SUWANEE, Ga. - DePauw and Sewanee began their 2010 seasons during the week of Feb. 15-21. The Indiana Tigers split four games with Maryville (Tenn.) while the Tennessee Tigers suffered three losses to the LaGrange (Ga.) Panthers. Austin College & Hendrix and Millsaps & Southwestern tussled in league play as well.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College improved to 4-6 overall and 2-3 in SCAC play with a two game sweep over Hendrix last week, getting a pair of gems from starting pitchers Tyler Steed and Will Chermak. In game one, the ‘Roos fell behind 1-0 early but Brian Buehler’s double in the fifth tied things up and Phillip Gonzales scored in the bottom of the seventh for a walk off 2-1 victory. Steed threw a complete game, scattering six hits while striking out three and walking just one, and Buehler went 2-for-3. In game two, Chermak tossed a complete game shutout, giving up just six hits while striking out four and walking zero in 9.0 innings of work as the ‘Roos took a 6-0 victory against the Warriors thanks to a five run first inning. Scooter Merritt went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in to lead Austin College.

Birmingham-Southern remained on the road this week, traveling to LaGrange on Friday afternoon for a single. BSC won this “Battle of the Panthers” in large style, 12-6. ‘Southern got things going early with a pair of back-to-back homers in the top of the first from Sam Hill and Brandon Ricco. BSC hung runs on the board in each of the first seven innings, overwhelming the LaGrange defense. ‘Southern had 15 hits on the day. John Naramore got the start and the win for the Panthers in his first decision this season. BSC will open their home schedule on Monday as they host Martin Methodist College in a single before a long weekend series with Arcadia and Mount St. Joseph.

Centre will open up the 2010 season with a doubleheader at home against Earlham College, February 27 and then travel to Maryville, Tenn. to play Maryville College Sunday, February 28. The Colonels finished the 2009 season with an overall record of 12-24 and posted a 6-6 record in conference play. In the SCAC Tournament the team finished in third place, which was the team's highest finish in school history.

With no outside practices to date, DePauw opened the season with Saturday and Sunday doubleheader splits at Maryville (Tenn.). DePauw dropped the first game on Saturday by a 7-6 score, but rallied for a 5-3 win in the nightcap. That win was the first collegiate victory for interim head coach Jake Martin. On Sunday, the Tigers lost the opening game, 4-2, but came back to win game two, 2-1. Second baseman Taylor Hoffman hit .500 (7-14) for the Tigers with a homer and three RBI, while Alex Jacques hit .400 (4-10). Rob McPike and Hobs Donovan picked up the pitching wins with McPike allowing just two hits and striking out eight in 5 1/3 innings and Donovan striking out six in 5 innings. Andrew Newberry and Andy Manson collected one save each.

Hendrix was held to just one run in its SCAC West Division double header at Austin College on Saturday afternoon at Baker Field. The Roos won the opener in the bottom of the seventh, 2-1, and senior RHP Will Chermak tossed a complete game shutout for the 6-0 win in the night cap. The Warriors have opened the SCAC season with a four-game skid and now stand at 3-4 overall. The Roos knotted the opener in the fifth on a double to right field and Hendrix sophomore RHP Teddy Smoyer was called upon in the sixth and seventh to close the game out. DH Matt Burke then slapped a grounder in the hole to Vlaskamp for the game-winning RBI. Smoyer was pinned with his second loss of the season. Chermak retired the first 11 batters he faced and Austin exploded for five runs on three doubles in the first inning. The Roos scored their last run of the day in the eighth frame.

Millsaps lost its first game of the season at home to Mississippi College but came alive offensively in a weekend series on the road at Southwestern, sweeping the Pirates in the two-game series while scoring 40 runs on 37 hits. The Majors improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the SCAC after this week’s play. Against the Choctaws, Millsaps gave up seven first-inning runs but clawed its way back into the game eventually losing 9-6. In game one of the Southwestern series, Millsaps again struggled out of the game allowing five runs in the first inning as the Pirates knocked starting pitcher Elliot Varney out of the game recording just one out, but Mills (1-1) came to his relief and got the win as the Majors responded by scoring six runs in the third inning to take a 7-6 lead and did not look back securing a 19-10 victory. Game two saw Millsaps score its highest run total since March 2008 in a 21-7 win in seven innings. Starter Aaron Williams improved to 3-0 on the season with the win while Pirates' starter Matt Stuart took the loss and falls to 2-2 on the year. Millsaps will return to action on Tuesday as they face rival Belhaven University at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson at 4 p.m.

