BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Gus Sinski]

 Austin won Sunday 5-1. Game was tied 1-1 before the 'Roos put up four in the eighth. Another good outing by Hagan, albeit for naught.

Also, Millsaps beat Southwestern 14-4. Hollenbeck improves to 5-0 on the season.

[DPU3619]

Not so good today for the Old Gold, Frank.  5-0 shutout in the opener and an ugly 19-6 loss in the nightcap.  Pretty pleased with taking 2-4 with how well Rhodes was playing.

[frank_ezelle]

Gus--We get back to a topic from earlier in the year which is the effect of going to the 4-game series.  Right now Millsaps has 3 very solid starters and 2 very capable starters for that last slot.  They have enough depth to probably get a decent pitch-by-committee from the rest of the staff.  There's no question in my mind that the move to 4 games helps the more established teams.

DPU3619--Getting 2 of 4 from Rhodes is a good weekend considering how much longer those guys have been playing games.  While there is some controversy on the prior win recorded by Flanagan (http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=5182.45), there is no doubt that he is going to be tough to beat by all teams this season.  It looks like winning against Holt will also be a tough deal even though DePauw managed to do that this weekend. 

On Millsaps, they got some good pitching this weekend and finally scored some runs.  In the game they lost they got runners on base and in scoring position several times in the late innings and failed to get the runner(s) across the plate. 

It's interesting that Millsaps has a 19-6 (5-3 SCAC) record at this time and on March 26th of 2006 their record was 19-6 (10-3 SCAC).  Certainly there is a difference in the SCAC record but the season is basically on pace with last year.  The catch there is that the second half of the season is the tougher half so Millsaps will have to tighten up the pitching just a little bit and get more consistent on the clutch hitting if they want to match the second half of the season turned in by the 2006 team.

[Bob_Lotts]

A little midseason talk about the East.

In the East Rhodes has clinched a spot in the Divisional Playoff, Holt and Flanagan (and yes in that order) make the best 1/2 punch in the league. In a best of 3 series Rhodes can beat anyone in the country! Centre is off to a strong start, I saw them at OU on Saturday, and boy can they swing it. Moore their #3 hitter is a bull, good hitter. Pitching is a little suspect... DePauw had a decent weekend at Rhodes. I have not seen them play this year. Sewanee lost a ton of quality players...pitching is very weak but they can swing it. Burns and Davis? are two really good players. Oglethorpe is young, very young. They start seven freshmen and have three freshmen as starting pitchers and two more in relief.

I've seen every East team play in '07 except DePauw but if I had to make a midseason top 5 here it is:

1. Rhodes
2. Centre
3. DePauw
4. Sewanee
5. Oglethorpe


That last spot will come down to Sewanee/Oglethorpe, not sure if either team deserves it right now...I bet Hendrix wishes they were in the East. Speaking of Hendrix they make a rare trip to Atlanta to face the Petrels in some NC action. Which means that all 10 SCAC teams will be playing another SCAC team this weekend! Interesting...


Anybody want to fill us in on the West??

[Gus Sinski]

Anybody want to fill us in on the West??

One man's opinion thus far...

1) Trinity - A tenuous hold on No. 1 thanks to a early-season sweep of Hendrix. This is a younger-than-usual Tiger team that has a few depth issues, but they will remain strong thanks to its pitching. I have heard good things about reliever Ryan Poffenroth.

2) Millsaps - The Majors are two good starting pitchers away from being almost invincible. The talent on the mound is there, but save for Hollenbeck, it hasn't manifested on a consistent basis. We all know they can hit...Millsaps players seemingly come out of the womb swinging DiMarinis.

3) Austin - Surprise, surprise...the conference newcomer has some spit n' vinegar, as two wins against Millsaps and three against Hendrix have proved. I'd like to see this bunch play Millsaps.

4) Southwestern - Still a wild-card. Showed well against Millsaps last week, but got hammered in the Sunday game. Like Austin, the Pirates are probably suited for the spoiler role at best.

