BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Ralph Turner]

Millsaps takes a 6-5 win over Rhodes in a game with an odd and sudden ending.  Millsaps was down 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded as Rhodes had just given an intentional walk to Hunter Owen.  With Derrick Boland at the plate and a 2-2 count, the Rhodes pitcher through a ball to give a full count, the runner on second bluffed like he was running and was way off second, the catcher threw the ball to second, it went into the outfield, and the runner on 3rd and 2nd both scored to end the game.

Was it a base running error and Millsaps got very lucky or was it a designed play trying to get a rundown going between 2nd and 3rd while the runner on 3rd scores and sends the game to extra innings?  I'm not sure.  I can't remember what the runner on 2nd did when the throw came to second and if that runner was trying to get back to the bag or playing for the rundown.  Either way, Millsaps was one pitch away from the end of their season and now they are still alive.

In a coaching decision that proved to be 100% correct, Coach Page brought in Travis Bogue in relief today.  Millsaps was trailing 5-0 at the time and Bogue shut out Rhodes the rest of the way.  Who will start for Millsaps tomorrow is an interesting question.  Three potential starter pitched in game 1 and the other two starters pitched today.  I could see Tait Hendrix coming back to pitch and I could see Drew Maddox starting the game instead of coming out of the bull pen. 

One note from the game is that Millsaps senior Hunter Abrams had a huge day with 4 hits, starting off with a 2-run homer that got Millsaps on the board and ending with a single in the bottom of the 9th as he eventually came around as the tieing run.  The 4 hits tie him with Stuart Phillips at 228 career hits, second on the Millsaps list and behind Jason Hadley's 1st place total of 236 hits.  I'd love to see Hunter break that tie in tomorrow's game and then break the record at the SCAC Tournament.

That surely is chancy, and it takes the bat out of the batter's hand.

Secondly, how does the runner know that he should be that far off the base on a 2-2 count to start that play.

I think that it was a lucky freshman mistake, on which Millsaps was able to capitalize.

[Ralph Turner]

As my dear departed Dad would say, DPU "ran themselves out of the inning" with a failed sac bunt and a caught stealing in the top of the first off Chermak.

[frank_ezelle]

I don't know if it was intentional or not.  If it was intentional, then the variety of this play that you see most often is a runner on 1st and 3rd, 2 outs, and the runner on 1st gets a poor jump in an attempt to steal 2nd.  The trick is to make it look like you really want to get to second when you actually want to get in a rundown and let the runner on 3rd score before you are tagged out.  It's a play that I see most often when the batter has 2 strikes.

Since the runner is attempting to draw a throw, his job is to make it look like he is a dead duck.  Plus, he has to be far enough away from the base that he doesn't get tagged out on the initial throw to the bag.  It makes it hard to tell if you are seeing poor base running or good acting.

Personally, I think it was an attempt to draw the throw because what other reason would the runner have to take off like that?  All I can go by is what I saw on the video and I think it was a designed play to get the game into extra innings.  The lucky part was the throw going to the outfield so that it gave Millsaps the win in regulation.

[Ralph Turner]

I could not tell if the man on third had a comparable jump to score before Malaschak would be tagged out.

[DPULefty22]

DePauw forces a Game 3 with an 8-2 victory over Austin today. The Tigers scored 8 in the first four innings to chase Chermak, who didn't have great command and didn't really show an effective breaking pitch today. Alland was stellar over eight innings for the Tigers, extricating himself from numerous jams and allowing just two unearned runs despite allowing 13(!!!) hits (all but one of which were singles).

Aaron Myers will throw tomorrow for the Tigers - DPU has only lost one of his starts all season. Not sure who will go for the Roos - Steed worked the final five innings in relief of Chermak. I suppose it'll be either Schleizer or Finke.

ed. Sunday morning - read the stats wrong, DPU's 6-1 in Myers' starts, 6-0 in starts by Brad Gerlach.

[Ralph Turner]

Southwestern leads Centre 5-1 at the end of 7. (SU won game one; Centre is home team for this game.)

Southwestern eliminates Centre on a 5-2 victory.

[jekelish]

DePauw forces a Game 3 with an 8-2 victory over Austin today. The Tigers scored 8 in the first four innings to chase Chermak, who didn't have great command and didn't really show an effective breaking pitch today. Alland was stellar over eight innings for the Tigers, extricating himself from numerous jams and allowing just two unearned runs despite allowing 13(!!!) hits (all but one of which were singles).

Aaron Myers will throw tomorrow for the Tigers - DPU hasn't lost one of his starts all season. Not sure who will go for the Roos - Steed worked the final five innings in relief of Chermak. I suppose it'll be either Schleizer or Finke.

