BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[frank_ezelle]

First off, welcome Pauperboy.  It will be nice if we can have a Rhodes supporter on board because I do think that Rhodes is going to have a very interesting season. 

My comment on Rhodes wasn't meant as a negative or to indicate that Millsaps is a better team.  It's just hard to tell what they have because they aren't playing a lot of tough teams and when they do play a tough team they throw Flannagan, hardly a typical pitcher on anyone's staff.

Look at the current 10 game winning streak of Rhodes.  It starts off with a 5-4 win over Christian Brothers and that seems to be a good win.  Then Rhodes wins a 4-game series over Sewanee, a team that is currently 1-12.  Next there is a win against the Discovery school (Eureka College) but that was the first game of the year for Eureka (I will refrain from any comments about Eureka sounding like a school that sucks).  Finally, there was the 4-game sweep of 4-14 Oglethorpe where they only outscored OU by 7 runs in the series.

Winning 10 games in a row is a nice achievement but this hasn't been the toughest stretch of the schedule.  Rhodes does have earlier wins over Maryville and Millsaps but that brings in the Flannagan factor and they did lose 15-0 to Maryville and 6-5 to Hendrix in the games right before or after those wins.

And all of that gets me back to my original comment.  I think Rhodes is a very dangerous team and I won't be surprised if they win the East.  I'm not sure if they have totally proven themselves with the current schedule.  They have proven that they can sweep some of the weaker teams and they have proven that they can beat the stronger teams in one game.  The unanswered question is how will they do in a series against a stronger team.  I look forward to seeing how that unfolds and I look forward to more posts about Rhodes baseball.

[frank_ezelle]

For a quick update on Millsaps, they won an ugly game over MS College last night by a 14-7 score.  As the radio announcer said, the Millsaps bats couldn't find the ball and the MS College pitchers couldn't find the plate.  Millsaps was trailing 6-2 going into the top of the 8th and scored 3 runs thanks in part to some walks.  Then Millsaps scored 9 runs in the top of the 9th on 2 hits to go along with 7 walks and 2 HBP.  While it is always good to get a win, I don't think this qualified as a very satisfying win.

One note of interest:  Nick Crawford had no official at bats with a walk and 4 HBP.  In the previous two games against Tougaloo he was 7 of 7 with a HBP.  Against Huntingdon he got on base with a hit or HBP his last 4 at bats.  That gives him 17 straight plate appearances where he has gotten on base with a hit, a walk or a HBP--don't know if that's a record but it has to be close to some record.

Here's a link to the MC story and they have a link to the boxscore:  http://www.gochoctaws.com/News/baseball/2007/3/12/BSBMillsaps7-14.asp?path=baseball

[frank_ezelle]

It appears that 20 consecutive on base is the D3 record (18 for D1 and 15 for D2) if I'm looking in the right spot in the record books:  http://www.ncaa.org/library/records/baseball/baseball_records_book/2007/2007_baseball_records.pdf

I think I'm right that Nick is now up to 17 straight but I'm sure someone will double check behind me on that.  And I think this is all the news I have today so everyone else feel free to jump in and post.

[D3baseballdad]

Frank I think in the end if you compare the numbers you will find that Rhodes record is on par with Milsaps. I am not a fan of either team but I respect good programs. Here is what I see looking at the records.

Milsap has 6 wins against teams that are .500 and above.
Milsap has 3 loses to teams that are .500 and above.
Milsap has 7 wins against sub .500 teams.

Rhodes has 6 wins against teams that are .500 and above
Rhodes has 2 loses to teams that are .500 and above.
Rhodes has 11 wins against sub .500 teams.

Those records are very similar to me. The fact of the matter is that both teams are very solid and if things work out we will be treated to a showdown between the two of them in championships!

I wish my son's team was doing half as good as these two programs but they are not. In the end some very exciting baseball is taking place and I for one feel very lucky to have a child that is a part of such a great conference.