Oglethorpe went 3-0 on the week to raise its record to 5-1 on the season. The 5-1 mark matches Oglethorpe’s best 6-game start to a season in SCAC history. The Petrels began both the 1995 and 2002 seasons with the identical record. The Petrels started the week with a 6-2 win over Piedmont on the road on the strength of a stellar outing by pitcher Mark Hoban. Hoban, who transferred to Oglethorpe from Piedmont before last season, threw 8 1/3 quality innings, striking out 10 men in the process. Oglethorpe followed that up with an 11-2 trouncing of Atlanta Christian, also on the road. Junior short-stop and right-handed pitcher Matt Cornwell pitched eight strong innings for Oglethorpe, striking out four and allowing only two earned runs to pick up his first win of the season. Freshman Drew Brooks finished the win with a scoreless ninth inning. The Petrels capped their perfect week by knocking off Washington and Lee on Sunday, 14-7. The Petrels used a 10-run outburst in the middle innings to pull away from the visiting Generals. Oglethorpe has games scheduled this week against Washington and Lee (Monday), LaGrange (Tuesday) and Johnson and Wales (Saturday).

Rhodes went 4-0 in their second week of the 2010 season. The Lynx defeated cross-town rival Christian Brothers University 15-4 on Wednesday before traveling to Pineville, La. for a 3 game weekend series. Rhodes won the first game Saturday night 12-4 behind an outstanding pitching performance by sophomore Austin Carden and junior Hunter Chandler. Carden and Chandler combined for 14 strikeouts to only 3 walks and allowed only 3 earned runs. The Lynx then completed the sweep by taking a double header on Sunday 3-2 and 7-2, respectively. Junior RHP Taylor Babich was dominate on Sunday afternoon going 6.2 innings, allowing 3 hits, 0 earned runs, and striking out 4. Freshman Jackson Baker picked up his first collegiate victory in the second game on Sunday going 5.2 innings allowing 0 earned runs, 4 hits, and struck out 4. The Lynx offense was lead by junior Brent Lindsey who hit .500 (7-14) with 3 runs, and 5 RBIs. The Lynx will travel to Atlanta, Ga. this weekend for the Rawlings Classic hosted by Emory University. Rhodes will take on Emory on Friday, LaGrange College on Saturday, and York College on Sunday.

Sewanee opened its 2010 season at LaGrange for a three-game series this weekend and dropped all three to the regional foe Panthers. Sewanee scored four runs in the opener Saturday and Chris Mauro and Connor Liston led the Sewanee bats with a pair of hits each. Liston scored two of the four Tiger runs. The Tigers play at Maryville (Tenn.) Thursday before hosting Maryville (Tenn.) Saturday and North Park on Sunday.

Southwestern went 1-3 this week as they opened up SCAC play over the weekend. Tuesday SU headed to UMHB and split the double-header winning game one 5-2 and then falling in game two 5-2. Southwestern returned home to open up conference action with a two game series with Millsaps on Saturday and Sunday. SU started off well in the first game, taking an early 6-1 lead after two innings of action. Millsaps controlled the game after that and took a high scoring 19-10 game. Sunday's contest was a flip-flop of game one as the Majors jumped out to a 12-0 lead after the opening three frames and continued to score to defeat Southwestern 21-7. The Pirates return to non-conference action on Tuesday as they host Hardin-Simmons for one game and then head to Austin College for a three game series on Saturday and Sunday.

Trinity took two out of three to win a series with Brandeis University last week, clinching that series victory with a 17-7 win on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers won the opener 15-7 on Tuesday night, but lost a 7-6 game in 10 innings on Friday – snapping the team’s six-game winning streak. Trinity has scored 12 or more runs six times in its first 10 games, winning all six of those games. Trinity will continue SCAC play this week, traveling to Ark. for a two-game series with defending SCAC champion Hendrix. The Tigers and Warriors last met in the SCAC title game, which Hendrix won 11-1. Hendrix also won the regular season series with Trinity by taking three wins in five meetings. Last year in Conway, Hendrix took two out of three games.

For the complete SCAC Diamond Weekly for Week 3, click here.