SUWANEE, Ga. - Behind senior third baseman Mason Mosby's monster week, the Rhodes College Lynx took two of three games in an important Eastern Division showdown from SCAC rival Oglethorpe University last weekend. Mosby, who was named SCAC Offensive Player of the Week, hit a robust .667 (8-12) with a double, triple, three home runs and eight RBI on the week.

With only two weeks left until the SCAC Tournament, only Millsaps College has assured itself of a spot in the tournament. In the Eastern Division, Birmingham-Southern College holds a two game lead over both DePauw University and Rhodes College. However, the Panthers are not eligible for the SCAC Tournament. Only three games seperates Rhodes and DePauw (both 5-4 SCAC) from Sewanee (2-7 SCAC) for the No. 1 East seed.

In the Western Division, Millsaps has already secured a spot in the tournament. Second through fourth-place are seperated by a mere game and a half as Southwestern University holds that advantage over Hendrix College.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin dropped a pair of games to UT-Dallas last week before taking one of three against Trinity to bring their season record to 9-20 overall and 4-14 in SCAC games. Against UTD, the ‘Roos jumped out to an early lead against the Comets in game one but back to back three run innings put UTD up for good as the ‘Roos fell 14-6, and in game two the Comets used a nine run inning to run away with a 13-1 win over Austin College. On Saturday the ‘Roos fell twice in heartbreaking fashion to the Tigers, dropping a 2-1 decision in game one on a last inning run and 3-2 in extra innings in game two. On Sunday the ‘Roos got out to a huge lead early but had to hang on for the win in a 16-15 slugfest over Trinity. Bennett Herrick hit .467 for the week with a homer, two doubles and four runs batted in, and Bobby Schleizer belted three home runs and drove in five. Tyler Steed had a strong outing in the first game on Saturday, going 7.0 innings and giving up two runs, only one earned, while striking out four in the loss.

Birmingham-Southern (20-6, 7-2 SCAC-East) took two of three on the road at DePauw this weekend to maintain their lead over Rhodes and DePauw in the East Division standings. After dropping game one of the set on Friday, 9-3, the Panthers stormed back on Saturday to win both games of the double-header 6-2 and 11-10. In game two, the Panthers were down 5-4 going into the ninth and exploded for nine runs in the inning and seemed ready to cruise to the series win, but the Tigers were not ready to throw in the towel just yet. They answered with five runs of their own and left two stranded on the paths before the Panthers could get the third, game-winning, out. BSC will return to Striplin Field this week for the final home games of the season. They will host Piedmont College on Tuesday (4pm) before Rhodes rolls into town on Thursday through Saturday.

Centre played four games this week, falling 23-11 to Asbury College in a non-conference game Tuesday. The Colonels then played its second conference series of the year against Sewanee, winning two of three to even its SCAC mark at 3-3. Senior Jake Jones tossed a complete-game 11-strikeout effort in winning game one 3-2. With the score tied at two in the bottom of the ninth, Jones hit a one-out single off the right-center fence to give Centre the win. The Colonels fell behind 11-0 in game two and rallied to pull within 11-8, but ended with a 14-9 loss. Centre led 13-8 into the top of the ninth in game three and was not able to hold off a four-run rally by Sewanee in the inning to finish with a 13-12 win. Centre, now 6-16 overall and 3-3 in the SCAC, will play at Thomas More Wednesday and then travel to DePauw for a three-game series Saturday and Sunday.

DePauw posted a 2-3 record for the week after opening with a win at Wabash, losing to Anderson at Indianapolis' Victory Field and taking one of three at home against Birmingham-Southern. The 16-7 win over Wabash was DePauw's 18th straight since Matt Walker became the head coach in 2000. The Tigers then dropped an 8-7 rain-shortened decision against Anderson on Thursday. Brad Gerlach pitched a complete game in leading the Tigers to a 9-3 win in the series opener against Birmingham-Southern on Friday. The Panthers topped DePauw, 6-2, in Saturday's first game to even the series. The Tigers took a 5-4 lead into the top of the ninth in the series finale, but Birmingham-Southern scored seven to take an 11-5 lead. DePauw plated five in the bottom of the ninth and had a pair of runners on when the game ended.

Hendrix had the week off from SCAC competition and played one mid-week game against NCAA D-II Ouachita Baptist University on Wednesday. The Warriors lost 10-3 to last year’s D-II World Series runner-up and now stand at 12-19 overall. Junior LF Nathan Hill was 2-for-3 at the plate, while first year RF Nathan Harr went 1-for-4 with a double in the lead-off spot. First year RHP Caleb Schallawitz was pinned with the loss and fell to 1-2 on the year.