[frank_ezelle]

D3baseballdad--Welcome to the board.  I don't know which team your son plays for but it would be great if you put some posts up for the team. 

I know that most people have no interest in writing as much as I do but we could use someone from each school who simply gave a one paragraph summary of how the team is doing and maybe provided links to box scores and stories.  I just think the kids at each school would like to see that someone is reporting on their progress.

Regarding Rhodes vs. Millsaps, I never intended to imply that Rhodes didn't have a very good team at the very least, I just pointed out that they haven't been in a situation to show how they will do in a long series against a really strong team (no offense intended to Sewanee and OU).  It wouldn't bother me if someone said the same about Millsaps--I would probably say the same about Millsaps at the moment.

Millsaps hits the cover off the ball against most teams but they have had poor hitting games against Rhodes, Emory, MC and maybe one of the games against LaGrange.  Millsaps has four strong starting pitchers but I think each one has had at least one rocky outing this season.  Millsaps is playing well enough right now to beat a lot of teams but they still have a lot of improving to do to reach the level they were at towards the end of last season.  That's natural at this point of the season and I imagine the Rhodes players feel that exact same way about their season--a good start but still room for improvement.

[DPU3619]

A rather odd one at Walker Field this afternoon as DePauw beat Wabash for the 14th straight time.  8-7 the final.  DePauw was down 7-0 going in to the bottom of the sixth and scored 8 straight to win it.

DPU got 1 in the 6th, 3 in the 7th, 2 in the 8th, and 2 in the 9th for the win.  Freshman Drew Holy won it with a single into center with a man on third in the 9th to win it.

[FlightofthePetrel]

Oglethorpe goes 0-3 these past two days. (2 against Heidelberg and 1 against Franklin and Marshall)

The 3 losses increase the loosing streak to 17 games...    The good thing is Spring Break is on the Horizon which will give the guys a week off before returning to SCAC action against Centre.  Hopefully the time off will allow them to refocus and return to their early season form after going 4-0 to start the year.

There's only one way to go from here!

[historymajor]

Trinity returned home (finally) and pasted Concordia-Neb 10-3.  A nice win for lefty Evan Bronson who went six innings of 2 hit ball.  The homestand continues with a 'new' format 4 game SCAC series against Hendrix this weekend.  Stay tuned.

[frank_ezelle]

Austin travels to Millsaps this weekend for the SCAC opener for both teams.  Austin (http://www.austincollege.edu/Category.asp?762) is currently at 8-10 and Millsaps (http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/baseball/) has a 13-3 record.  Weather forecast is sunny but just a little on the cool side.

It will be interesting to see how teams line up their pitching with the new 4-game series.  Do teams end up matching their 1, 2, 3 and 4 pitchers head-to-head or does a supposedly weaker team try to go with their 1 & 2 against the 3 & 4 of the supposedly stronger team and get a split?  Millsaps has 5 pretty good starters with Travis Bogue, Brent Buffa, Jay Hollenbeck, Tait Hendrix and Brandon Ingram and the biggest difference in the 5 might be the number of effective innings that each can pitch before needing relief.

Millsaps plans to broadcast the second game of Saturday's DH and the Sunday game.  A best guess on the Saturday game would be about 3:30 for the first pitch and the Sunday game starts at 1:00.  The link to the broadcast is:  http://www.espnradio1240.com/listenlive.php

[Pauperboy]

Rhodes 4
Piedmont 2   Final

Andy Holt picks up with the win scattering 6 hits in the CG effort. Rhodes
manages only 4 hits but scores 2 runs late to break the tie. Nice road win for the Lynx who look to continue their winning ways with Flanagan on the hill tomorrow vs. Methodist. 

[frank_ezelle]

Rhodes continues to impress and represent the SCAC well.  Holt improved to 7-0 and we all know what Flanagan can do.  Methodist will be a tough test today but I'd place my money on Rhodes with Flanagan on the mound.  A win by Rhodes today would move them to 20-2, certainly one of the best records in the country.

