BB: ASC: American Southwest Conference

[Bearkat00]

Little premature this early in the season, but hey, who's stopping me, I'm excited.

ASC STANDINGS

East
Texas-Tyler  1-0
La College    2-1
Ozarks         3-2
Miss College 1-1
UTD              0-0
ETBU             0-2
Letourneau   0-2

LeTourneau is actually 1-2.  They added a SAGU to the schedule the Friday before they played McM.  They beat them 6-1 behind Sophmore Joe Wolfers pitching performance.  

[Bearkat00]

I watched McM play LETU and UTTyler last weekend.  I wasn't horrible impressed.  While they are solid and could beat any team in the conference, I don't think they are dangerous.  They play good defense, but their line-up shouldn't scare anyone.  They look to have a solid pitching staff.

UT-Tyler could be very dangerous this year.  I am going to go out on a limb and say this team is the best they've had.  They are very solid defensively and look to have some big sticks in the line-up.

LeTourneau...well....they are just LeTourneau.  Return everyone back from last year's team, barring two starters, but I wouldn't expect too much out of them.  Very thin pitching staff....

[Just_Some_Guy]

It's hard to say what I expect from McMurry.  I would guess they'll finish 3rd behind TLU and HSU in the ASC West.  They took 2 out of 3 from Chapman last year, but they didn't have to face Devin Drag.  They did get to Sulentor who threw well for Chapman all year last year.  I think the middle of their lineup is pretty solid though. David, Vorhees, and Casey are all really good hitters. They're going to miss both Carrizales and Erickson on the mound and at the plate though I think.  That said, they went out and got a lot of JC guys from Oakton, Cisco, etc so they are plugging those holes with guys that have been in the fire. They definitely ran into a solid UT-Tyler team who will probably win the ASC East, but you have to take McMurry seriously every time out.  I think Chapman probably sweeps though as I think they're the strongest team in the country if their starting pitching holds up.

[Just_Some_Guy]

Another terrific match up this weekend could be Trinity(TX) ranked 27th/30th nationally at UT Dallas, coming off a 33 win season and returning nearly every starter.
Trinity has a solid and talented senior class, many of whom have started and been signficant contributors  since the 2004 West Region final team.
Trinity has quality pitching and depth of pitching but will need Brian Oates for the entire year.  Brian, is usually 88-89, touching 92/93 mph. He was nearly unhittable over 8 appearances last season before things were cut short by an injury.  Brian looks to have had a good summer in the Coastal Plain league along with teammate Nick Vera. 
Trinity will also be challenged to replace Ryan Cavan.  If they can suitably plug the hole left at short and Brian performs, this should be another very good team to challenge in the SCAC and West Region.

This is probably the wrong board for this, but I'll repost it on the SCAC board as well. I think Trinity definitely pushes Millsaps for that top spot, and I'll even go out on a limb and say Trinity wins the SCAC this year.  They have a lot of depth on the mound IF Oates stays healthy. He's 15-2 as a Tiger with opponents probably hitting under .200 against him despite a little bit of a sophomore slump, but he's dealt with injury issues the last two years after a stellar freshman year.  With Bignall, Huggins, Horn, Hopkins and a few others back their staff is really deep and they probably have the SCAC player of the year in Nick Vera who just dominated the Coastal Leagues this summer. Cavan was a big loss though and I just don't know that Stosh Hoover fills that hole, at least not offensively. It will be interesting to see how the pick up the offensive slack. Holman and Zabor will help solidify the middle, but Hoover has to swing it and Verrios has to return to 2005 form.

[Bearkat00]

Austin College def LeTourneau Univ 15-7
LETU - 7 13 2
AC   -15 17 3

LETU - Cravalho 2 for 6 with 3 rbi's
AC - Schleizer 4 for 4 with 6 rbi's

LETU 1-3 on the young season

[infielddad]

Just some Guy,
Good stuff.  Huggins transferred.  He is now pitching at UCSB and actually picked up his first win at the DI level over the weekend.  With that said, they still have pitching beyond those guys you have listed. Not bad when you lose a guy to a DI program and still have pitching that should carry the team very far.
Vera is absolutely terrific.  He has worked so hard and earned every accolade he might get.  I have not seen Nick since his freshman year but follow him and listen to his banter with our son.  Little doubt his work ethic has earned him the ability to be one of the top players in college baseball..not just the DIII level. While he does not have Garner Wetzel power, he has size, speed, strength and the ability to hit for average, no matter who is pitching.
I am  hoping a certain Blue Jay scout continues to frequent those games because Vera and Oates can play next year.

[Just_Some_Guy]

Blue Jays Scout eh?  That wouldn't make you the proud pop of J. Armstrong would it which would explain the banter between he and Vera.  I hear Nick thinks he's going to go get some of Jason's records, and the two give each other a pretty good time about it.  I'd love to see Vera and Oates get a chance to play at the next level and feel like both could. Oates has the stuff, and certainly the work ethic so I hope scouts don't shy away because of his past nagging injuries.

I guess those California boys just like going back to their home state, and without question there are some guys that I didn't mention... Horn, Dailey (who came on strong at the end of the year), and Poffenroth to name a few.

