BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[historymajor]

Trnity Tigers travel to Abilene for DH Against HSU and McMurry 3/6
The Trinity baseball team will play its annual Abilene doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon, taking on Hardin-Simmons University and McMurry University.  Both games will be webcast live, with the Hardin-Simmons game kicking things off on 1:00 p.m., followed by the McMurry game at approximately 5:00 p.m.
SID Justin Parker on the call... assisted by Josh Moczygemba.

http://stream.krtu.org:9000/krtu-sports.m3u

Depending on site facilities, live stats may be available at:

http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/index.htm

[Ralph Turner]

Is Josh Moczygemba a relative of the famous Father Leopold Moczygemba, who brought Polish settlers to Texas.  He established the first permanent Polish settlement in the US at Panna Maria, where Father Moczygemba celebrated Mass under the big, beautiful live oak tree on Christmas Eve, 1854? 

[frank_ezelle]

Ralph, you bring such education to us sports nuts. 

A quick schedule note on Millsaps baseball on the internet.  Millsaps has a rematch at Huntingdon this Wednesday at 4:00.  There will probably be a pregame starting around 3:45.  Huntingdon has lost a couple of close games to Rhodes, they struggled last week at Millsaps, and they have won 4 games over Oglethorpe. 

Link to webcast:  http://www.espnradio1240.com/listenlive.php

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps beats Huntingdon 16-4 on the road Wednesday afternoon.  Next games are a DH with Tougaloo College this Saturday--one of those situations where I hope to get photos of every player on the roster in action.

Story on Huntingdon game:  http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/baseball/030707story.shtml

[frank_ezelle]

Anybody know anything about Austin College?  On paper, their first baseman looks like the POY front runner.  Southwestern should be much improved if they can improve their defense up the middle.  I hate to see Trinity losing a couple of key transfers about as much as I hate to see Millsaps gaining a few key transfers    All in all I think the west is going to be a battle especially with the new format and the addition of AC.  Should be very tight, one through four, throughout the regular season.

The western division isn't off to such a hot start and the east is even worse with the exception of Rhodes College (http://www.scac-online.org/baseball/).  While I don't expect anyone to dog their own team, how about some reports of how things are going at other schools.  It may turn out that the west is a close race between the top 4 but why is it looking so bad at the moment?

Is Austin down because of injuries, a tough schedule, key players not quite coming around to their potential, or what?  I thought Trinity would be better than 5-7 based on their pitching alone so there must be some story on their slow start.  And what it the story from Southwestern, a program that has really fallen off in recent years?  Hendrix is 9-7 but the starting pitching seems a little shaky based on ERA so will they have the depth needed for the new 4-game SCAC weekends? 

Anyone out there care to report?  I know you all get tired of coming this board and only seeing posts about Millsaps because I feel the same way.

[Ralph Turner]

I really think that it will take time for the Austin College programs, and I mention several, to come up to SCAC standards.  The programs that you have seen as competitive in the SCAC were their strengths in the ASC.

I think that AC was hoping for more immediate success in their inaugural season in the SCAC.  The new construction at Baker Field may bring talented players, but AC and UT-D are competing for the same students, and UT-D can be every bit as academically challenging as AC.

Frank, I want to thank you for your continued insights and observations.  I read them almost preferentially.  (By that I mean that I look at the most recent posts on all boards and go to yours very often as the first one that I read.)

[frank_ezelle]

Thanks for that compliment Ralph and I certainly enjoy all the insight that you bring to the board, especially the technical parts and the behind the scene workings that most average fans don't know or understand.  And as you close in on 12,000 posts (compared to my 500+), I think we can safely assume that you are about 20 times crazier more dedicated than me.

Regarding Austin, it has been a rough year for them in the SCAC.  In football there were next to last.  In soccer they were in the middle of the pack.  They did well in volleyball but I don't think it was as well as hoped.  Men's basketball was winless and the women were in the middle of the league.  It's early for the spring sports but tennis and softball aren't looking too good and baseball is just below .500 at the moment.