Millsaps opened up their series with Austin with a 6-3 victory.  Certainly I was hoping for a Millsaps victory but I also wanted to see Nick Crawford set a national record and that didn't happen.  He had reached base safely (hit, wak or hit by pitch) 17 straight times going into last night and the NCAA record and D3 record was 20 straight times.  Unfortunately, the streak ended at 17.  To put it in perspective, let's say a guy has a very impressive on base % of .500--he gets on base safely half the time.  Getting on base 17 times in a row for a guy with an OBP of .500 is like flipping a coin 17 times and it comes up heads 17 times in a row.  It's an incredible feat at any level against any competition.

But back to the game.  Travis Bogue started for Millsaps and pitched well after giving up a 2-run homer in the first.  Brandon Ingram and Drew Maddox preserved the victory with 3 innings of scoreless relief.  Chermak pitched well for Austin with only 2 ER's in 7 innings but he did have 3 wild pitches and there were 3 pass balls that certainly helped the Millsaps cause.  Justin Carter had 3 RBIs for the Majors and Jason Hadley and John Pacillo each had 2 hits.  Means had 2 hits and all 3 RBIs for Austin and Herrick also had 2 hits.

The two teams square off today at 1 for a DH.  I suspect that Brent Buffa and Tait Hendrix will pitch for Millsaps to give a right-left combo for the day and that Jay Hollenbeck will close out the series tomorrow.  The second game today and tomorrow's game will be broadcast--see an above post for details.

[historymajor]

Trinity handled Hendrix in the opener of the 4 game weekend series 9-2.  FY Michael Hunter recorded his first 'W' as Steven Ramos continued his hot hitting going 2-3, FY Andrew Lawson went 1-2 w/3 rbi.

Series will be webcast from SAT.

[frank_ezelle]

Trinity--Hendrix story:  http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Baseball/Recaps/2007/TU-HC.htm
Trinity--Hendrix Box Score:  http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Baseball/statistics/hc-tu.htm

Rhodes plays Methodist at 12 (not sure if that's Eastern or Central time)  Livestats for game:  http://www.rhodes.edu/athletics/baseball/livestats/xlive.htm

Rhodes win over Piedmont story:  http://www.piedmont.edu/athletics/06_07_headlines/03_16_07_base.htm
Rhodes over Piedmont Box Score:  http://www.piedmont.edu/athletics/baseball/07stats/pcb19.htm

[Bob_Lotts]

Good win for Rhodes...Holt is the ace of that staff. Flanagan is overrated...last week at OU a scout showed up from the Cardinals, after hitting 83 a couple of times and pitching at 80-81 he left after the 4th inning...not very impressed. His slider had zero tilt and his fastball was flat. OU did not chase the slider out of the strike zone and really pounded him pretty hard. His changeup is below average, it is obvious that noboy has ever worked with him to improve that pitch. Classic case of a hard thrower never learning how to pitch. Holt on the other hand throws 80-83 with a very good slurve, and an unbelievable changeup. You can see him thinking through the game and he KNOWS how to pitch.

If Flanagan can develop a changeup and control his slider maybe he will have a chance. But there is no way he approaches 6'7!! 6'4...6'5 on a good day.

[Pauperboy]

Rhodes 6
Methodist 1 Final

Rhodes reaches the 20 win mark this season as Flanagan scatters 6 hits and the Lynx score 5 runs in the top of the 9th to break open a 1-0 lead. Methodist scored their lone run in the bottom on the 9th. Flanagan was consistently clocked at 90 and would appear to have regained any form that some in these forums have brought into question. As a side note, I am one to judge a pitcher's stuff not just from one start but rather his complete body of work. Make no mistake and nothing against Holt and his current season, but Flanagan is the ace of this staff.

It seems Rhodes may have answered many of their critics with 2 quaility wins on the road. Although you don't win anything for wins during the regular season, it would appear that this could be a memorable year for the Lynx. The bandwagon has officially been created and I'd be more than happy to drive anybody else who wants to jump on.