of work to take the loss. The ‘Roos once again found themselves in a hole early and were unable to climb out on Sunday, falling 21-11. 

Birmingham-Southern extended its current win-streak to 11 games this weekend with four wins at home. The Panthers swept Wabash College by a combined score of 39-3 over three games and defeated #11 Adrian College in the first of a two-game series on Monday, 9-5. BSC wasted no time getting things going against Adrian. A single and two walks from the first five Panthers loaded the bases for Brian Higginbotham in the bottom of the first. The junior from Marietta, Ga. blasted the ball deep over the right field wall for the Panthers’ first grand slam of the season to jump out 4-0.  BSC moves to 11-1 on the season with three more games this week.

Centre went 2-2 on the week, falling to Maryville at home Wednesday 4-0 before taking two of three from Sewanee to open up SCAC play Saturday and Sunday. The Colonels won 3-2 in the first game against the Tigers, then fell 10-0 in game two before finishing the series with a 14-6 win in the rubber game. Centre pitchers posted a 3.66 team earned run average on the week and limited opposing hitters to a .203 batting average, while also striking out 31 hitters in 32.0 innings of work. The Colonels will host Transylvania Tuesday at home and then play a double-header at home Wednesday against Spalding before traveling to Hanover Sunday for another double-header.

DePauw improved to 6-3 on the season after winning all three games over the weekend. The Tigers opened with a doubleheader sweep of Illinois Wesleyan by scores of 4-1 and 7-6 (10 innings) in games played at Washington-St. Louis and then defeated Earlham by an 11-3 score in Sunday's home opener. Catcher Sam Linette led the Tigers with five hits in the three games, while Chris Forbringer, Jon Newman and Rob McPike had four each. Linette had a 1.000 slugging percentage with one double, one triple and a homer. The Tigers batted .323 for the week and committed just one error in 94 chances for a .989 fielding percentage. DePauw's seven pitchers combined for a 3.38 ERA with 28 strikeouts and just eight walks in 24 innings and allowed opposing hitters a .258 batting average. 

Hendrix picked up a pair of non-conference wins over the weekend against Principia College. The Warriors extended their win streak to a season-high four games after the twin bill sweep of the Panthers on Saturday afternoon at Warrior Field. Hendrix sophomore 3B Kyle Raskin went 3-for-3 with one run scored and four RBI in the Warriors’ 13-4 opener, while junior LHP Jordan Suydam allowed just five hits in five innings to lead Hendrix to an 8-5 win in the night cap. Teddy Smoyer improved to 3-2 on the season after 6.0 innings, seven hits, four runs (three earned), one walk and six strike outs. Sophomore RHP Drew Gustafson entered in the seventh and held the Panthers hitless with one strike out. Suydam earned the win in his first start of the 2010 slate after returning from a shoulder injury. Junior LHP Jeff Forgerson entered in the ninth and struck out two batters to earn his third save of the season.

Millsaps swept a weekend series with Austin College to remain perfect in SCAC play at 6-0 while improving to 11-3 overall and 9-1 at home. Sophomore Jules Roussel drove home three runs while going 4-for-5 from the plate with two doubles and his team-leading fourth home run of the season to lead the Majors to a 14-9 conference victory over the ‘Roos Saturday afternoon at Twenty Field. On Sunday afternoon, freshman Wes Perkins stole the show by hitting three home runs and driving in seven runs as Millsaps routed AC 21-11 in eight innings. Perkins came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs and the Majors leading 18-11 and emphatically smashed the ball over the right field fence to finish the weekend sweep over the ‘Roos. Millsaps will hit the road to take on Rhodes Tuesday, March 9 beginning at 2 p.m.