I've seen years when the above would sound like a typical Millsaps year so I know what it's like when there is such a gap between where you are and where you want to be.  To be honest, the Millsaps women's programs are looking at that sort of gap at this point in time.  It takes a lot of energy, commitment and attitude changes to turn something like that around and sometimes people just accept the status quo and sometimes people step up to the challenge and accomplish great things.  It will be interesting to see what happens at Austin College over the next few years. 

[Bob_Lotts]

There is a hell of a series going down in Atlanta between Rhodes/Oglethorpe. Rhodes is up 3-0 but the games have been close and VERY exciting. Especially last night when OU banged around SCAC Pitcher of the Year Robert Flanagan for 10 hits and 6 runs including a 2-run go ahead HR in the bottom of the eighth by freshmen JJ Rizzo. Give Rhodes credit for coming back in the top of ninth. But I think OU was robbed when the third base umpire made a very controversial runners interfernece double play call.....a really close play that effected the game way more that it was called than if it hadn't been called. The runner had already beaten the throw at first.

They play game four today, not sure who has what as far as pitching...but word is Oglethorpe is without one of their aces John Hale for the entire weekend? could be a slugfest as the weather warms up the ball should jump out of that small park.

Rhodes is as good as their 13-2 record and Oglethorpe, even though 4-13 is tough as nails. They play a tough schedule and I wouldn't be surprised if they made some noise in SCAC tourny this year.....

[frank_ezelle]

I went and checked out the Rhodes-OU scores and found that Rhodes had come out on top 10-7. 8-6. and 8-7.  It certainly takes no stretch of the imagination to see that OU isn't too far away from maybe a 2-1 lead in this series (I believe that the Friday game was 10-1 going into the bottom of the 9th so that game might not have been as close as it seems).

It seems like earlier posts have indicated that OU has a young team this year and maybe they will make some noise before the season is over.  The Rhodes team is still a mystery to me.  Obviously they have a chance to win any game that Flanagan starts and Holt had a 4-0 record with a 0.59 ERA through March 4th.  Rhodes has a win over Millsaps but also a loss to Hendrix on a weekend where they decided to use Flanagan against the Majors (which I'm sure is exactly who the Millsaps team wanted to see). 

Rhodes won two from Huntingdon this season by a combined score of 9-5.  Millsaps won two from Huntingdon by a combined score of 37-6.  I don't know if that indicates anything or not, especially since the Rhodes games were so early in the season.  In more recent games Rhodes scored 56 runs in a 4-game sweep of Sewanee and they have scored 26 runs in 3 games at OU so they obviously are scoring runs now.  While the move of Rhodes to the SCAC East seems to have helped balance the divisions, it's a shame that Rhodes and Millsaps won't have a 4-game series this season.  That would be an entertaining series.

[frank_ezelle]

In Millsaps baseball news over the weekend, Millsaps took a DH from local Tougaloo College by a 48-0 margin.  It was one of those days where Millsaps got to play a lot of players and Tougaloo got in two road games without a lot of expense so there were some pluses from the games.

It will be a lot tougher for Millsaps as they go to MS College for a Cowboy Maloney Series game on Monday at 6:30 and then they host Austin College this weekend in the first SCAC games for Millsaps. 

It looks like the radio schedule (always subject to change) for this week will be:

Millsaps at MS College, Monday at 6:30
Baseball Coaches show moved to Wednesday at 8:00
Austin at Millsaps, Sunday at 1:00
Link to listen:  http://www.espnradio1240.com/listenlive.php

[FlightofthePetrel]

As Bob said this was a Hell of a series in Atlanta... even though Oglethorpe lost all 4 games.  Every time Oglethorpe scored and took a lead Rhodes would answer the next inning.       OU took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd only to see Rhodes score 5 in the Top of the 3rd to take a 5-4 lead.   The score opened up throughout the game with the Lynx holding a 10-7 advantage going into the 9th before a Petrel rally fell just short as Freshman Chris Lucas plated 2 with a single before Brandon McMichael was thrown out at 3rd on the same play, ending with the Final score 10-9. 

