BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[frank_ezelle]

TU seems like they have found 3 solid starting pitchers and that's going to make them very tough for the rest of the year.  It looks like the loss came primarily from one inning of walks and wild pitches, otherwise TU would have had a sweep this weekend.

Millsaps and Rhodes split in a couple of games that were similar to the Millsaps vs. East Texas Baptist games that opened the season.  Rhodes took the opener on Saturday 10-8 and Millsaps came back on Sunday for a 22-11 win.  Look under schedule/results on the Rhodes baseball page for the box scores:

http://www.rhodes.edu/athletics/baseball/

[historymajor]

Frank... I'd say!

Player                     ERA   W-L

Brian Oates...........  0.57   3-0
Drew Bignall..........  2.19   3-1
Chuck Huggins......  3.86   2-1
--------------
Jonathan Scudder.  0.00   0-0 
Ryan Poffenroth....  0.00   0-0 
Matt Berning.........  0.00   0-0 
Britton Horn..........  2.13   1-1 
John Allen.............  2.45   0-0 
Evan Bronson.......  2.89   0-0 
Adam Frey........... . 3.38   1-1 
Ryan Hopkins.......  5.19   0-1 

Totals..............       2.34  10-5   
Opponents...........  7.33   5-10 

[historymajor]

Trinity got all over UW-Stout early on route to a 16-2 pasting last night.  Possibly an example of North (no games) schools, vs South (almost mid-season)....

http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Baseball/statistics/uws-tu.htm

http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Baseball/Recaps/2006/TU-UWS.htm

[frank_ezelle]

It certainly helps to have 15 games under your belt plus a lot of outdoor practices when you play a team that is opening the season and has probably done most of their workouts indoors.

That being said, Trinity started off the season 2-4 and now has gone 9-1 over the last 10 games.  During that stretch that have only given up 21 runs with 7 of those runs coming in the 7-5 loss and no more than 3 runs given up in any of the other 9 games.  They have scored 102 runs including 10 or more in 5 of the games.  They are clearly the hottest team in the SCAC.

But, with that being said, they have had the advantage of playing at home during this entire stretch, having now played 12 straight at home.  They go on the road to play Concordia and then they return home for 10 more games.  I wonder if playing 22 out of 23 games at home in the middle of the season will be a problem when Trinity has to go on the road to play.  It's just something to keep an eye on as the season unfolds.

[historymajor]

Frank,,, no question that 'home cooking' is a factor in Trinity's successes so far.  The Rhodes postponement and the Hendrix flip-flop are contributing factors also...  It'll be a strain to play so many of the late season games on the road, but I think that the deep pitching staff will prove even more important in that stretch of the season.

[BigPoppa]

Trinity got all over UW-Stout early on route to a 16-2 pasting last night.  Possibly an example of North (no games) schools, vs South (almost mid-season)....

Many northern schools' first days outside are the day before the season opener when they go down south. I played one year where our practice was rained out and our first day outside was our season opener... very tough on outfielders.

[frank_ezelle]

Historymajor, I found something of interest that seems to have slipped by the Trinity website and everyone else.  Nick Vera was named as honorable mention for the national hitter of the week award given by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.  It was for the week of 2/27 through 3/5.  Here's a link:
http://odac.bridgewater.edu/div3base/2006/stories/pow.htm

[historymajor]

Press release from TU:
AUSTIN – The Concordia Tornados beat the Trinity Tigers 9-6 Tuesday in a non-conference baseball game at Keller-Fasholz Field.

http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Baseball/statistics/cua-tu.htm

http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Baseball/Recaps/2006/TU-CUA.htm

Trinity (11-6) fell behind after a two-run homer by Concordia in the bottom of the first inning. The Tigers rallied with a single run in the third inning followed by three total in the fifth and six to take a 4-2 lead. Concordia (10-8) exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning and took control of the game. Trinity added two runs in the eighth inning and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but could not extend the game.

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps defeated Huntingdon last night 5-4, scoring a run in the bottom of the 9th for the victory.  It was a well played baseball game between two very good teams.  Adding to the atmosphere of the game was about 100 kids who had participated in the Spring Break baseball camp--there was no trouble finding someone to chase after foul balls.

