Softball Recap (Week 7) - Around the SCAC

Softball Recap (Week 7) - Around the SCAC

SUWANEE, Ga. - Defending SCAC Champion Southwestern swept Trinity over the weekend allowing the Tigers just three runs in the four game series. Junior pitcher Lyndsy Maus was outstanding pitching 12 innings going 2-0 with one shutout, allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out eight and walking just two for a .75 ERA, holding Trinity to a .167 batting average and no extra base hits.

- AROUND THE SCAC -

Austin College team took three of four games from Hendrix College over the weekend, falling 10-4 in the series opener before rebounding with wins by scores of 7-5, 9-1 and 10-6. The ‘Roos got some tremendous performances at the plate in the series with Sam Smith leading the way. Smith batted .625 over the weekend, collecting 10 hits including three doubles and three home runs, and drove in eight runs while scoring seven. Stefanie Faith blasted her SCAC-leading 11th home run and brought her season RBI total to 47 with a pair of runs batted in while hitting .556 and drawing six walks. Charlotte Trudell also had a strong weekend at the plate, hitting .500 with four RBI and Jessica Baker hit .455 with a double and three RBI. Amanda Peiser and Sam Matulis each picked up a victory in the series, with Matulis earning her team-best sixth win in the 9-1 victory on Sunday. Austin College wraps up its season this weekend with a four game stand against Southwestern as they continue to battle for a spot in the SCAC Tournament.

Birmingham
Southern swept and shut out Sewanee in all four games of the conference series this past weekend, with all four games going to only five innings. On Saturday, BSC won 8-0 and 25-0; the 25 runs tied the single-game program record for BSC. On Sunday, they won 10-0 and 15-0. In the first game of the series, junior pitcher Ronni Ferris threw a perfect game, the second of her career and the fourth in program history. So far this season, the Panthers are out-scoring their opponents 212-63 and out-hitting them 253-151. Junior Ashley Bice leads the team hitting .462 with 27 RBI. The pitching staff - consisting of juniors Ronni Ferris and Beth Lefler - has a combined ERA of 1.92 with 147 strikeouts and a .235 opponent batting average. The Panthers are on the road this weekend for a conference series against DePauw.

The Colonels were suppose to play Georgetown College on Wednesday, March 30 in a double-header, but the games were cancelled due to inclement weather. Centre then traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to take on conference opponent Rhodes College in a double-header on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3. During the double-header on Saturday the Colonels dropped the first game by a score of 10-2 and the second game 11-5. On Sunday, April the 3 Centre would fall in both games by a score of 13-0 and 18-5. The Colonels are currently 8-12 on the season and 1-5 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Next up for the Colonels will be a double-header against Wilmington on Wednesday, April 6. The first game is set to start at 2:00 p.m. in Wilmington, Ohio.

#6
DePauw posted a 4-0 record for the week as the Tigers swept a doubleheader against visiting Hope by scores of 4-1 and 2-0 and then defeated Trine by 2-1 and 4-0 scores on a neutral field. For the week, DePauw hit just .234, but allowed the opposition a .229 average. Emma Minx led the way with a .500 batting average, four runs and five hits. Emily Bichler recorded a 4-0 record and allowed just one earned run in 28 innings for a 0.25 ERA. She also allowed just 22 hits. The TIgers played errorless ball while handling 128 chances.

Hendrix
picked up its first SCAC win of the season in the opener of a four-game series against Austin College on Saturday and Sunday.  Hendrix fell in the last three games of the set and the Warriors now stand at 9-21 overall and 1-11 in league play.  Hendrix exploded for 15 hits including four doubles in a 10-4 win over Austin in the opener on Saturday, and then the Roos outlasted the Warriors in a 7-5 decision for the second game at Warrior Field.  Warriors’ sophomore righty Ashley Halbert improved to 5-8 on the year after the complete-game victory.  She scattered nine hits, two earned runs and struck out two in a quality performance.  Austin senior Sam Smith went 6-for-8 with two doubles, two homers, five runs scored and six RBI to lead the Roos to a 9-1 mercy-rule win and then a 10-6 victory in the nightcap on Sunday.  Smith highlighted a six-run spree by Austin in the second inning of the opener.  She blasted a three-run homer to right center field to give the Roos a commanding 6-1 lead.  Austin outlasted Hendrix in the second game as the Roos scored two runs in the first and fourth innings, and three runs in the third and seventh.  Hendrix senior righty Jaclyn Herrera suffered the loss in her last start from the circle at Warrior Field.  Herrera struck out five batters, walked five, and allowed 13 hits in her 11th loss of the season.

