BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[infielddad]

Got to watch a little of the live stream from yesterday's 2nd TU-UTD game.  If you're so inclined, check out the play by the Trinity shortstop at about the 33:30 mark from that game.  You don't see that very often at this level..

Bmo, the Trinity shortstop, Connor Moore is good, really good.  The Dallas hitter clearly was thinking hit getting out of the box and did not realize Moore backhanded the ball deep in the hole.  As a result, the runner rounded 1B rather than running through the bag and was stunned when he realized what happened.
The TU 3B is also really good and made huge double play driving to his right over the bag to snag a well hit ball with runners on 1st and 2nd.
While I have not seen the overall stats, it would not surprise me if UT Dallas did not have far more baserunners.  They left a ton on base and especially at 2B and 3B.
Nelson, who closed the 2nd game on Saturday was the real thing.  I would doubt there are many better in D3 in terms of what he showed for 1 inning with 3Ks.
He was 88-91, everything down, ahead in each count and used a very hard breaking ball with equally good command.
Trinity has arms but their starters cannot continue to give up so many "free" baserunners, to pitch from the stretch and with so many 3-2 counts.
Good teams will hurt them, eventually and the offense won't always be able to score enough runs.
Clearly the coaching staff wants them to pitch to contact. With the quality and speed of their defense that message seems like the right one.
This can be a really good team on the mound, in the field, with the bats and with speed and depth, but they are not one  yet.  I still think they need to appreciate every opponent sees them as the team to beat and, mentally, Trinity might not see each opponent quite the same way.

[108 Stitches]

  I still think they need to appreciate every opponent sees them as the team to beat and, mentally, Trinity might not see each opponent quite the same way.

This is exactly the problem with the team last year. I think they had to lose in the SCAC chanpionships to realize that one more loss and they were going home. With that said they lost a lot of Sr pitching last year that had lots of experience. They have some quality arms that just need the opportunity to pitch in real life - pressure situations to develop the confidence to throw the ball over the plate and let their defense (which is proven to be very good) to do their jobs. I think we will see a lot of high scoring games early and hopefully the pitching staff matures during the season and is ready come the conference tournament and (hopefully) beyond.

[108 Stitches]

My predictions for next weekend.

We are going to find out real soon if AC 6-1 is because they have turned the corner or if they just played bad teams. We are also going to find out if SW just played outstanding teams and their 2-8 record is because of this. I don't think we are going to learn much about the rest of the teams as it looks like it will shape up to be TLU, Trinity, Cent and TBD for the conf tournament and TBD may not matter all that much.

Here we go:

AC   at Trinity.  Trinity sweeps. Reality comes home to AC
Sch at Cent.     Cent sweeps
TLU at Dallas    TLU sweeps
SW vs CTX      CTX takes 2 of 3 but never count out SWern. We will find out what SW is all about. Although they lost 2/3 to Cent the games appeared to be competitive.

Trinity crushed CTX on Tuesday and it really does not mean much (we know they can hit) other than Trinity looks like if found another potential starting pitcher and a Freshmen reliever.

[108 Stitches]

Sometimes I feel like posting in the SCAC thread is like peeing in my wetsuit, I feel all warm and comfortable and nobody notices... With that done on for this week:

It is clear, even now early in the season, that the SCAC trophy will run through San Antonio. Good news is that there are great Margaritas, BBQ, and the River Walk, the bad news is teams teams will  have to play Trinity at home.  As far as the group, Centenary and Trinity really look like the quality teams early in the season, but Dallas had a great weekend last week so they might be the surprise team of the SCAC. There is a ton of baseball left and as Trinity proved last year it is not how you play early in the season, at the end is what counts.

For this week.

Trinity @ TLU   Trinity could sweep but I think TLU will sneak out a game, their tough at home. Trinity wins 2 of 3
Centenary off. Cent clobbered TT last night, but Tyler had a Freshmen starting so I don't put too much into this game.
Dallas at Austin  Can Dallas keep it rolling and sweep. I don't think so but Dallas takes 2 of 3.
SWern @ Schreiner SW should sweep but I still can not figure them out so far this year.

