SUWANNE, Ga. - Nationally ranked DePauw finally opened up their 2011 season after bad weather delayed the start for a week. The DU Tigers picked up two wins over Webster as Emma Minx led the was batting .667 with a grand slam and two runs scored. Sophomore pitcher Emily Bichler was 2-0 on the weekend posting a 0.00 ERA.

- AROUND THE SCAC -

Austin College dropped a pair of games to Texas-Tyler 16-7 and 3-0 but where able to bounce back and pick up four straight wins over the weekend against Rust and University of Dallas. 

Birmingham Southern was 2-0 this week with a doubleheader shutout of Wesleyan College on Saturday. The Panthers won 23-0 in game one and 22-0 in game two, both in five innings. Junior pitcher Ronni Ferris got the win in the first game, giving up only one hit with 11 strikeouts, while junior Beth Lefler was the game two winner, giving up two hits with nine strikeouts. Sophomore Brittany Berkopec led BSC at the plate, going 9-of-11, while Lefler and junior Ashley Bice led with six RBI each. BSC travels to face Covenant College and Millsaps this Tuesday and Wednesday before returning home on Thursday for an exhibition doubleheader against Marion Military Institute. The Panthers then open conference play on the road this weekend against Centre.

Centre hosted their annual March Mayhem Tournament on Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13. The Colonels went 3-3 over the two day period. Centre faced Manchester in the opening game and fell 11-4, but the team was able to bounce back from the tough loss and they were able to pick up two wins over Rose-Hulman winning 5-4 and 8-3, while also beating Oberlin 13-5. During the second day of the tournament Centre suffered a 10-8 loss to Manchester and a 6-2 loss to Rose-Hulman. The Colonels are currently 5-3 on the season. Next up for the Colonels will be a double-header against Asbury on Wednesday, March 16 with the first game beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The sixth-ranked Tigers allowed just one run and six hits, while the offense banged out 19 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Webster in the season-opening games for the Tigers. DePauw won the first game, 7-1, and the nightcap, 7-0. The Tigers took a quick 1-0 lead in the first game as Brianne Weeks singled, moved to third when Jen Kosinski reached on an infield error and scored on Emma Minx's sacrifice fly. Holly Paris drove in Jen Kosinksi with a single in the third before the Tigers scored their final five runs in the fourth. Brianne Weeks plated Jamie Story with a bases loaded single before Minx hit a grand slam. Webster's lone run came on a leadoff homer in the seventh. The Tigers totaled nine hits led by two each from Weeks and Minx, while Minx drove in five. Emily Bichler picked up the win by going six innings and allowing just a fifth-inning single. She struck out four and walked just one. In the nightcap, DePauw scored twice in the second as Amy Hallett led off with a homer and Haley Buchanan scored on Ashlee Anton's single. Minx drove in Rachel MacBeth with a third-inning single before Paris brought home Weeks with a sacrifice fly and Hallett drove in Minx with a single. MacBeth's solo homer in the fourth made it 6-0 and Kosinski rounded out the scoring when she came home on Paris' single. DePauw totaled 10 hits led by MacBeth, Minx and Hallett with two each. Three different Gorloks had one hit each. Bichler allowed just three hits with five strikeouts in six innings in improving to 2-0. Ashley Meagher dropped to 2-3.

Hendrix dropped two games to in-state rival University of the Ozarks on Wednesday night.  Ozarks took advantage of Hendrix’s 10 errors as the Eagles came away with a 10-1 mercy rule win in the opener and then a 10-4 win in the night cap. Hendrix (5-7) committed five errors in each game and was held to just four hits in the first contest. Ozarks first year Tabitha Porter struck out five batters, walked just two and forced nine grounders for the complete game win. The Warriors held on to a 1-0 advantage through three innings until the Eagles tied the game in the fourth and rallied for nine runs on eight hits and four errors in the fifth. Hendrix jumped out to a 3-0 lead through three innings in the second game and owned a 4-1 spread after the fourth. Ozarks chipped away at its deficit and eventually knotted the game after three runs in the fifth. Ozarks added one in the sixth and exploded for five runs on three hits and four errors in the final frame.