No. 3 Millsaps (26-4, 13-4 SCAC) went 2-1 on the week with a non-conference win over Belhaven and a two-game split with Southwestern University. With Tuesday’s win at Belhaven, Millsaps not only became the fastest team in Division III to 25 wins, but wrapped up its third Cowboy Maloney Series Trophy in four years after rallying from a 4-0 deficit in the first behind solid pitching from Boomer Hudson and John Marshall Pemberton who grabbed the win and the save. SU standout Brantley Freeman got the best of the Majors on Saturday in an 8-6 win before Millsaps rebounded with a 5-3 Sunday victory to win the season series 4-1. Sophomore Will Hawkins hit a team-best .500 on the week (6-for-12) with five runs scored, four RBIs, two doubles and a home run. Hudson posted a 2-0 record with a 1.50 ERA in two relief appearances, tossing a total of 12 innings and striking out 10 against four walks. He set new career-highs with six innings of work and five strikeouts at Belhaven Millsaps will continue a stretch of four games in four days tonight, traveling down I-20 for another Maloney Series matchup with rival Mississippi College at 6 p.m.

Oglethorpe went 1-3 this past week and now hold a 16-11 (2-4) overall record. The Petrels stepped out of division to face Division I Georgia State Wednesday and acquitted themselves well in a 14-7 defeat. The Petrels played well offensively, tallying 10 hits on the night, but could not get past issuing 12 walks and committing three errors. Andy Farrey had a good day at the plate for the Petrels, going 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a stolen base. On the weekend, Oglethorpe managed to take only 1 of 3 from Rhodes College in having to settle for their first home series loss of the season. The Petrels began the series in style, rallying from down 5-3 off of Andy Holt (5-0) of the Lynx to ultimately win 6-5 in 10 innings. Daniel Sarisky again picked up the win in relief, his fourth of the year, and struck out six batters in three innings of work. Saturday and Sunday, however, the Petrels bats went quiet as the Lynx topped Oglethorpe 8-2 on Saturday and 7-1 on Sunday to claim the series win. Oglethorpe is back in action this week with games against Emory on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to Sewanee for a weekend series.
Rhodes went 2-1 over the weekend in Atlanta, Ga. against SCAC foe Oglethorpe University. Rhodes dropped the first game of the series Friday night 6-5 in 10 innings, but were able to rebound and take the next two of the three game set. Rhodes won Saturday’s game 8-2 and Sunday’s 7-1. The Rhodes offense was led by senior 3B Mason Mosby who hit ..667 (8-12) on the week with 3 homeruns, a triple, double, 7 runs scored, 8 RBIs, walked twice, and stole 3 bases. Freshman CF Travis Perkins was 6-15 (.400) with 3 doubles, 3 runs scored, 2 RBIs, and stole 2 bases. On the mound, Rhodes got back to back outstanding pitching performances by freshman Austin Carden who went 7.1 IP allowed 5 hits, 2 runs, no earned runs, struck out 4, and did not allow a walk. On Sunday, Rhodes had a combined effort between junior Max Gertz and sophomore Hunter Chandler. Gertz went the first 5 innings allowing 3 hits, 1 unearned run, and struck out 7 before leaving the game with a blister in the sixth. Chandler worked the next 4 innings allowing 3 hits, no runs, struck out 3 and did not give up a walk. Rhodes is now 21-12 on the year and 5-4 in SCAC play. Rhodes will travel to Birmingham-Southern this weekend.

Sewanee picked up a win and lost two games at SCAC foe Centre this weekend. The Tigers are 8-15 on the year and have won two SCAC games. Sewanee senior Taylor Burns logged two homeruns in the series and chipped in seven RBIs as well. He was 5-13 from the plate for the series. Sewanee will host Oglethorpe this Friday and Saturday.

Southwestern was 1-2 this week and 1-1 in conference play to move to 15-16 overall and 8-6 in the SCAC. Tuesday, the Pirates faced off with Concordia-Austin at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas. The Pirates scored early but were unable to hold off the Tornados and ultimately fell 4-2. The one game was all SU needed to dust off the rust and gear up for conference action at #2 Millsaps. The Pirates took the upset in game one on Saturday due to strong pitching and a constant barrage of hits. SU scored two runs in the first inning, two in the third, one in the fourth and three in the seventh to capture the 8-6 victory. The Pirates recorded 14 hits and allowed only six from the Majors for the game. The upset bid in Sunday’s game fell short. The game was tied at three going into the seventh and Millsaps scored two in the bottom of the inning to steal the 5-3 victory. Texas Lutheran comes to Georgetown on Tuesday for a non-conference match-up before the Pirates hit the road again to take on Trinity on Friday and Saturday.

Trinity took two wins in three games in an important SCAC series at Austin College over the weekend, moving into third place in the SCAC West Division standings. The Tigers swept a Saturday afternoon doubleheader with a pair of one-run victories, then lost 16-15 in an offensive showcase by both teams. Trinity broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the top of the seventh in the opening game of the series (a game scheduled for just seven innings), then pulled off similar late-inning heroics in game two. Down 2-1 in the ninth, the Tigers were able to tie the game and send it to extra innings – the second extra-inning game of the year between the two teams. Trinity then scored the eventual game-winning run in the 10th inning to earn the doubleheader sweep. On Sunday, Austin came out of the dugout on fire offensively, taking a 9-0 lead after just two innings of play and survived a wild Trinity comeback attempt, 16-15. Trinity will host Southwestern in the final home games of the regular season this weekend, playing a three-game SCAC series.

For the complete SCAC Diamond Weekly for Week 9, click here.