Odds are it'll be Schleizer, but that puts the 'Roos in a tough spot, because if you've got him pitching, you still want to keep the DH spot...meaning you won't have Schleizer's bat in the lineup.  If not Schleizer, I'd actually bet on Christian Curtis taking the hill for the 'Roos...but again, odds are it'll be Schleizer.

[frank_ezelle]

I didn't go back and look through the posts but it seems as if the SCAC Crossover has gone about like everyone expected with the 1 and 2 from the West winning in 2 and the 1 and 2 from the East going into a third game.  It gets back to the reality that the West is the stronger half of the SCAC in baseball and I have to believe that weather is a big factor in that.  Not only do the West division teams have better weather for baseball throughout the year, they also recruit primarily from states where kids play baseball 10 out of the 12 months of the year.  It makes a difference.

On the games today, I have no predictions.  I have no idea who Millsaps will throw to start today's game.  Yesterday I suggested that Tait Hendrix might come back since he only threw 1.1 innings on Friday.  I also like the idea of starting Drew Maddox and seeing how many innings he can go.  Drew usually isn't called on for more than an inning or two at the end of the game, but I believe he is capable of 4 or 5 innings if needed.  For Rhodes I have to think that Catalanotto starts and Flanagan comes in as a reliever.  With Rhodes having a 5-0 starter rested and ready to go, you have to make Rhodes the favorite in this game, but it's now a 1-game series and you might as well flip a coin to predict the winner.

[DPULefty22]

DPU 6, AC 0. CG SO for Aaron Myers. See ya in Danville!

[Ralph Turner]

Millsaps 6, Rhodes 5, top of the 7th.

[Ralph Turner]

Final:  Millsaps 8, Rhodes 6.

RC's Lindsey flied to RF with runners on third and first.

SCAC-West dominates the series, winning 7 games to the SCAC-East's 3.

[frank_ezelle]

While I'm certainly happy for the Millsaps players and coaches who will now be playing in the SCAC Tournament next week, it would only be appropriate that someone mention the group of seniors at Rhodes who have come to the end of their SCAC careers.  They have done so much to revitalize the Rhodes baseball program.

According to the roster listed on the Rhodes website, there are 8 seniors on the team this season:  Matt Beesley, Richard Hurd, Daniel Vanaman, Matt Jack, David Welch, Jeff Mueller, Chris Catalanotto and Robert Flanagan.  Three of those seniors started in the field today and three pitched in today's game.  They leave some big shoes to fill for the 2009 season.

In the 4 years prior to this group arriving at Rhodes (2001-2004), Rhodes had an overall record of 43-87.  Over the last 4 seasons that overall record has improved to 102-66 with an extremely impressive record of 91-38 over the last 3 years.  I believe it's a group that was deserving of at least one trip to the NCAA Tournament and I also believe they would have been a very serious threat to win a regional if they had received an at-large bid in 2007.  I know that the results from yesterday and today were a disappointing way for the season to end at Rhodes, but this group of young men have had outstanding careers and they leave quite a legacy at Rhodes College.

[frank_ezelle]

One quick Millsaps note.  I didn't get to watch the last inning of today's ballgame because they had an awards ceremony at 6 this evening to honor the senior athletes at Millsaps.  The evening ends with a presentation of 4 special awards and the Archie Lamb Sportsmanship Award for the male athletes went to Hunter Abrams.  While I can think of other worthy candidates from the Millsaps athletic community, it would be hard to argue with the selecton of Hunter for this prestigious award.

[frank_ezelle]

So, who is the #1 seed at the SCAC tournament?  Millsaps has to be the #4 seed and Southwestern the #3, but is it Trinity or DePauw at the #1 spot.  At this point I don't know if it makes much difference who you play since everyone will have rested starting pitching and all the teams are capable of winning the tournament.  At the #4 seed, Millsaps will face a tough starting pitcher with either Trinity or DePauw--the good news is that the #4 seed gets a little more rest between games than the #2 and #3 teams.  It's not much of an advantage, but in a short tournament like this it has to help a little.

They have fixed the flaw in the schedule from last year.  If memory serves me correctly, the Saturday games started off last year with the loser's bracket game, then the winner's bracket game, and the last game of the day was the game two loser having to come back and play a team coming off a win and a few hours of rest. 

This year they have flip-flopped games one and two on Sat.  The winner's bracket game is first so the loser of that game will have some time to regroup before playing in the evening game.  The loser's bracket game is second which gives the winning team less rest for the next game, but it will be a team coming off the positive momentum of a win. 

[Krakatoa]

As #1 seed, TU plays Millsaps.  IMO, that's a tougher assignmnet than DePauw gets with Southwestern.  That's the way the cookie crumbles, but SW is this sportsfan's choice as #4 in terms of toughness.

In any event, the best team will have to get all the way through one way or another.  Good luck to all!