Millsaps
won a pair of games this weekend against in-state rival Rust College. The Majors took game one 18-0 in five innings and game two 13-0 in five. Full stats are not yet available for the games and will be made available as soon as possible. The Majors will return to action Wednesday afternoon as they travel to Montgomery, Alabama to take on the Huntingdon College Hawks in a double header beginning at 3:00 p.m. They will return to Jackson this weekend to host Trinity for a pair of double headers beginning Saturday at one and wrapping up Sunday at noon.

Playing the final home games of their careers, Rhodes Class of 2011 lead the Lynx to a 4-game sweep of Centre this weekend, winning by scores of 10-2, 11-5, 13-0 and 18-5.  The foursome of Liv Ryan, Sara Bowen, Allison Conn and Cindy Bitters put together some impressive numbers on the weekend, going a combined 23 for 44 at the plate (.523), with 4 doubles and 3 home runs.  The four also scored a combined 23 runs and drove in 20 during the weekend.  Bowen picked up a pair of wins in the circle, giving up just 4 hits and no earned runs in 11 innings of work, and Bitters picked up the win in Sunday’s second game, improving to 3-2 on the season.  Individually, Ryan, Conn and Bowen all homered, with Bowen hitting .714 on the weekend (10 for 14) and driving in 9 runs.  Conn hit .438 (7 for 16) with 8 runs scored and 5 RBI, while Ryan hit .417 with 6 runs scored and 5 RBI.  Bitters went 1-2 with a run scored on Sunday, in addition to picking up a win in the circle.  Rhodes is 19-11 and travels to Georgia this weekend for games against Berry, Emory, and Wesleyan.

Sewanee
dropped four conference games to host Birmingham-Southern over the weekend as they moved to 2-8 overall and 0-6 in the SCAC. The Panthers took home 8-0 and 25-0 wins on Saturday, before downing the Tigers, 10-0 and 15-0, on Sunday. Alex Ginsburg collected the Tigers’ only hit of the day on Saturday, a single in the top of the fifth in game two, to lead Sewanee. On Saturday, Dana Middleton picked up two hits in the two contests to lead the Tigers. Sewanee is back in action Thursday, April 7, when they host a doubleheader against Talladega College at 1 and 3 p.m.

Southwestern
picked up a sweep this weekend of the Trinity Tigers to remain undefeated in conference action and hold a two game lead over Millsaps with eight games to play including four against the Majors. Saturday the two teams were strong defensively as the pitchers controlled the game most of the way. The Pirates needed a run in the bottom of the seventh to win game one 3-2 off an RBI single by Haley Hughes and used a two run sixth to take game two, 3-1. Southwestern's defense and pitching just got stronger in the second day of action as the Tigers were unable to score in either contest. Kaitlyn Pavlicek's homerun in the bottom of the fourth was the first run of the game for either team and SU pushed another across in the sixth for a little cushion and closed out the game on the defensive side to win 2-0. The Pirate bats exploded in the final game of the series as they scored one run in the second and a monsterous seven in the third. Southwestern's defense was stifling once again as they closed the game for the run rule victory, 8-0. SU improves to 22-10 on the year and 8-0 in the SCAC and head to Austin College this weekend for a four game series beginning on Saturday at 1pm.

Trinity
was 1-5 last week, splitting a mid-week doubleheader with Our Lady of the Lake on Wednesday, then losing all four SCAC games at Southwestern over the weekend. The Tigers went into the weekend in a tie for first place in the SCAC West Division with the Pirates, but could not break through against the defending conference champions. Three of the four losses were by two runs or less over the weekend. Trinity continues SCAC play this weekend, facing off against Millsaps for a four-game weekend series in Jackson, Mississippi. The Tigers return home April 16-17 for another four-game SCAC series against Hendrix.

To view the enitre SCAC Fastpitch Weekly for week seven, click here.