OK back to work.

[Jim Dixon]

Sometimes I feel like posting in the SCAC thread is like peeing in my wetsuit, I feel all warm and comfortable and nobody notices... With that done on for this week:

Remind me never to buy a wet suit from you. 

Congrats to Andrew Waters for all the recognition of his super week.

[108 Stitches]

Jim D. 

Thanks for reminding us about Andrew. WOW is all I can say. From your site: "0.833 (10-12) in the three games against Austin, collecting four doubles, two triples, and two home runs among his 10 hits. He also scored six runs and added eight RBI, posting an astronomical 2.000"

Last year when Trinity went up to play OU, I went to the game and he was literally the best player on the field for both teams. Even Pete Hughes said that. At the start of the game OU had their 6'5" flame thrower who was sitting 95 topped at 98, and I thought oh boy were in trouble. Andrew leads off by roping a line drive right back up the middle to start the game and I think he set the tone for the whole team. "OK we can compete with these guys". Anyway well deserved and lets hope he keeps it up.

[108 Stitches]

Caught the tail end of the Trinity vs Lady of the Lake (NAI) game. Trinty won 3-2 in 10 with WO HR by Wolf. They got good performance from two freshmen who each went 5 and only gave up 1 ER between them against what is usually a very good LotL NAI team. Could be a hopeful sign in SA. (for you waterlogged, good call) I bet those two kids won't be sleeping much tonight with the adrenaline from their first big test. Love to see Freshmen come through in these mid week games.  Congrats to Hussian and Cubley!

[108 Stitches]

Here I sit in my wetsuit again, but here are the predictions for the weekend.

Austin @ Centenary     CU sweeps (at least they should)
Schreiner @ TLU          Normally I would say TLU sweeps but Schreiner is looking stronger this year TLU still take 2 of 3. Schreiner looks like the surprise team of the league so far.
Dallas @ HSU               Don't know and does anyone care?
SW @ Trinity                Trinity should sweep but their No 1 is looking a bit shaky so SW might sneak a game. Trinity is also playing something like 7 games in 7 days so their pitching may be stretched

All for now.

[Just_Some_Guy]

Here I sit in my wetsuit again, but here are the predictions for the weekend.

Austin @ Centenary     CU sweeps (at least they should)
Schreiner @ TLU          Normally I would say TLU sweeps but Schreiner is looking stronger this year TLU still take 2 of 3. Schreiner looks like the surprise team of the league so far.
Dallas @ HSU               Don't know and does anyone care?
SW @ Trinity                Trinity should sweep but their No 1 is looking a bit shaky so SW might sneak a game. Trinity is also playing something like 7 games in 7 days so their pitching may be stretched

All for now.

Just so you don't have to wet your wetsuit, I'll bite.

Austin @ Centenary

I don't think there's any question that Centenary is the superior team at all facets of the game, but they slipped once against against both Southwestern and Schreiner so I'll go out on a limb and say Austin swindles a game -- perhaps with sophomore Josh Lewis on the bump, especially if he squares off against Novak who has good stuff, but hasn't always commanded the zone this year. That said, the Roos have to play better defense: Melton, Tarbox and Dudley have been pretty sloppy in the field. For the Gentleman, Schimpf has been an on base machine, but they really need true freshman, Cameron Guin, to get going in the middle of that lineup. 

Schreiner @ TLU

Schreiner has found a way to steal one from virtually everyone (except Sul Ross) so far, and Allen/Gonalez/Hammack have been competitive on the mound, but I'm going to venture that the Bulldogs find a way to sweep to open conference play. TLU's Malinovsky has been great and if Baylor/Rimko can get them to the later innings, the bullpen features at least 3 solid arms (and that's not even counting FR Murrell who's also thrown well against good competition.) Jury still out on this TLU team for me. I know they don't want to be 7-7, but they've played a solid schedule. If they don't melt down at UMHB and instead take 2 of 3 from Dallas, you're looking at a strong 9-5 team so...

Dallas @ HSU

With the exception of SP Hammonds and RP Marshall, and their series win against TLU, this team has been pretty bad.