Oglethorpe went 2-1 on the week to run their record to 9-3 on the season. The Petrels swept a doubleheader over Concordia-Selma on Saturday, winning game one 9-1 and taking game two, 10-2. Oglethorpe then traveled to Maryville on Sunday where they fell by the score of 10-1. In Saturday’s game one against Concordia-Selma, the Petrels broke the game open with eight runs in the final three innings they batted in. Left fielder Stephen Archer struck the big blow, socking a monstrous three-run homer in the fifth that struck the facing of the Dorough Field House roof in left-center field. In Game 2, it was more of the same for the Petrels. They broke this game open with a six-run third inning. They did all of this with only two hits in the inning, as Concordia pitchers combined to issue seven free passes. A long two-run single by Joseph Parillo was the big blow of the inning. Neil Amos pitched four strong innings for the win for Oglethorpe, giving up five hits and two runs, though only one was earned.  He walked none and struck out three. In Sunday’s contest at Maryville, the Scots jumped out for 3 runs in the first two innings and never looked back on their way to the win. The Petrels have a busy week includes four games against four different opponents: Atlanta Christian, LaGrange, Denison and Montclair State.

Rhodes went 3-1 for the week of March 1-7 with a 9-1 victory over NAIA Union University on Tuesday, a 4-3 victory and a 3-0 loss to #14 Marietta on Saturday, and an 18-6 victory over Blackburn on Sunday. Junior Hunter Chandler picked up his first victory of the season on Tuesday, working the 4th and 5th. For the week, Chandler threw 5 innings, allowed 3 hits, 1 unearned run, 1 walk, and struck out 3. Sophomore Austin Carden was the tough luck loser in the first game on Saturday against Marietta, going 6 innings, allowed 4 hits, 2 earned runs, walked 1, and struck out 6. Freshman John White picked up his first collegiate victory in the second game against Marietta. White worked the 9th and 10th innings, after relieving Chandler and junior Taylor Babich. Sophomore Brian Lainoff collected his second victory of the year on Sunday against Blackburn. Lainoff was the first of 6 pitchers used in the designed pitcher by committee outing for the Lynx pitching staff. On Sunday, the Lynx pitching staff held Blackburn to 7 hits, 2 earned runs, and struck out 9. The Rhodes offensive attack was lead by Senior 2B Andy Boucher. Boucher hit .714 (5-7), an .800 on base %, 1 double, 3 RBIs, 3 runs scored, and walked 3 times. 

Sewanee went 1-2 this weekend with a narrow 3-2 loss in the opener, followed by a three-hit 10-0 shutout of the visiting Centre Colonels. Greg Bartleski pitched the entire game in the winning effort and struck out eight batters. On Sunday, the Colonels topped the Tigers 14-6. Taylor Irwin led the Tiger bats Sunday with a grand slam homerun. Connor Liston and Allan Kmorowski have 10 hits each to lead Sewanee this season. The Tigers (1-8) will head to Florida this week for the Russ-Mat Spring Break Invitational.

Southwestern continued to struggle as their losing streak extended to 10 games after this week's contests. The Pirates currently sit at 3-16 overall and 0-8 in the SCAC after dropping four games this week, one to Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday and a three game series with Trinity over the weekend. SU continues to put up runs as they scored 19 runs on 37 hits in four games against, but have struggled on the mound as they have allowed 58 hits and 45 runs through the same stretch. The Pirates return to the road as they head to Conway, Ark. to take on Hendrix in SCAC play this coming weekend. They open the series on Saturday with a double-header beginning at 1:00 pm.

Trinity won all four of its games over the past week, including a three-game weekend sweep at Southwestern in SCAC play. The Tigers opened the week with a 4-2 victory over Texas Lutheran on Tuesday night, then headed to Georgetown to start the first of a five-game regular season series with the Pirates. Trinity won 16-3 and 14-9 during Saturday’s doubleheader, then finished off the weekend with an 8-7 win on Sunday afternoon. Heading into the week, the Tigers had lost three of their past four games, but have now won four straight. Trinity will be at home for 12 of its next 16 games, which includes five games in SCAC play against Hendrix and Southwestern. This week, Trinity will face off against DeSales on Tuesday and Thursday nights, followed by an important two-game weekend series at Millsaps.

For the complete SCAC Diamond Weekly for Week 5, click here.