SUWANEE, Ga. - Rhodes became the first Eastern Division team to qualify for the 2011 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball championship by taking two of three games at Oglethorpe. In the West, Trinity wrapped up the top seed. With one conference weekend left, two spots remain in both the East and West divisions.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College went 1-3 last
week with a 14-4 loss against No. 4-ranked UT-Tyler before going
1-2 in a three game series with the University of Dallas, taking a
10-4 win in game one before falling 11-1 and 14-10 in the final two
games of the series. The 'Roos are now 9-22 overall this season.
Austin College led UTT 4-2 in the third before the Patriots scored
12 unanswered to hand the 'Roos the loss. Scooter Merritt went
2-for-4 in the game to lead the 'Roos offensively and Andy White
went 2-for-5. In the first game against UD, the 'Roos jumped out to
a 6-0 lead and never looked back, with White and Mason Leech each
going 2-for-3 in the game while Tyler Steed got the win, giving up
four runs on 15 hits while tossing a complete game. In the second
game the 'Roos were limited to just three hits with Merritt going
1-for-3. Austin College plays its last home game of the year on
Tuesday against LeTourneau University.
Birmingham-Southern (No. 9 – ABCA) went 3-1
last week, all on the road, with a 5-4 win against No. 30 Millsaps
on Wednesday, and a 2-1 record against DePauw to win the series
over the weekend. Senior Drew Leachman was especially impressive
this week, hitting .706 with 12 hits over the four games. He also
leads the Panthers on the season, hitting .436, and sophomore Bruce
Maxwell leads with 48 RBI. Overall BSC is out-scoring its opponents
268-137 and out-hitting them 358-267. The BSC pitching staff,
consisting of 14 players, has an overall ERA of 2.99 with three
shutouts and 235 strikeouts in 271 innings. This week, the Panthers
are on the road against Covenant College, Tuesday, before returning
home for a conference series against Oglethorpe this weekend.
Centre went 3-1 on the week falling to #23 Thomas
More 12-7 Tuesday and then sweeping a critical three-game series
against Sewanee over the weekend. The Colonels won 10-0 in game one
against Sewanee for the third shutout of the season by Centre
pitchers and then won game two of the Saturday doubleheader 12-5.
After falling behind 6-0 in game three, the Colonels rallied to win
10-7 for the sweep. In three conference games, Centre pitchers
struck out 22 and allowed only two walks, while the offense hit
.373 and the defense fielded .964. The Colonels, now 13-18 overall
and 6-6 in the SCAC, will play a doubleheader against Alice Lloyd
Wednesday before traveling to play DePauw in the final conference
weekend of the season.
DePauw posted a 2-2 record for the week including one win over 10th-ranked Birmingham-Southern. The Tigers opened the week with a 13-1 win at Rose-Hulman before dropping both ends of a doubleheader with Birmingham-Southern by scores of 6-3 and 17-6. The Tigers overcame a 4-0 deficit in the series finale with the Panthers and took a 7-6 victory. For the week, the Tigers hit .280 as Jason Cohen led the way with a .421 (8-19) average and a .526 slugging percentage. Ben Gardner didn't reach base in the opening game with Birmingham-Southern which snapped his streak of 26 straight games.
Millsaps went 1-4 this week, losing four straight home games. They opened the week with two non-conference games against East Division opponents, defeating Rhodes on Tuesday 14-11 in Memphis before falling 5-4 to Birmingham-Southern on Wednesday in Jackson. Those two games set up the weekend series with Trinity. The Majors gave up 40 runs over the three-game series. The Tigers won the first game of Saturday’s double header 12-6 in seven innings and took the second game 10-1. The final game of the series on Sunday started calmer, holding 2-2 after six innings, but Trinity exploded for eight runs in the seventh, five in the eighth, and three in the ninth to pull away again 18-7 despite a four-run seventh for the Majors. Millsaps will host Belhaven University, at 6 p.m. Tuesday night before hosting Southwestern for two single games starting Saturday.
