SUWANEE, Ga. - After starting the season 0-3, Birmingham-Southern has rattled off five consecutive wins to get to 5-3. Trinity also upped its win streak to five while Hendrix (four straight) and Millsaps (three straight) have also extended win streaks of their own over the past week.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College went 1-2 on the week including splitting a two-game SCAC series with Southwestern. The ‘Roos dropped a 3-2 decision to LeTourneau to start the week before taking the first game between Southwestern, 5-2, and losing the second one to the Pirates 14-10. Austin College is now 2-10 overall and 1-3 in SCAC play. The ‘Roos return to action on Tuesday hosting Texas-Tyler before hosting an SCAC two-game series with Hendrix on Saturday and Sunday.

Birmingham-Southern swept a three-game series from Covenant this weekend at home, defeating the Scots 3-2 on Friday night and then 11-0 in seven innings and 6-4 in a Saturday doubleheader. Junior Bruce Maxwell led the Panthers over the three games, going 4-of-8 (.500) with three doubles, a home run, and six RBI. Seven different BSC pitchers made appearances, led by freshman right-hander Blake Stevens who gave up only one hit in six innings and struck out seven batters. BSC is at home again on Tuesday against LaGrange before traveling Huntingdon for a Saturday doubleheader in Montgomery. The Panthers will return home for a single game against the Hawks on Sunday. 

Centre dropped five of six games in its opening week. The Colonels fell 6-3 and 6-0 to Spalding on the road to open the season and then split a doubleheader with Earlham (5-4 loss and 1-0 win in 9 innings), and dropped both games Sunday against Otterbein (11-3, 8-6). Centre needed extra innings to defeat Earlham for its first win of the season. Two Colonels’ pitchers allowed only three hits and struck out nine to help secure the first win of the season. Centre trailed 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning in its second game against Otterbein, but had runners at second and third with nobody out. A line drive was ruled a catch and turned into a triple play to end the threat. Centre will next host Transylvania Thursday and then Calvin and Defiance on the weekend.

Dallas (9-2, 2-2 SCAC) went 1-2 on the week. On Tuesday at Crusader Field, Dallas was able to fend off the Texas-Dallas, 12-8, despite the Comets producing an eight-run seventh inning on a two out error. Sophomore first baseman Andrew Bossert had a three-run home run in the sixth inning. Unbeaten, Dallas then turned their attention to Trinity for two weekend games in Irving. The Crusaders were handed their first losses of the season by the Tigers on a 12-1 defeat on Saturday and a 5-0 decision on Sunday.

Hendrix went 4-0 last week, topping Ozarks 19-11 on the road on Tuesday and sweeping Webster at home in a three-game series. Against Ozarks, Hendrix recorded the third most runs in school history to go with 19 hits on the day. Sophomore left fielder Collin Radack went 4-for-6 with a grand slam and two runs scored in the game. The Warriors opened their home slate on Saturday, by defeating Webster 4-3 in 10 innings and 9-5 in seven innings. In the bottom of the 10th of game one, Sims hit a lead-off triple and scored on a Mark Vlaskamp sacrifice fly to win the game. Sophomore Justin Mosbey earned the win by fanning six and allowing two hits, an unearned run and a walk over 4.2 innings of relief. In the nightcap, Hendrix overcame a 5-0 deficit and put up eight runs in the bottom of the sixth to win 9-5. The Warriors finished off the Gorloks 12-3 in the series finale, racking up 14 hits and allowing just six. This week, the Warriors will take on Ozarks on the road again Tuesday and return to SCAC play with two games at Austin College on Saturday and Sunday.

Millsaps took a wild road trip in Georgia on Saturday. They started the afternoon in Atlanta as they came from behind to defeat York College, 7-4 . Millsaps then defeated LaGrange, 17-10 and then beat Emory on Sunday, 6-1. In the first game freshman West Hammond picked up his second win of the season. Against LaGrange, Millsaps scored runs in second, third, fourth, and fifth innings to jump out to a 12-10 lead. Then, Doucet came into the game and shut the door on the Panthers as Millsaps pulled away for the 17-10 win. Gates finished the game going 5-for-6 with two RBIs and a home run while Shumaker went 3-for-7 with a double and two RBIs. Sophomore Wes Perkins, Zemke, and Doucet all added multi-hit games as well. Millsaps improved to 8-2 overall and won its third straight game. The Majors are back in action on Tuesday, as they take on the Mississippi College at Twenty Field in the second game of the Maloney Series. The Majors are 1-0 in the series while MC is 0-1.They then hit the road on the weekend as they will travel to Piedmont College for their Invitational.