5) Hendrix - Ask around the league, and people will say the Warriors have improved. Ask around the league, and people will also say the four-game weekend schedule is pure murder on Hendrix's thin staff.

Incidentally...


CONGRATULATIONS to R.J. Thomas for having the 'interim' tag removed from his coaching title today!

[frank_ezelle]

Interesting posts from Bob and Gus and hard to argue with much from either except that I have a different take on Millsaps.  It seems to me that their pitching is pretty good right now but it is their hitting that is suffering.

On the pitching, first off I'm glad to see that people recognize the abilities of Jay Hollenbeck.  His win on Sunday gives him a 5-0 record this year and a 12-0 record in his 3 years at Millsaps.  His career ERA is probably right at 3.00 or a little lower.  With Travis Bogue and Brent Buffa, I think Millsaps has a trio of outstanding pitchers.

With Bogue and Buffa you have to be a little careful about going just by their numbers.  Bogue's ERA of 4.55 is mostly a result of pitching one inning too long early in the season.  He is usually very good for about 5 innings and then he seems to get tired and struggle and I think the coaches will get him out at the right time in the key games.  Buffa has given up 57 hits in 43.2 innings but his ERA is only 3.09 and I think it is because he keeps the ball low and he gets a lot of DPs.  Of the 57 hits, 49 have been singles and it is hard to build a rally with just singles.  He obviously knows what he is doing on the mound because he was 20-2 over the last 2 years at Washington U.

It will be interesting to see if the 4th starter against Trinity this weekend is Tait Hendrix or Brandon Ingram.  Tait is extremely talented and he has 31 K's in 22.2 innings but he also has 21 walks.  Add up the walks, the 24 hits and the 2 HBP and he is averaging 2 runners on base per inning which explains a high 5.15 ERA for a pitcher who can sometimes be unhittable.  Brandon Ingram is not as overpowering but he only has 8 walks in 27.2 innings and that makes a big difference in keeping down the big innings.

As for the hitting, the team numbers don't look much different from last year.  Double Hunter Owen's numbers to get a full season total and his numbers match up well with Garner Wetzel's.  Double the team numbers and they match up well with the final numbers from 2006.  But there seems to be something missing and I think the team is still adjusting to not having Garner in the lineup.

Garner took the pressure off of everyone else.  Every game Millsaps played last year they had the biggest, baddest hitter in the game on their side.  It's like a guard playing defense in basketball and he can be a little more relaxed and confident if he has a Shaq-like player playing defense behind him.  I'm not knocking the current Millsaps players and especially not Hunter Owen who is having a great season, but last year there was always that safety net of being able to stay relaxed because of a feeling that Garner would somehow come up with the big hit if it was needed.  I'm sure that's how Michel Jordan's teammates always felt, able to play just a little more relaxed because Jordan had their back.

Now without Garner, there is a little more pressure for others to come through in the clutch.  Most of the time they do, sometimes they don't.  The three losses in conference have been by scores of 5-0, 5-4, and 4-3.  I just think they would have won those games last year because of the swagger that Garner brought to the team.  I think this team is still trying to regain that swagger, something that isn't so easy since none of them are nearly as brash and cocky as Garner.  If they find a way to bring back some of that brash attitude (I do like Garner by the way) then you will see a team that just might get to the CWS.

As usual I've written far too long a post.  What else is new?

[consultant]

The ABCA has released its first in-season rankings for Div. III.  Millsaps climbed from number 13 to number 11.  Wooster is the new number one thanks to a fast 15-0 start to the season.  Rhodes is tied for 6th in the south region, which is slammed with talented teams.

I have not seen Millsaps play this year, and I'm afraid that I won't catch a game.  This will snap a 10 year run of seeing at least a couple of games.  That recent historical perspective allows me to say that Jim Page's teams go through a little hitting funk (that's a relative term at best) from time to time during the middle of a season.  But they always get hot in late March and carry it through April.  That has particularly been the case the past several years.  I certainly hope that the pitching continues to roll. 