And when did Hardin Simmons get so bad? Coleman used to roll out one of the best ASC West teams year in and year out.

HSU's got 4 solid bats at the top of their lineup, but their pitching has been average at best and they've been unable to find a 3rd starter. Complete toss up for me. I guess I'll go with momentum, and since HSU has won 5 in a row, I'll predict they take 2 of 3 from Dallas.

SW @ Trinity

Cates is solid at the top of that Pirate lineup, but I just don't think they score enough or pitch well enough to steal a game from TU. I'm going to predict that SW coming to town is just what Gray needs to get back on track and that Tigers sweep the series and outscore SW by 20 across the 3 game set. Scannell may look to let some of his young arms get some work if they get way up, but they're not likely to take the hand off the throttle in the first week of conference play.

JSG

[108 Stitches]

JSC, +1

One of the more thoughtful and informative posts I've seen in a while in the West.

Trinity took DeSales apart at the seams last night. It was interesting they threw Gray, probably for a couple of reasons, to keep him on his normal throwing schedule, plus to take some pressure off and work on some things, which appeared to work.

Thanks that wet suit was getting a bit itchy...

[Just_Some_Guy]

Here I sit in my wetsuit again, but here are the predictions for the weekend.

Austin @ Centenary     CU sweeps (at least they should)
Schreiner @ TLU          Normally I would say TLU sweeps but Schreiner is looking stronger this year TLU still take 2 of 3. Schreiner looks like the surprise team of the league so far.
Dallas @ HSU               Don't know and does anyone care?
SW @ Trinity                Trinity should sweep but their No 1 is looking a bit shaky so SW might sneak a game. Trinity is also playing something like 7 games in 7 days so their pitching may be stretched

All for now.

Just so you don't have to wet your wetsuit, I'll bite.

Austin @ Centenary

I don't think there's any question that Centenary is the superior team at all facets of the game, but they slipped once against against both Southwestern and Schreiner so I'll go out on a limb and say Austin swindles a game -- perhaps with sophomore Josh Lewis on the bump, especially if he squares off against Novak who has good stuff, but hasn't always commanded the zone this year. That said, the Roos have to play better defense: Melton, Tarbox and Dudley have been pretty sloppy in the field. For the Gentleman, Schimpf has been an on base machine, but they really need true freshman, Cameron Guin, to get going in the middle of that lineup. 

Or Novak will read this and decide, instead, to throw a complete game, 3H, shut out. Can't stop that stache. Excellent performance.

Austin's Josh Lewis went 7 IP, 12 H, 4 ER... certainly not a bad performance against a good Centenary team. Both Melton and Tarbox booted one.

For the Gentelman, Schimpf banged out 2 more hits and Guin got going with a pair of singles as well.

JSG

Thanks for the +1 108.

[Just_Some_Guy]

Austin @ Centenary

Centenary sweeps the series without giving up a run the entire weekend.

I mentioned Novak's performance (against Austin's Josh Lewis) in a previous post, but Jackie Allen (3-0, 1.91 ERA) and Kaleb Kirk (4-2, 2.19 ERA) were equally as good both throwing at least 7 IP of shutout baseball.

For Austin College, SS Austin Dudley had a nice weekend going 5-8 at the plate, but he didn't get much help from his friends.

I mentioned their INF having to clean up the errors to win, but Melton/Tarbox combined for another 5 errors this weekend. In fairness, it looks like both guys may be playing out of position, but with neither swinging it very well... it might be time to give other guys a shot.

For the Gentleman, Schimpf and Zapata have been their leaders at the plate, and both guys continued their success. Schimpf went 9-14 raising his average to .431. Did I mention his OBP was .565? Zapata went 5-13 with 6 RBIs. I also mentioned the importance of FR Guin getting going in the middle. He went 6-11 this weekend raising his average from .217 to .281. RF Dakota Brown also chipped in a nice 5-11 weekend.

If I'm Trinity, I'm not sleeping on this Centenary team.


Schreiner @ TLU

Texas Lutheran sweeps.

The 1st game was an extra inning affair that the Bulldogs won in the 13th (after answering Schreiner in the 11th).

