BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[frank_ezelle]

Will Hawkins just drove in 3 runs with a double and then scored from 2nd on an infield out.  Those 4 runs have led to a pitching change.  I think Millsaps is ahead but don't know for sure--at this point I would love for Southwestern to post a word document with some information.

[frank_ezelle]

The scoreboard at Southwestern is unreadable in the webcast--no surprise there, but I can tell that it is now going to the bottom of the 9th.  Is Millsaps ahead or is the game tied.  No way to know.  Based on the way the last couple of innings have been played, I believe the game is tied.  At most, Millsaps would be up by 1.

[frank_ezelle]

With the game tied and two outs in the bottom of the 9th, a throwing error, wild pitch and single gives Southwestern the run they need for the victory.

Disappointing that Millsaps scored 4 runs in the top of the 6th or 7th and then gave up about 4 runs in the bottom of the inning, and then allowing an unearned run when one out away from extra innings.  This was a good opportunity for a sweep.

[Ron Boerger]

Final in Alpine:  Trinity 19, Sul Ross 8 as the Lobos get a run with two out in the 9th.    Tyndall pitched the final 3 1/3rd innings for Trinity, who pounded out 20 hits today.    Ben Klimesh improves to 3-0 on the young season.

[tigerfan_2001]

Final in Alpine:  Trinity 19, Sul Ross 8 as the Lobos get a run with two out in the 9th.    Tyndall pitched the final 3 1/3rd innings for Trinity, who pounded out 20 hits today.    Ben Klimesh improves to 3-0 on the young season.

will be interesting to see what happens.  Klimesh couldn't get out of the 5th.  Left with the bases loaded.  I wonder if they will award Tindall with the win?

[frank_ezelle]

I've been looking at the Millsaps schedule and they are facing a very stern test this weekend.  They have 4 games in less than 48 hours, playing Piedmont twice and Adrian (Michigan) twice--and the scheduling of the games certainly isn't in the favor of the Majors.

My guess is that the team will travel the 460 miles to Piedmont on Friday, getting there in time for a 7:00 start.  On Saturday they play Adrian at 2:00 followed by Piedmont at 6:00, and then they finish up with Adrian at noon on Sunday.

Piedmont doesn't play Adrian until Sunday evening and Monday, so Millsaps will probably see the two senior pitchers who are on Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's 2011 "Players to Watch List".  Adrian has 5 players on that list ( http://www.adrianbulldogs.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/players_to_watch_2011 ).  As for the Piedmont games, they come after a long bus ride and against a more rested team on Saturday.  It's going to be a very good test for Millsaps.

Personally, I'd be glad with a 2-2 weekend as long as the wins are against Piedmont.  It's those South Region games that are the key and I suspect that Millsaps will go all out to win those games even if it means a pitch by committee against Adrian.  Actually, a couple of pitch by committee games this early in the season might be a very good thing, especially against a team from outside of the South.

[Ron Boerger]

will be interesting to see what happens.  Klimesh couldn't get out of the 5th.  Left with the bases loaded.  I wonder if they will award Tindall with the win?

Right you are, tigerfan.  Klimesh couldn't get the W because he didn't go five.  The box has Tindall with the W.  

Edited to fix the quote issues.

[tigerfan_2001]

/quote]will be interesting to see what happens.  Klimesh couldn't get out of the 5th.  Left with the bases loaded.  I wonder if they will award Tindall with the win?

Right you are, tigerfan.  Klimesh couldn't get the W because he didn't go five.  The box has Tindall with the W. 

maybe the will decdie that Klimesh should have gotten the win, because he could have kept pitching.  who knows.....interesting to read Tindalls box score.  he seemed to have pitched the best of any of the trinity pitchers. 

Hendrix comes to town this weekend, which seems to always be a test for Trinity.

[jekelish]

Austin College finally managed to break through for a win in the first game of their doubleheader against Bates today by a 9-7 margin. The 'Roos scored 5 in the first and led 9-5 but three errors in the 6th enabled to cut it to a two run game, and Bates loaded the bases with only one out in the top of the 7th. However, Andy White made a great stop at short and Scooter Merritt made a nice turn at second to get the game saving (and game ending) double play.

Second game is coming up.

[Ron Boerger]

I'm going to take in the second game of the DH between Trinity and Hendrix tomorrow afternoon.  Should be a beautiful day for a ballgame in SA!

[frank_ezelle]

Should be an interesting series.  Hendrix has pitched well to start the season and only given up 23 runs in 7 games.  Trinity is slugging the ball like they are still using last year's bats.  Personally, I think the odds are 50-50 or better that Trinity will win all three, but as was mentioned in an earlier post, Hendrix seems to save their best for Trinity. 

For Hendrix to be a thorn in the paw of the Tigers this weekend, I believe they are going to have to find a way to score 6 or more runs in a game.  In the 7 games this season, Hendrix has only scored more than 4 runs on one occasion.  In the other 6 games they have only plated 15 runs total.  With Trinity having scored 15 runs or more in 4 of their last 5 games, maybe I should change the odds of a Trinity sweep to something like 75% or better.

[frank_ezelle]

As if playing 4 games in less than 48 hours wasn't tough enough on a pitching staff, Millsaps started off the weekend with a 14 inning game this evening.  To add insult to injury, they lost to Piedmont 2-1.  There's no box score or story posted, so that's all I know this evening.

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps has posted a story and box score for yesterday's game (see links below).   I wrote earlier that it was a 14 inning game and actually it was an unlucky 13 innings.

It surprised me that freshman Brandon Robinson got the start in the South Region game--I thought those starts would go to Williams and Varney.  Robinson pitched well, giving up only 2 hits in 3.2 innings, but walked 4 straight with 2 outs in the 4th to give Piedmont their only run in regulation.  Jason Riggins then dropped his ERA from miniscule to microscopic, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings (ERA is now 0.42 after 21.2 innings).  Will Elmore pitched well but took the loss in giving up the 1 run in 2.1 innings.

At this point in time, Hawkins and Roussel continue to hit the ball well, getting 3 hits each last night for over half of the Millsaps hits, but the remainer of the team is off to a fairly slow start with the new bats.  I'm sure that will change and hopefully it will change in a hurry.  Maybe people think I'm obsessed with keeping hopes alive for an at-large berth, but I've seen how hard it is for a team to win the SCAC Tournament so keeping at-large hopes alive is important right from the start.

Right now the Majors have what amounts to 4 regional losses (when you include the 2 that would occur in the SCAC Tournament for all teams needing an at-large berth).  While the games with Adrian College today and tomorrow are important, the Majors really need to win the 6 o'clock game with Piedmont this evening. 


Box score:  http://www.gomajors.com/custompages/Baseball/11Baseball/mcb11-09.htm

Story:  http://www.gomajors.com/news/2011/2/25/BB_0225111431.aspx

[frank_ezelle]

For anyone who is interested, the season preview for the Adrian College team that Millsaps will be playing today and tomorrow.  Sounds like they are excited about having a big year in 2011:

http://www.adrianbulldogs.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/2011022563z6r5

[jekelish]

Austin College and Southwestern are underway in Sherman, playing one game today and one tomorrow. Top of the first, two outs, two on for Southwestern.

livestats.austincollege.edu