Oglethorpe went 1-2 this past week, winning at LaGrange (W, 14-5) on Tuesday before being swept in a home doubleheader by Bates College (L GM1, 7-5; L GM2, 6-0) on Saturday. Against Lagrange, the Petrels plated 8 runs, all after two outs had been recorded, in the fourth inning to break the game open. Cory Leff, Casey Tuttle and Hunter Riley each drove in two runs apiece to led the Oglethorpe offense to victory. In game one against Bates on Saturday, Oglethorpe rallied from a 6-run deficit but could not quite catch the Bobcats en route to a 7-5 loss. Batters three through seven in the Oglethorpe lineup each collected a hit and an RBI in the loss. In Saturday’s game two, Oglethorpe was stifled by the Bobcat pitching on their way to being shutout 6-0. The Petrels are now 2-5 on the season and will be back in action Wednesday when they face Piedmont College ion Demorest, Ga.

Rhodes went 2-2 this week, playing all four games in the Rawlings Classic hosted by Emory and LaGrange. Rhodes opened the weekend with a 12-5 loss to Emory on Friday afternoon, before rebounding with a 15-2 victory over LaGrange on Saturday. Rhodes then split on Sunday, defeating LaGrange for the second time in two days, 7-5, then fell to York (Pa.) 10-8. The Lynx offense was led by sophomore OF Walker McWherter who hit .750 (9-12) on the week, with 2 doubles, 5 runs scored, 5 RBIs, and got hit by a pitch. McWherter had a .833 on base percentage and slugged .917. Junior SS Lynden Pindling hit .438 (7-16) with 2 doubles, 5 runs scored, 3 RBIs, walked twice and stole a base. On the mound, senior RHP Austin Carden needed just 58 pitches to collect his third victory of the season in as many attempts. Carden worked 5 innings against LaGrange on Saturday, scattering 5 hits, 1 run, struck out 1, and did not allow a walk. Junior RHP Matt Burnick improved to 2-0 on the year as he worked 6.1 innings against LaGrange on Sunday. Burnick scattered 9 hits, allowed 2 earned runs, and stuck out 2 in his first collegiate start. Rhodes will return to action this weekend at home with a three game set against defending national champions and the No.1  team in the country, Marietta College.

Sewanee was dropped all three games to Spalding on Saturday and Sunday. The Tigers lost 6-4 on Saturday before coming up short 6-4 and 4-3 on Sunday. The losses drop Sewanee to 2-3 on the season. The Tigers return to action March 3-4 hosting Earlham for three games.

Southwestern opened SCAC play this weekend with a two-game series against Austin College. Saturday, SU posted just as many hits as the 'Roos, 10, but couldn't convert base runners into runs as they fell 5-2. The Pirates posted the first run of the game in the bottom of the first, but AC was able to score consistently throughout the game. The bats came alive on Sunday afternoon for both teams as a combined 24 runs were scored in the single nine inning game. Austin College scored one to start off the game, but Southwestern stormed ahead with a three run bottom half of the inning. After scoreless second the 'Roos scored one more before the Pirates unleashed their offensive power to score six in the third, one in the fourth and four in the fifth to take the 14-10 victory. With the split Southwestern moves to 4-10 on the season and 1-1 in the SCAC. They return to non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon as they host Mary Hardin-Baylor before returning to conference play hosting the University of Dallas on Saturday and Sunday for a two-game series.

No. 9 Trinity went 3-0 this week, playing all of its games on the road, and including a two-game SCAC weekend series at previously unbeaten University of Dallas. The Tigers opened the week with a 5-3 win at Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday evening, then opened the series at Dallas with a lopsided 12-1 win on Saturday. Ben Klimesh struck out a career-high 14 batters in the game. Sunday afternoon, Ryan Lucero pitched his second straight shutout to beat Dallas 5-0, striking out 12 batters. Trinity will have off during the week, but will be back in action with a three-game weekend series against #11 Chapman (Calif.).  The two West Region powers will kick off the series with a game on Friday night (7 p.m.), followed by afternoon games on Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (Noon).

For the complete SCAC Baseball Diamond Weekly for Week 4, click here.