One thing about Trinity is that I wish Bardwell would've stuck with the program, because right about now TU could use that extra big bat, and he certainly could stick it. Fregosi is more a defensive option from what I've seen thus far.

[Just_Some_Guy]

The SCAC bests the ASC twice tonight.

Millsaps 8 - Mississippi College 7

Hunter Owen 3 RBI double in the bottom of the 8th to put Millsaps up for good.

http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/baseball/mcb-0213.htm

Southwestern 7 - Mary-Hardin Baylor 6

http://www2.umhb.edu/sportsinfo/cbaseball/031307-a.htm

Southwestern throws their ace Morrison the complete game. No disrespect intended, but 12 hits, 6 strikeouts and 7 BBs, 43 batters faced sounds like he probably threw too many pitches this early in the young season, especially for a non-conference weekday game.

[Bmo]

In what might be one of the ugliest looking line scores you will ever see, Chapman defeated McMurry 13 - 7 to open the three game series...  8 errors by Chapman, 7 hbp (2 for Cavan), mix in some passed ball, balks, and there you have it.  Early season baseball at its finest....

http://www1.chapman.edu/athletics/06-07/baseball/cu-mcm1.htm

[Just_Some_Guy]

Notes on the Game:

1.) I didn't suspect that McMurry would get to Drag (who does?) I think his ERA will stay under 1.00 for the entire year.

2.) Yacko continued to put up ridiculous offensive numbers, but can a guy be a POTY hitting out of the 7-8 hole spots where he gets pitches to see and he's not counted on to deliver every single at bat.  I wondered how they would work that.  I know he got moved up into the 6th slot one game against Cal Lutheran and was 1-4. He was back down 8 hole for this game. That said, 14 RBIs in 7 games and he's pitched well thus far as well. I think pulling double duty helps his case. Anyhow, too early in the year - moving on.

3.) Per usual, I don't think Chapman has very much depth out of the bullpen.  Again this year, I don't know if it will hurt them.  They're such a sound team in so many areas. It MAY bite them come playoff-format time, but it hasn't the last two years so who knows. Their pitchers don't have to put in the innings in a playoff tournament prior to the regionals and I think that helps save the arms a little.

4.) I'm interested in how McMurry pitches for the remainder of the series.  I know they're counting on Curry this year and he looked somewhat suspect in the loss so... They were one of the weaker pitching staffs in the top-half of the ASC last year minus Erickson's consistency and Carrizales coming on strong at the end of the year.

[Just_Some_Guy]

Mary Hardin Baylor 24 - East Texas Baptist 10

Will Melton was 3-4 in the loss for ETBU.
Starting pitcher Reggie Patrick gave up 9 ER in 2.1 innings.

Corey Dobbins posted the win for UMHB giving up 3 runs in 4 innings pitched in relief.

Marcus Volz 5-5, 4 run, 2 RBI
Ricky LaFont 3-4, 3 RBI
Gary Lopez 3-4, 6 RBI, HR
Joseph Villegas 4-6. 3 run, 2 RBI
R. B. Garza 3-6, 2 run, 2RBI

[Just_Some_Guy]

Concordia 11 - Southwestern 0

No box score yet.

WP Jonathon Miller, 7 IP, 9 SO, 0 runs
Brad Payne his 2 HRs

[Just_Some_Guy]

UT Tyler 16 - Mid-America 0

1B Brett Amyx 2 HR

http://www.uttyler.edu/athletics/baseball/news/2007/feb16-07.html

Mississippi College 21 - Miss. Valley State 5

Jody Britt 4-6, 2 HR, 7 RBI

http://www.gochoctaws.com/sports/baseball/2007/mcvsmvsu.htm

Ozarks 5 - Williams Baptist 3

http://www.ozarks.edu/athletics/news/news_story.asp?iNewsID=1670&strBack=%2Fathletics%2FDefault%2Easp

[Bearkat00]

ETBU sweeps twin bill at UMHB 3-1 & 8-7
Game 1
ETBU gets 2 run homer in the top of the 7th by pinch hitter Wilson to get the win
http://www2.umhb.edu/sportsinfo/cbaseball/021707-a.htm
Game 2
ETBU jumps out early and scores alll their runs in the first 5 innings. 
http://www2.umhb.edu/sportsinfo/cbaseball/021707-b.htm

[Just_Some_Guy]

Southwestern 4 - Concordia 3

WP Andy Morrison (2-0) 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 SO
LP Austin Derrick (0-2) 0.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER

Derrick relieved Szkotak who threw 5.1 IP, 8 H, 2 ER

Jacobs was 2-3 in the loss for Concordia

Southwestern:
DH Hermann was 4-4 w/ 2RBI
2B McMullen 3-4 w/ 2 2B

Concordia 6 - Southwestern 3

WP Morrison 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER
LP Eric Gonzalez 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER

5 different Concordia players contributed 2 hits:  2B Court, C Mitchell, LF Cmerek, SS Struhall, 1B Menefee
4 different Southwestern players had 2 hits each: C Boone, SS Falcone, CF Bellomy, 3B Bl. Williams