Millsaps went with a pitch by committee approach and only gave up 1 earned run.  Tal Hendrix pitched to one batter (4-4 game, two runners on base) but it was the last out in the top of the 9th so he came away with the victory.  He has pitched well in previous games and still picked up the loss so it was time for him to get a victory in a close game.  The game ended with John Pacillo scoring on a wild pitch after he had opened the inning with a double, been sacrificed to third by Nicky Prather, and then the bases were loaded with walks to Nick Crawford and Jason Hadley.  The win moves Millsaps to 14-4 and Huntingdon drops to 11-3.  Link to stats:  http://www.huntingdon.edu/athletics/mens_athletics/baseball/box_scores/03_15_06_msp

Additional stuff for those who care:
1)  In the bottom of the 8th Wetzel got the green light on a 3-0 pitch in a 4-4 game with a runner on 3rd.  He lined a bullet straight to the left fielder.  I was standing by the Huntingdon dugout when they came in from the field.  They were obviously impressed by the line out.  I heard the comments, "He couldn't have hit that ball any harder than that" and "If he had gotten under that ball it would have gone 550 feet" among other statements.  I've heard similar quotes from other visiting teams when taking photos near their dugout.  Wetzel doesn't get many home runs because he rarely hits fly balls but apparently his bat speed is about as good as you'll find in college baseball.
2)  In the 9th inning John Pacillo led off with a double which was huge.  Nicky Prather moved Pacillo over with a sac. bunt and that was equally huge.  I was listening to the Huntingdon coach go over the options and there were so many things that were in play because of the successful sacrifice, one of which was the opportunity to score on a wild pitch which is how the game ended.  Doing the little things right is so often the key to success.
3)  As far as non-conference games go, this was a big win.  It would be nice if Millsaps puts themselves in a position to get an at large invite to the NCAA Tournament if they don't win the SCAC Tournament.  Huntingdon is 11-3 with an 0-2 record to Millsaps and 1-1 against Sewanee.  Huntingdon has victories over Methodist College, Bridgewater College, and Thomas More College, teams we don't see much in this area.  It gives a selection committe a better point of reference--Millsaps beat Huntingdon, Huntingdon beat so-and-so, etc.
4) And finally, Millsaps host Illinois Wesleyan for 2 games this weekend.  They were ranked 13th in the preseason so this will be a big series for Millsaps.  Two wins this weekend would go a long way come tournament selection time.

[Ralph Turner]

Frank, the Baseball Handbook 2006 has not been released.  However, I do not believe that baseball is different from basketball.  This game will no impact on the formal criteria, because it is not an in-region game.

(The 2005 Handbook is not showing up on the NCAA site either.)

[frank_ezelle]

Ralph, it goes without saying that you know far, far more about how this all works than I do.  It sounds like winning (or losing) to teams outside your region have no bearing on NCAA bids.  It's a shame if that's the case and it doesn't seem like that's the way it works in the larger divisions, but I guess D3 must be considered as regional rather than national.  I'm sure that both team will still be working their hardest to win the games this weekend.

[Ralph Turner]

Frank, this "regional criteria for a national championship" is what the CCIW, the WIAC, the MIAA, the NCAC and the OAC fans are squealing about in basketball.

I need to check this year's Handbook to see if there is a provision for the Last Quarter of the Season/Last 10 games.

Otherwise, why does IWU come south to get beat up by schools that have already played one-quarter of the season?  Millsaps gets a good opponent, and the IWU gets quality competition to get his team into shape.

[BigPoppa]

I know that the region games are supposed to have the biggest impact on the selections, but I have sat in on a Regional Meeting and they certainly do talk about wins and losses from outside the region... in some way it does have an impact if only to decide between two or three evenly  rated in-region teams. I think that it should be that way.... at least for the Pool B and Pool C teams.
Teams should be rewarded for playing tougher games down south rather than scheduling cupcakes early in the season. I know this does not really affect the southern school but the cold weather teams are hugely affected by this.

[frank_ezelle]

I have the photos from the Huntingdon vs. Millsaps game posted.  The following link is for the photo website--click on the Baseball 2006 link, and then click on the Huntingdon photo album.  Click on the small photos to get the full size photos. 

Link:  http://photobucket.com/albums/v283/Millsaps_Majors/

[frank_ezelle]

The Saturday game between Illinois Wesleyan and Millsaps has been cancelled due to rain.  The teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 2:00.  If the Millsaps field is unplayable tomorrow, they will move over to Smith-Wills stadium, a minor league stadium in Jackson with artificial turf.