It will be a huge weekend in Jackson between Millsaps and Trinity.  The series is always fun!

[frank_ezelle]

I know you are thinking "Could he really have more to say?"  As is usually the case, the answer is yes.

Latest Coaches baseball poll is out.  Millsaps moves up from 13th to 11th and no one else in the SCAC receives a vote.  Millsaps ranked 3rd in the South and Rhodes is tied for 6th.  I sure that will generate some comments.

Millsaps has an interesting and busy schedule with 6 important games over the next 6 days:

Today:  Playing Belhaven at 6 in a Maloney Series game, a competition between Millsaps, Belhaven and MS College.  Belhaven is ranked #25 in NAIA and Millsaps will clinch at least a tie for the trophy with a win tonight.  Millsaps will go with a group of non-tested pitchers.

Wednesday:  vs. Piedmont at Birmingham Southern.  This is a makeup of an earlier rained out game and is more important than today's game because it factors into the regional ranking.  Game starts at 6:00 and will be broadcast--see link in my signature area below.

Friday through Sunday:  Huge series with Trinity.  This is a series that I would really like to watch rather than work because it should be a good one from start to finish.  All games will be broadcast with Friday's game starting at 6:30, Saturday's DH starting at 1:00 and the Sunday game starting at noon.

[Baseball_fan]

Just wanted to weigh in on what has been going on on the board.  First let me say that I am a Sewanee fan, so the rankings really mean nothing to me.  I did think that Rhodes would at least get a consideration, seeing as how they beat both Millsaps and Methodist but still remain ranked lower.

But I did want to weigh in on the Holt and Flanagan debate, as I got to see both of them pitch.  First, they are both great pitchers and as long as they continue pitching the way they do, Rhodes can go far, but I think that Flanagan remains the ace of the staff.

Holt certainly is having a great season, but look at the breakdown of both pitchers wins.

Holt: (7-1. 1.31 ERA) (SCAC Website)
1) Huntingdon (good regional team)
2) Blackburn
3) Christian Brothers  (relief win, d2 school, but not that great as well)
4) Sewanee (not very good)
5) Oglethorpe (not very good)
6) Drew (relief win)  (not very good)
7) Piedmont

and a loss to DePauw (good team, but a must win for an ace)

Flanagan: (8-0,  1.69 ERA) (SCAC Website)
1) University of the Ozarks
2) Huntingdon (good regional contest)
3) Millsaps  (11th in nation)
4) Maryville (8th in region)
5) Sewanee  (not very good)
6) Oglethorpe (not very good)
7) Methodist  (21st in nation)
8) DePauw

Both of these players are having great years, but a breakdown of who they pitch against shows (at least to me) that Flanagan remains the ace of the staff, as he is getting the much tougher games, and still putting up the same great numbers.  Either way, I know at Sewanee I would love to see 2 pitchers like that on the staff, and I congratulate both of them on their accomplishments so far this year.

[Baseball_fan]

Just to comment on those teams I didnt know about.

Blackburn is (3-10)
Piedmont is (9-16)
Huntingdon is (16-8)

and Universtiy of Ozarks is (14-12) it looks like and DePauw sits at (10-10)

[frank_ezelle]

It's good to see another new name on the board and I like the fact that you did some research and brought that information to the board.  There's one part of your post that I think everyone agrees on:

"First, they are both great pitchers and as long as they continue pitching the way they do, Rhodes can go far..."

That's the key point.  Last year Millsaps had two great pitchers in John Fox and Todd Kindler.  I would have hated to see a debate about which was the better pitcher because that starts bringing in negatives where there should be no negatives.  Holt is having a great year and Flanagan is having a great year--I don't see much to be gained by debating which is the better of the two.

