SUWANEE, Ga. - Trinity University became the first team to qualify for the 2011 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball championship tournament thanks to a three-game SCAC sweep of league rival Southwestern. Trinity improved to 25-8 overall and 12-5 in SCAC play.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College took two of three games against
No.23-ranked Millsaps over the weekend, falling 6-2 in game one
before the ‘Roo bats exploded for 24 runs on 30 hits in the
next two games, winning by scores of 11-10 and 13-1 in those two
games. Lee Frank was virtually unstoppable at the plate in his two
appearances, hitting .857 with a homer, a triple and 10 runs batted
in, and Brian Buehler hit .538 with a double, a triple and three
RBI. John Schulmeister hit .500 and drove in four runs, Austin
Vaughan hit .455 and also drove in four and Andy White hit .444 in
the three game set. As a team, the ‘Roos hit .394 with nine
doubles, three triples and a homer and had a team slugging
percentage of .585 for the weekend. Christian Curtis tossed his
second straight complete game victory in the 13-1 win on Sunday,
bringing his record to 3-3 and lowering his ERA to 2.66 for the
season. Austin College is back in action on Tuesday when they hit
the road to take on UT-Tyler at 6 p.m.
Birmingham-Southern (No. 9 – ABCA) went 4-1
this week, defeating Berry College on the road, Tuesday, losing to
Emory at home, Wednesday, and then sweeping Sewanee at home over
the weekend. BSC is on the road all this week, traveling to face
Millsaps College in a single game this Wednesday, followed by a
conference series against DePauw this weekend in Greencastle, Ind.
Senior Sam Hill leads the Panthers at the plate this season with a
.436 average, while sophomore Bruce Maxwell leads with 45 RBI.
Overall BSC is out-scoring its opponents 234-117 and out-hitting
opponents 303-232. The 14-man pitching staff has a combined ERA of
3.00 with three shutouts, 218 strikeouts, and a .254 opponent
batting average.
Centre went 1-3 on the week falling to
Transylvania 14-1 Tuesday and the losing to of three on the road to
Rhodes. The Colonels, now 10-17 overall and 3-6 in the SCAC, will
host Thomas More Tuesday and the Sewanee Saturday and Sunday.
DePauw posted a 3-1 record during the week including a pair of shutouts. The Tigers opened with a 4-0 win over Franklin on Tuesday as Hobs Donovan, Andy Manson and Elliott Ross combined for the shutout. DePauw then split a doubleheader with Oglethorpe on Saturday, dropping the first game, 17-7, and winning the nightcap, 9-0. In the opening game, the Stormy Petrels jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the third partially due to six of DePauw's eight errors coming in the opening two innings. That lead reached 17-4 in the fourth. In the nightcap, Ross retired the first 23 batters he faced and allowed just two hits and one walk with 13 strikeouts in the complete game shutout. The Tigers then won the series with a 10-3 victory on Sunday. Oglethorpe took a 2-0 lead in the first before the Tigers scored four in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good. The Tigers hit .323 for the week led by Alex Wright at .467 and Robbie Stein at .400.
Millsaps had a rough weekend, dropping two-of-three at Austin College. The Majors got the win in game one, 6-3, thanks to a three-run fourth off four hits and a ‘Roos’ error. They tacked on two more in the sixth for insurance, but they did not need them as Aaron Williams came away with the complete game win in seven innings giving up seven hits with four walks and five strikeouts. Millsaps was in good position to win game two of the double header, up one after a five-run top of the eighth to go up 10-9, but Austin answered with two in the bottom of the eighth then got the Majors out in the top of the ninth on two grounders and a fly to right to end the game 10-11. Sunday’s third game was a one-sided affair, 13-1, thanks to Austin’s Christian Curtis. The ‘Roo hurler gave up just six hits on the day and one run to a Josh Ordeneaux single in the third. The Majors will not have to wait long to put this weekend behind them as they travel to Memphis on Tuesday afternoon to take on Rhodes and will return home Wednesday for a non-conference game with the Birmingham-Southern at 6 p.m.
Oglethorpe struggled to a 1-3 week, losing at home to Maryville (L, 7-2) and dropping two of three at SCAC East rival DePauw. Against the Scots on Wednesday, the Petrels fell behind 4-1 in the third inning and Maryville was able to keep them at arm's length for the rest of the game, adding an additional run in the fourth and two more in the sixth. Meanwhile, the Petrels were only able to manage two runs on five hits. On the weekend, the team got a split in their Saturday doubleheader at DePauw. The Petrels got the bats out in Game 1 and hammered the Tigers 17-7, then were shut down by DePauw pitching in a 9-0 Game 2 loss. Oglethorpe dropped the rubber game of their three-game series at DePauw Sunday, losing 10-3 to the Tigers. The loss drops the Petrels to 14-12 on the year, 4-4 in SCAC play. After a full weekend of conference play, they remain in third place in the East Division. The Petrels return to action Tuesday at home, where they will take on Covenant. First pitch is scheduled for approximately 6 p.m.
Rhodes went 2-1 this week as they took the second two games of the three game conference series against visiting Centre. The Lynx dropped the opener 9-5 as they were unable to overcome five errors in the field. Rhodes won the second game 12-11 in 10 innings propelled by 5.1 of outstanding relief pitching by senior Hunter Chandler. Chandler silenced the Colonel bats allowing 3 hits, 2 walks, 1 unearned run, and struck out 8. On Sunday, Rhodes jumped out to an early 7-0 lead highlighted by sophomore Matt Burnick’s grand slam, as the Lynx cruised to a 16-6 victory. Rhodes is now 15-15 on the year and 6-3 in SCAC play. The Lynx will take on Millsaps and LaGrange in mid-week action before traveling to Atlanta, Ga. to take on Oglethorpe in a three game set over the weekend.
Sewanee picked up a 17-4 victory over Covenant College Tuesday night, before dropping a trio of conference games to host Birmingham-Southern College Saturday and Sunday. Against the Scots, Sewanee used a nine-run fifth inning to break open a 3-3 ballgame and take home the 17-4 win. Freshman pitcher Lee Schurlknight earned the win as freshman Jack Rogers led the way at the plate with a 4-for-4 effort including a double and an RBI. Taylor Irwin added three doubles in five trips to the plate and drove in three runs. Ninth-ranked Birmingham-Southern got the best of the Tigers over the weekend, though, as the Panthers picked up both ends of a doubleheader Saturday, winning 7-1 and 12-2, before grabbing a 4-6 victory on Sunday. Alan Komorowski led the Tigers on Sunday, pounding out a two-run homer in the loss. Sewanee moves to 8-14 overall and 0-5 in conference play. Next up for the Tigers is a doubleheader with Rust College, Thursday, April 7, at 1 and 4 p.m.
No. 18 Trinity went 4-0 last week, winning a mid-week game against Texas Lutheran, and then swept a three-game SCAC series with Southwestern over the weekend. The conference wins clinched a spot for Trinity in the SCAC Baseball Championship tournament at the end of the month, in Millington, Tenn. The Tigers currently lead the SCAC West Division with a record of 12-5. Senior catcher Kyle Felix broke another Trinity record on Sunday afternoon, hitting his 31st career home run to become the Tiger home run king. Earlier this season, he broke Trinity’s record for career doubles, and is currently second in SCAC history. Trinity concludes its regular season home schedule against McMurry on Tuesday. The Tigers finish their SCAC schedule on the road this weekend, taking on Millsaps. Trinity and Millsaps split two games in San Antonio earlier this season.
For the complete SCAC Diamond Weekly for Week 9, click here.
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