Millsaps had a tough weekend, dropping four games at Millsaps Field to Huntingdon College and the defending national champions, East Texas Baptist University. The Majors took on the Hawks first, taking an early 5-4 lead after three, but faltered late, giving up three in the fourth and three more in the seventh to fall 10-5. The second game with Huntingdon, on Sunday, was close as well. The Majors, down 9-1 heading into the fifth, hung seven runs on the board to claw their way back into the game. They eventually tied the score in the sixth, at nine, but couldn’t keep the Hawks from reasserting their lead in the seventh, falling 13-9. The Tigers took both games from Millsaps in two shutouts, 10-0 and 15-0. Millsaps will host Birmingham-Southern for a conference double header on Wednesday before heading down to Sherman for a weekend series with Austin College for the opening week of conference play.

Rhodes played 8 games in 6 days this week, posting a 6-2 record.  The Lynx started off with a pair of wins over MacMurray, by scores of 11-2 and 15-7, then dropped a pair of games to Millikin 3-2 and 4-0.  The Lynx bounced back on Saturday, knocking off Greenville College 4-3, then topping Westminster by a 2-0 margin.  In the Westminster win, freshman hurler Jessica Becher pitched 6 shutout innings to earn the first win of her career.  On Sunday, Rhodes powered past Eureka 10-0, before ending the weekend with a thrilling 8-7 victory over Westminster in 9 innings.  Westminster jumped out to a 5-1 lead after 3 innings, but the Lynx pushed 5 runs across the plate in the 4th, capped off by a 2-out, 2-run double from shortstop Allison Conn to give the Lynx a 6-5 lead.  Westminster tied the game in the 6th, forcing extra innings.  Westminster scored a run in the 8th and had runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out, but Sara Bowen came in relief and retired the next two hitters to keep the Blue Jay lead at 7-6.  Rhodes scored in the bottom of the 8th on a sacrifice bunt and wild pitch to send the game to the 9th.  After Bowen held the Blue Jays scoreless in the top half of the inning, Conn laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Kelli Zomer to third, then Bowen delivered a game winning single up the middle.  For the week, Conn hit .520 (13 for 25) with 5 doubles, a home run, 9 RBI, 5 runs scored and a stolen base to lead the Lynx offense.  In the circle, Bowen posted a 3-1 record with a save, fanning 32 hitters in 16 innings pitched while giving up just 7 hits and 2 runs for a 0.88 ERA.

Sewanee’s only games of the week, scheduled for Monday against Judson College, were postponed due to inclement weather. The Tigers are currently 2-0 on the season and will face Judson in a doubleheader in Sewanee March 23rd.

The Pirates have been hard at work this week, playing two games at Concordia before hitting the road for six games at the Tuscan Invitational. Southwestern started both games strong posting runs on the board in the first inning but couldn't hold on to the lead and lost both, 3-1, 3-2. Southwestern faced some tough teams in Tuscan, opening with Coe College on Friday. Coe held SU scoreless for a 5-0 win and the Pirates turned around to sneak out a 5-4 win over St. Mary's (MN). Southwestern opened day two with a 12-1 routing of Augsburg before facing Central (IA), falling 6-5 in eight innings. Day three was a sweep for the Pirates as they took down Husson 7-2 and Lakeland 9-1. The Pirates sit at 13-9 on the year and open up SCAC conference action at Hendrix on Friday.

Trinity went 2-2 over the past week, splitting a doubleheader with Texas Lutheran for the second time this season, and splitting two home games against NAIA competition. The Tigers lost a nail-biter to Evangel (MO) University to start off its week, then pounded out an 8-1 win over York (NE) College later that night. After a 3-1 win to beat TLU, though, Trinity fell 5-3 in the final game of the week. Trinity will play four more road games this week, taking on UT-Dallas and the University of Dallas on Thursday and Saturday. After this week, the Tigers will have played 12 of their last 14 games on the road.

To view the entire SCAC Fastpitch Weekly for week four, click here.