[Baseball_fan]

"On Friday, Manchester (Ind.), ranked 24th by the American Baseball Coaches Association fell 5-4 to Sewanee in Port Charlotte.  After falling behind, Sewanee rallied to tie the game and later go ahead in the eighth inning.  Austin Stephenson (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) drove in the winning run in the eighth inning.

Senior Josh Curtis (Winchester, Tenn./Franklin County) took the win for Sewanee from the mound.  He pitched the entire game, only allowing seven hits and only walking one batter.  Curtis struck out two."

Big win for Sewanee here, lets hope they can build on this.

I agree with you on the Flanagan/Holt issue, not trying to belittle the accomplishments of either one, they are both great pitchers having great years, and I hope they both continue throwing the way they do, it would be good to see even more SCAC teams in the regional tournaments.

[Spence]

I told a few people I thought Manchester would struggle a bit...but wow.

As far as Flanagan and Holt goes...I think Flanagan's the ace, but you're right that it really doesn't matter much. When you get into a tournament situation, the winning the first two is really big. But who your ace is matters a little bit because you get a better chance to recycle the first starter whereas you get not much chance to recycle the second except perhaps in a relief stint.

[Lynx Tracker]

A few comments on the ABCA poll:

It would have been nice for the hard-working Lynx Cats to receive a little recognition for their accomplishments—but that did not happen. Why not? How can a record of 24-4 be overlooked when several teams on the list are barely playing above .500?  Winning 16 consecutive games. Not easy for any team. Would Rhodes get "points" for having JUCO transfers on their roster? Maybe they should have gone to Iowa over spring break and beat Wartburg like a rented mule.

It has been stated that Rhodes does not have a "very tough" schedule. However, the Lynx invited #11 Millsaps to Memphis, and cut short their spring break trip to drive 530 miles by bus to play #21 Methodist. They beat Piedmont and Methodist, got back on the bus, and drove 525 miles back to Memphis, defeating Illinois-Wesleyan the following day.  

One blog poster said, "DePauw opened up the season by derailing the Rhodes express."  The Rhodes express wasn't derailed—it just ran out of steam...temporarily. DePauw is a quality team.  The Lynx offense simply did not give Holt what he deserved.

Baseball is a game of strict ritual, steeped in an inflexible mindset and unbending tradition. That's why we love it. Sometimes it doesn't love us back.

[frank_ezelle]

DePauw opened up the season by derailing the Rhodes express, taking a DH and snapping the 16 game Rhodes winning streak.  Holt got the loss in the 4-2  first game and Catalanotto took the loss in the 8-5 second game, giving up 8 runs but only 3 were earned.

Box scores for the game: 
http://www.rhodes.edu/athletics/baseball/2007_results/3-24-07_DePauw1.htm
http://www.rhodes.edu/athletics/baseball/2007_results/3-24-07_DePauw2.htm

Live stat for today's games:  http://www.rhodes.edu/athletics/baseball/livestats/xlive.htm

I didn't think there was anything negative towards Rhodes in the post.  It certainly wasn't my intention to convey anything negative and I thought using "Rhodes express" and mentioning the 16 game win streak was a way of letting people know just how hot Rhodes had been of late.  The only reason I posted was because no one from Rhodes or DePauw had posted anything--I'll leave that up to the Rhodes fans in the future.

On the matter of the polls, I think you have a legitimate complaint and I understand your feelings.  At this time last year I was feeling like Millsaps wasn't getting any respect in the polls and it all boils down to name recognition.  Past rankings help in the current rankings, especially in the early season. 

Also remember that being ranked in the polls is nice recognition but it is the rankings later in the year by the NCAA that are critical and they are the only rankings that matter.  With that in mind, the Millsaps team is on a bus right now headed for Birmingham to play a makeup game with Piedmont in hopes of improving their South Regional ranking.  That game can be heard on the internet starting a 6:00 (the ESPN link is below).