SCAC Baseball Recap - Week 1

SCAC Baseball Recap - Week 1

Complete Release

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- The Southern Collegiate Athletic conference baseball season is underway as six of the league's eight teams were in action the first week of February.

Centenary (3-0) was the only conference team to make it through the first week unscathed as the Gents opened with a three-game sweep of East Texas Baptist. Cody Crowder's two-run home run was the big blow and Chris Haggard added three hits in the season-opener as the Gents raced out to a 5-1 lead and held on for the 5-3 win. Connor Lee picked up the win as he threw 6.2 innings and allowed just one run on six hits. The following day, Matthew Devillier pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits in seven innings of work with two walks and four strikeouts in a 7-0 victory. A four-run fifth inning, sparked by back-to-back triples by Preston Ludwick and Ben Bridges, provided all the offense the Gents would need. In Saturday's finale, Centenary led 7-0 after four innings and cruised to the 12-5 victory over ETBU. Four Gents had multi-hit games and Crowder and Luke Royle each had four RBI. Andy Purpura started and picked up the win as he went 6.2 innings and allowed three runs (all unearned) on five hits and struck out four without issuing a walk.

Dallas (2-1) took two of three against Sul Ross State on opening weekend. Zachary Taylor went 5-for-14 with two doubles and nine RBIs over the three game series to lead the Crusaders. He drove in seven of those runs in the doubleheader sweep on Feb. 1 which included a 3-for-3 performance at the plate in the opening day game. He also posted two runs scored, two doubles, and two stolen bases. Dallas slugged .465 as a team and had nine extra base hits, including four home runs, against Sul Ross State. Conrad Voss, who led the SCAC in win a year ago with eight, went the distance in the season-opener, pitching 7.0 innings and allowing just six hits and one earned run while striking out five and walking one.  

Austin College (1-1) split a season-opening doubleheader against University of the Ozarks (1-0 loss; 2-1 win) on Saturday, Feb. 8. AC and Ozarks combined for just eight hits in game one and 10 hits in game two as the teams combined for just four runs in the two game set. Ryan Culp was the hardluck loser in game one, giving up one unearned run in 5.0 innings of work, scattering three hits but walking five batters. In game two, the 'Roos struck in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Zack Mahoney, plating Justin Alphonse to make it 1-0. After Ozarks evened the score in the fourth, the score remained 1-1 until a bases-loaded grounded got through second base on an error, scoring Sergio Di Paoli to 'Roos the 2-1 walk-off victory. Jake Thomas pitched a complete game, striking out seven batters with zero walks allowed and giving up five hits.

Schreiner (1-1-1) posted a win, a loss and a tie in its three-game series with McMurry. The bats were alive in Kerrville as the two squads combined for 62 runs over the series. Reece Hohhertz had multiple hit performances in all three games, going a combined 8-for-14 (.571) at the plate with two doubles, three RBIs and six runs scored. Josh Gilliam and Sam Velazquez both had five RBIs and Jeffrey Williams had three triples. 

No. 22 Texas Lutheran (1-2) beat Hendrix 12-2 in it season-opener before dropping its next two games - one to George Fox (4-3) and one to Methodist (11-8) at the at the Rusty Greer/Jackie Moore Classic at AirHogs Stadium. In Friday's win, the Bulldogs received 6.2 strong innings of work from left-hander Matthew Hickey before blowing open the game in the seventh and eighth innings by scoring a combined 10 runs. Hickey struck out nine in his first start of 2020 and allowed just one earned run. He allowed just one hit and worked around five walks. Tyler Cauley drove in five runs over three games, which included a three-run home run in the loss to Methodist. He had two RBI, two runs scored, and two walks in the victory over Hendrix in the Bulldogs' first game of the Classic. 

St. Thomas (1-6) played its first games as a program since 1969 and picked up a victory in the middle game of the three-game series against Howard Payne on Saturday - an 11-7 victory. Noah Martinez scored the first run (and hit the first home run) in the modern era of UST baseball when he knocked a solo home run in the team's opening game on Feb. 1. He recorded hits in every game of the Howard Payne series, including a triple in the team's 11-7 victory. He has hits in six of the team's seven games, and is hitting .409 with an OBP of .500. Kalob Bacak became the first UST varsity baseball pitcher to win a game since 1969 when he pitched 5.0 innings, scattering 10 hits and allowing four earned runs, in Saturday's win.

The SCAC baseball season continues on Friday with six teams in action, including both Southwestern and Trinity making their season-debuts. Southwestern will host Sul Ross State and Trinity plays La Verne in a neutral site game in Austin, Texas.

This Week's Results:

Date Away Home Status Links
February
Sat. 1 Dallas 8 Sul Ross St. 1 Final
  Loyola (La.) 23 St. Thomas (Tex.) 1 Final
  Dallas 13 Sul Ross St. 11 Final
  Loyola (La.) 7 St. Thomas (Tex.) 0 Final
Sun. 2 Dallas 9 Sul Ross St. 11 Final
  Loyola (La.) 13 St. Thomas (Tex.) 0 Final - 7 innings
Fri. 7 Howard Payne 12 St. Thomas (Tex.) 5 Final
  McMurry 10 Schreiner 12 Final
  Howard Payne 12 St. Thomas (Tex.) 2 Final
  Hendrix 2 Texas Lutheran 12 Final
  Centenary (La.) 5 East Tex. Baptist 3 Final
Sat. 8 McMurry 8 Schreiner 6 Final - 8 innings
  Howard Payne 7 St. Thomas (Tex.) 11 Final
  East Tex. Baptist 0 Centenary (La.) 7 Final
  Texas Lutheran 3 George Fox 4 Final
  Ozarks (Ark.) 1 Austin College 0 Final
  McMurry 13 Schreiner 13 Final
  Howard Payne 7 St. Thomas (Tex.) 3 Final
  East Tex. Baptist 5 Centenary (La.) 12 Final
  Ozarks (Ark.) 1 Austin College 2 Final
Sun. 9 Methodist 11 Texas Lutheran 8 Final