BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Ralph Turner]

Millsaps just made an illegal substitution. The rule is on page 79-80 under Game pitcher is not the DH (10-player lineup). Hendrix is allowed to stay the DH, but he HAS to come in for Boyd. Boyd entered the game as the catcher. boyd should not have been allowed to enter the game.

doesn't matter Millsaps is struggling...and looks like they will lose this game. 2 and the que for Rhodes and Millsaps!

There was an off-microphone discussion by 2 umpires on that substitution that I missed that supposedly explained it.

[Ralph Turner]

Hendrix leads 6-3 in the Millsaps' top of the 6.  1-2-3 Millsaps goes down.  Onto the Hendrix half of the 6th.

Top of the 7th, DH Tait Hendrix gets a one out double. Boyd doubles in Hendrix.  Owen grounds out 4-3 to end the inning.  Hendrix leads 7-4.

End of 7, Hendrix 9, Millsaps 4.  Hendrix tried a suicide squeeze that ended up a pop foul out and DP going 2-5, doubling the guy off third base.

Hendrix 9 Millsaps 8.  Millsaps got 2 doubles and 2 singles off Suydam, the Hendrix starter to score 2 runs.  Geoff Lomax came on to relieve.  He gave up 3 long flyball outs, 2 of which were SAC flies. 

Hendrix is retired 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 8th.  Hendrix lealds 9-8.

Hendrix wins 9-8.

We can get an idea of what Millsaps Pool C chances are when the next 2 regional rankings come out.  If they stay ahead of Shenandoah, then I think they are in.  If they stay ahead of CNU, then they may have a chance.

Lomax gets the save for Hendrix.

[nvnorthpaw]

Do you believe in Miracles?   Maybe all those games against ranked opponents (Tyler, Chapman, CLU, Pomona, Millsaps) and D-II opponents (Harding, Ouachita)  has payed off..

[Ralph Turner]

Do you believe in Miracles?   Maybe all those games against ranked opponents (Tyler, Chapman, CLU, Pomona, Millsaps) and D-II opponents (Harding, Ouachita)  has payed off..

How valuable was the California trip in molding this team?

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps now has a long wait to see what the NCAA decides.  I think they will get in thanks to the fact that almost every non-conference victory came against teams with winning records.  As for the SCAC Tournament, I'm pulling for Hendrix to win over Trinity in the finals purely for the fact that I think that will help Millsaps the most.  We need Hendrix to get up to the .500 mark and Trinity to hold on to their .500 mark.  Centre and DePauw winning games doesn't help Millsaps at all.  (Let me change my thought on this--Hendrix can't get to .500 because 4 of their wins came against Central Baptist.  Trinity might be able to get over .667 so I'll pull for them.  Ralph will probably figure out the details, but I know Trinity has two D1 losses so their D3 winning percentage might be pretty good if they go 4-0 this weekend.)

For what it's worth, it appears to me that about mid-season Millsaps went from becoming a team trying to win games to a team trying not to lose.  It looked like that change in approach happened right around March 15th when Millsaps jumped to 6th in the nation.  Right after that they won three straight games but only scored 5 runs in each game.  Then Hendrix beat Millsaps in that wild game where Millsaps got down by 10 runs and came back to only lose by 1.  That seemed to energize the run scoring, but the hitting seemed to drop again under the burden of defending the #1 ranking. 

If Millsaps gets in the NCAA, I believe we'll see the team that jumped out to a 19-1 start.  In this case, it seems to me that the 3-4 week break between the SCAC Tournament and the NCAA Regionals is just what Millsaps needs and it would be a plus instead of a negative.  Now we just have to wait on the NCAA at-large bid.

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity had 19 hits in a 14-4 win over Centre that was called in the bottom of the eighth.   They'll face fellow unbeaten Hendrix tomorrow noon. 

[svbbcoach]

Do you believe in Miracles?   Maybe all those games against ranked opponents (Tyler, Chapman, CLU, Pomona, Millsaps) and D-II opponents (Harding, Ouachita)  has payed off..

How valuable was the California trip in molding this team?

The most important facet of the California trip can't be measured in wins and loses. The thought that this (mostly) younger team could compete was proven on the field. The mental aspect of this trip was a tremendous benefit to the whole team. 2 of the 3 losses came from the types of mistakes that a younger team commits. Still part of the game, but a valuable learning tool at the same time. Perhaps the results of the California trip was most evident in the Southwestern series immediately following the trip. Hendrix seemed sluggish and maybe even tired. This Hendrix team seems to have the whole teamwork package this year, supporting seniors that laid the foundation, competing for playtime without routing against a teammate, and genuinely cheering for those few guys that did not always get the opportunity to play every week. Regardless of the outcome over the next 2 days, a solid foundation has been formed by Coaches Thomas, Mattox and Grote! Remember, there are only 4 seniors on this team, albeit very good seniors!   

[historymajor]

Wow,,, Trinity faces Hendrix at noon Saturday in the winners bracket,,,  Millsaps and Rhodes are out, and Centre and DePauw battle out of the losers bracket.  Tune in to the games on the Trinity or Millsaps streaming video feeds....  great chess awaits!

[nvnorthpaw]

It looks like Trinity can't keep the ball in their glove's!  Hendrix has capitalized each and every time....all 7 runs off of Solomon have been unearned!  Well...defense and pitching wins championships right??

[Ralph Turner]

It looks like Trinity can't keep the ball in their glove's!  Hendrix has capitalized each and every time....all 7 runs off of Solomon have been unearned!  Well...defense and pitching wins championships right??

Wow!  All 6 Hendrix runs in the 6th scored with 2 out!  Hendrix 8-3, in the Trinity bottom of the 7th.

HC 9-5 going to the bottom of the 9th.

TU scores on a 2-run HR but leavs runners on 1st and 2nd.  HC wins 9-7.

TU plays the winner of the Centre -DePauw game.  Hendrix moves to Game #10 tomorrow.

[Ralph Turner]

Centre leads DPU 10-4 in the (DPU) top of the 5th.

DPU scores 2 in the top of the 5th. Now trails 10-6.

Centre is leading 11-9 as they bat in the bottom of the 8th.

Centre wins 11-9. DPU is eliminated.  Centre catches Trinity in 30 minutes.

[Ron Boerger]

It looks like Trinity can't keep the ball in their glove's!  Hendrix has capitalized each and every time....all 7 runs off of Solomon have been unearned!  Well...defense and pitching wins championships right??

Tough to give up one earned run, score seven, and lose, but you gotta catch the ball.  Going to be an interesting Sunday. 

[Edit:  I didn't realize that TU would still have to play another game tonight to get to Sunday - apologies]

[consultant]

Because the SCAC Tournament games are exempt from the maximum number games (40) that a Division III team may play during a season, Millsaps has two games left that they can play in advance of the postseason.  The question is whether Millsaps will elect to play a game as playing can either bolster or hurt their chances of an at large. 

I believe that Millsaps will get in.  I'm not sure another team can make as compelling a case as Millsaps has made this year.

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity run-rules Centre again tonight, 16-0 in seven innings.   Ben Klimesh got his first win of the season by pitching a shutout for the first six. 

Now to try and find pitching for tomorrow's game(s) against Hendrix ...

[nvnorthpaw]

HOLY COW!