Oglethorpe went 2-2 this week, topping Covenant College (W, 11-6) on Wednesday before dropping two of three to Rhodes over the weekend in a hotly contested series. Each of the three games over the weekend against Rhodes were decided by a single run, with two of the affairs extending to extra innings. The Lynx swept the Saturday doubleheader, taking Game One 3-2 in 10 innings and claiming Game Two 6-5. In Game 1, they scored both of their runs in the first. Rhodes tied the scheduled seven-inning game in the fifth, and the game moved along into extra innings. In Game 2, the Petrels scored a run in the first on a Brothers RBI single, then scored two more in the second on a Pope RBI single and a Brendan Pilger sacrifice fly to take a 3-0 lead. The Petrels broke through with a 9-8 come-from-behind win in the 11 innings on Sunday. The Petrels improved to 16-14 on the year, 5-6 in SCAC play.
Rhodes went 3-2 for games played between April 4 – 11. The Lynx took on visiting Millsaps on Tuesday falling to the Majors 14-11. Rhodes then took on LaGrange on Wednesday afternoon, defeating the Panthers 16-12. Rhodes traveled to Atlanta, Ga. for a 3 game conference series against Oglethorpe over the weekend. Rhodes won the first game 3-2 in 10 innings, won the second game 6-5, and loss the final game of the series on Sunday 9-8 in 11 innings. Sophomore RHP James Todd was 2-0 this week, picking up victories over LaGrange and Oglethorpe. Both of Todd’s victories were in relief. Senior RHP Hunter Chandler was 1-0, picking up a victory in the first game against Oglethorpe. Chandler made 3 appearances this week, allowing 5 hits, no runs, 1 walk, and struck out 5 in 6 innings of work. The Lynx offense was led by freshman 1B/DH Patrick Kilkenny who hit .429 (6-14) with 2 homeruns, 3 doubles, 4 runs scored, 8 RBIs, and walked twice. Rhodes will return to action this weekend as they travel to Sewanee for their final conference series of the year.
Sewanee started off the week with a doubleheader sweep of Rust on Thursday before dropping a three-game SCAC series to Centre over the weekend. The Tigers dropped Rust, 12-4 and 14-4, in a twin bill on the Mountain as Colin Barrera and Austin Shea each picked up complete game victories on the mound. Taylor Irwin led the Sewanee offensive attack against the Bears, hitting a homerun in each game and driving in seven runs in the pair of wins. Over the weekend, the Centre Colonels out-hit the Tigers 11-5 in game one on their way to the trio of wins. Joe Reilly led Sewanee with a 9-for-13 effort at the plate in three games, while tallying three runs, two doubles and a pair of RBIs. Sewanee is now 10-17 overall and 0-8 in the SCAC. The Tigers will travel to Emory University for a non-conference match up on Wednesday, before hosting a three-game SCAC series with Rhodes Saturday and Sunday.
No. 13 Trinity was 4-0 over the past week, including a three-game SCAC sweep at Millsaps over the weekend, and a mid-week win over McMurry in the team’s regular season home finale. The Tigers clinched the West Division’s top seed for the SCAC Tournament in Millington, Tenn. The tournament opens April 21, and Trinity will play at 7 p.m. on Thursday. For the week, the Tigers averaged 12.0 runs/game over the four wins, hitting .338 as a team, and crushing 17 extra-base hits – including 10 home runs. Kyle Felix broke Trinity’s career RBI record on Saturday, finishing with six RBI over the weekend to give him 195 in his career. He previously broke Tiger career records in doubles and home runs. Dylan Early hit two home runs and drove in eight runs in Sunday’s win, tying the school record for RBI in a single game. Trinity will play at Schreiner University on Tuesday, followed by a two-game weekend series at the University of Dallas to finish the regular season. The Tigers edged Schreiner 9-8 in the season opener.
For the complete SCAC Diamond Weekly for Week 10, click here.
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