The game featured great bullpen performance from Schreiner's Derek Gonzales (3.1 IP, 0 ER) and also, TLU's Derek Cantu who also threw 3.1 IP and surrendered no earned runs.

FR Dylan Murrell snagged the win in the 1st game and closed out the 3rd for his first save of the year. Bulldog relievers pitched 8.2 innings without giving up an ER this weekend. Sophomore Aaron Milone has been fantastic.

SR 2B/3B Alejandro Gutierrez powered the offensive going 8-14 and raising his average to .380. In the absence of starting 1B, Justin Law, JR Sami Resendez and SR UTIL Lincoln Baylor also did some nice work at the plate. Baylor's, in particular, after throwing 8.1 innings in Saturday's affair.

Connor Ver Schuur and Marco Carreon led Schreiner's offense, each going 3-11 on the weekend. Gonzales, who threw 3.1 innings on Saturday, came back for 5 more (1 ER) in relief on Sunday.


Dallas @ HSU

Dallas continues to struggle on the bump (6.18 team ERA).

If not a misprint, starting OF, Luciano Villanueva, threw a solid 6 IP in his first start of the season. Not sure where SP Ryan Hammonds (who'd been pretty good) was this weekend.

SS Rene Vargas was 6-11 at the plate against the Cru.

SW @ Trinity

Trinity takes 2 of 3 from the Pirates. SP Troy Nelson (3-0, 1.82 ERA) was pretty dominant in Game 1. 2B Serkowski had two doubles and drove in 5 runs in the win.

Game 2 was closely contested. Both starting pitchers gave up 4 runs, but the TU bullpen was better. JR Chris Tate (0.52 ERA) pitched 3 scoreless innings for the save.

Southwestern edged the Tigers in game 3 behind a tremendous pitching performance from FR Tyler Polasek in only his second start of the season. He only surrended 3 hits to a Tiger team hitting .323 on the season. His opposition, Teddy Turner, pitched a CG only giving up 3ER w/ 8 K's, but the effort wasn't enough.

Will Cates (4-11, 3 Runs) and Ethan Luna (6-10, 4 RBI) paced the Pirate offense for the weekend.

[108 Stitches]

JSG you are rocking it!

I watched some of the Trinity / SW and I love it when Freshmen come in and have an impact! I am guessing Polasek is moving into the weekend rotation, nicely done!  When he gets back up to Georgetown he better be buying beers for his OF. (We all know Freshmen don't drink. [wink wink]) The SW outfield, particularly Cates continues to amaze me with their play. Just shows you you can take regular season records and throw them out the window. Trinity had a couple of chances to break the game open and Polasek came through. I think we will be reading about him in the SCAC for the next couple of years. Turner pitched a great game also but was a couple of misplay's away from the win. (sun) Overall a good game.

I agree with JSG on Centenary, they are going to be tough when conference tournament time comes. In addition they probably have a sour taste from last year getting knocked out of their first Regional appearance by losing two to Trinity.

[108 Stitches]

Two SCAC pitchers make D3 baseball team of the week, pretty impressive for one 7 team conference. Congrats to both:

SP  Holden Novak, Sr., Centenary (La.)

Novak tossed his second complete game of the season, tossing only 101 pitches of which 73 which were strikes. He retired the side in order in 5-of-9 innings and only allowed one Austin base runner past second base. With another 10 strikeout performance, he now leads the league in wins (four) and is second in strikeouts (34).


SP  Tyler Polasek, Fr., Southwestern (Tex.)

Polasek picked up his first collegiate win on Sunday to help Southwestern salvage a three-game set at fourth-ranked Trinity (Texas). Polasek hurled seven shutout innings and limited the SCAC's top offensive squad to only three hits, all of which were singles. The Pearland, Texas, native also fanned three batters before handing the ball over to the bullpen.

[Ron Boerger]

108, your commentary is read and very much appreciated.   I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about baseball as you are and haven't been able to do much with TUBB/SCAC baseball this season other than live vicariously through your posts.   Thanks (and +1s) to both you and JSG for the detailed information you post here.