For the Series the Petrels lost all games by 3 runs or less (10-7,  8-6,   8-7,  10-9).  Like Bob said, these guys are tough as nails and I know they will use this series as a building block and show the conference what they're made of the rest of the season.

On a side note.  Senior Tim Ernst went 3-4 and with his last hit became the Career Hits leader at Oglethorpe with 191.  Congratulations to Tim Ernst for a great accomplishment!

[frank_ezelle]

Thanks for the reports Bob and Flight.  There is a tendency on these boards that people stop posting about their teams when their teams aren't winning.  That's a shame because I've always found that encouraging words during difficult times  carry more weight than people jumping on the bandwagon when things are going great.

I'm sure there are people who think that I post too much to the SCAC boards but my take is that it only looks like I post too much because other people aren't posting enough.  Don't you think the Rhodes players would like to see that someone is proud enough of their team that they would come on the D3 message board and post some praise?  And don't you think the Trinity guys would appreciate some posts about how the talent is there and someone has 100% confidence that they will put it all together when it matters the most?  And don't you think all the players at all the schools would like to see something about their team on the most visible D3 sports message board? 

I think we all agree that each SCAC school is a great school and that the vast majority of student-athletes at these schools are great young men and women.  We also all agree that it is a shame that they work so hard and get such little recognition.  These message boards are a perfect vehicle to give your school's student-athletes a little praise when they deserve it and a little encouragement when they need it and I think it is a shame that so many pass on that opportunity.

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks for the reports Bob and Flight.  There is a tendency on these boards that people stop posting about their teams when their teams aren't winning.  That's a shame because I've always found that encouraging words during difficult times  carry more weight than people jumping on the bandwagon when things are going great.
...

+1 Frank, thanks for the encouraging words to your fellow SCAC'ers.

A long history of fair balanced observations that give a reasonable analysis of what you have seen or what seems to be happening to a particular team is highly valuable.

Consistency in your reporting is remembered and then additional weight and prestige are attributed to what you say.  The SCAC baseball board has been one of the best from the beginning.  Please continue to post, especially from the SCAC-East!

[DPU3619]

Got my first look at Coach Walker's gang this weekend.  Took two from Hanover on Saturday by a 5-4 score in both games.  Beat Manchester by the same score on Sunday.

Two or three very promising freshmen and a transfer or two for Coach Walk.  Mike Stout transferred in from Butler... he's currently leading the team in hitting, playing primarily 3B, but also DH'ing some.  Kid's got a lot of power and it looked like he's got a nice glove, too. 

I knew it was going to be tough for Walk to replace a lot of the seniors, particularly in the infield, but he's got a good looking group right now. 

Jeremy Alland is trying awfully hard to do his best P.J. Mitchell impression.  The lefty was awesome on Saturday in the first game against Hanover. 

I think the problem that will arise is that the rotation isn't very deep.  John Tschantz threw OK on Sunday.  Walks got the best of him, 4 runs in 6 innings.  Paul Rodenhouse is emerging a very nice closer in the ninth.  Ended up with the save yesterday and the win in the nightcap on Sunday.

DePauw didn't have ideal conditions when they went to Centre last weekend and dropped 3 of 4.  I know that's not an excuse, but they looked much better than 4-5 this weekend.

[Pauperboy]

I'd like to to take this opportunity to jump in on the SCAC discussion. With reference to the Millsaps/Rhodes discussion.....Rhodes' W-L record of its opponents
is 70-67-1 while Millsaps is 78-80. What does this prove?? I dunno....just more numbers to throw in the argument.
I'm curious to see the national reaction (i.e. rankings) to Rhodes current season. I think its fair to say its not a fluke considering last season (28 wins) where they had the biggest turnaround in Division III. Sweeping 2, 4 game conference weekends is impressive regardless of competition. I think their true test will be upcoming soon when they take on Methodist and Piedmont on the road.