BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[historymajor]

Ralph,,, I think that TU's pitching staff was 'crafted' for the SCAC tourney.  Millsaps can only hope for a pool bid if TU wins the SCAC tourney!  The 'losers bracket',,, or non-top seed is brutal!  It's all about the pitching,,, and TU has it!

[consultant]

Millsaps defeated Louisiana College 7-5 today in Jackson.  No stats up yet.  The Majors improve to 24-8 overall.

[exmajor]

Here is the link to the Jackson newspaper article on the Millsaps game yesterday.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060412/SPORTS030105/60412002/1085/SPORTS

[frank_ezelle]

Ralph,,, I think that TU's pitching staff was 'crafted' for the SCAC tourney.  Millsaps can only hope for a pool bid if TU wins the SCAC tourney!  The 'losers bracket',,, or non-top seed is brutal!  It's all about the pitching,,, and TU has it!

I know I've made this point before but I'll make it again.  While the loser's bracket is more difficult, it is only one extra game.  The undefeated team will have played 3 games and the defeated team will have played 4 games when they meet for the championship.  I recognize that one game is a big factor but even the undefeated team may be 'pitching by committee' if they have used their 3 main starters to get to the championship game.

Being the non-top seed can be a great break as it was for Millsaps last year.  Being the 3W was an easier path to the finals than being the 1W or 2W.

All that being said, I'll grant that TU has some outstanding pitching as does Millsaps.  Still, we need to remember that Millsaps did win 3 our of 5 against TU in the regular season.  Given that John Fox 1-hit Trinity early in the season but was unavailable when the teams split in Jackson, it's not unreasonable to think that Millsaps could easily have won 4 out of the 5 regular season games.  And, if my math is correct, Millsaps has outscored TU 36-26 in those 5 games.  It should make for a great tournament and I'm sure there are more legitimate contenders than just Millsaps and TU.

[BigPoppa]

I have always thought that this region was very underrepresented in the NCAAs. Hopefully, this season will get two or more team into the dance. I would think that the strenght of overall records and in-region record would warrant that consideration.

I think the top conferences should get two or three teams into the tourney. It rewards them for playing a tough conference schedule. I am betting that many 2nd, 3rd or even 4th place teams from tough conferences would win a majority of the other weaker conferences. Those teams should get into the tourney. I think we all agree on that one. I was a CCIW guy who played at Carthage and many times the conference champions we faced in the regionals were not as tough as our 4th place CCIW teams... in fact, I would bet that some would not have finished in the top half of the conference.

A 15 team conference should be rewarded with at 2 bids if a 7 or 8 team conference gets one. Agreed??

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps lost to Mississippi College 6-1 last night and based on the box score, I'm glad that I missed the game because of a tennis match.  Todd Kindler took his 2nd loss of the season allowing 5 runs in 2 innings (only 2 were earned) and Millsaps only managed 3 singles and a double.

You could use the excuse that Millsaps had already captured the Cowboy Maloney Trophy so they were flat for their final game of that series, or you could say that they were looking ahead to the 2-game series with Emory, or you could say it was just one of those games.  I doubt that I could post what Coach Page said about the game.

So for Millsaps it is on to Atlanta for a chance to redeem themselves from this poor performance.  Since they took two from Emory last year, I'm sure that Emory will be looking to return the favor this year.

Link to Millsaps-MC box score:  http://athletics.mc.edu/baseball/2006stats/mcbb3.htm

[Ralph Turner]

Millsaps lost to Mississippi College 6-1 last night and based on the box score, I'm glad that I missed the game because of a tennis match.  Todd Kindler took his 2nd loss of the season allowing 5 runs in 2 innings (only 2 were earned) and Millsaps only managed 3 singles and a double.

You could use the excuse that Millsaps had already captured the Cowboy Maloney Trophy so they were flat for their final game of that series, or you could say that they were looking ahead to the 2-game series with Emory, or you could say it was just one of those games.  I doubt that I could post what Coach Page said about the game.

So for Millsaps it is on to Atlanta for a chance to redeem themselves from this poor performance.  Since they took two from Emory last year, I'm sure that Emory will be looking to return the favor this year.

Link to Millsaps-MC box score:  http://athletics.mc.edu/baseball/2006stats/mcbb3.htm

Frank, thanks for the link.  The key point about the Millsaps Miss Coll game is that this is an in-region game, and does impact the Regional Rankings.

I think we see our first Regional Rankings next Wednesday.

[frank_ezelle]

Not only is it a regional game, but it was a game against a local rival.  Plus, it was just an overall poor performance and I'm sure that no coach is happy with that at any point of the season but especially not at in the second half of the season. 

Maybe it was just great pitching by MC yesterday but it was just the 2nd time Millsaps was held to only 1 run in a game this season.  On the plus side, Jay Hollenbeck, David Hutzel and Brandon Ingram combined for 7 innings of relief and only allowed a run.  As tournament time approaches, I think one, two or all of these pitchers will have a key role to play.

[consultant]

Millsaps defeated Emory 6-5 in 10 innings today.  No stats up yet.

[Ralph Turner]

Really nice win.  A sweep of Emory might give the Majors the to seed and the chance to host the South Region.

I believe that the first Regional Rankings will be out on Thursday.

[consultant]

Despite committing four errors on the afternoon, Millsaps relied on opportune hitting to claim today's 6-5 win over top-ranked Emory.  After a lead-off double by Nick Crawford to start the 10th inning, Jason Hadley followed with an RBI single to push across the winning run for the Majors.  Garner Wetzel hit two home runs and tallied four RBI in a three for five performance.   Millsaps' starting pitcher, John Fox, threw six innings and allowed just one run off three hits in a no-decision bid.  Emory exploded for four runs in the seventh inning against usually reliable relief pitcher Drew Maddox.  Tal Hendrix worked three and one-third innings in late relief to earn the win.  Millsaps improved to 25-9 overall, while Emory fell to 29-5.  The two teams will play again on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. Eastern.   

BOX Score:
http://www.go.emory.edu/Statistics/Current/Base/eu34.htm

[historymajor]

TU beat SW 9-4... Adam Frey got the W... two more tomorrow...  Huggins, and Bignall

http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Baseball/statistics/su-tu3.htm

http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Baseball/Recaps/2006/TU-SU3.htm

[frank_ezelle]

Also on the Emory website is a story about the Friday game:
http://www.go.emory.edu/Headlines/2005-06/Head_Base.html

Notice the second story on the page about Emory's loss at Huntingdon earlier in the week.  Millsaps is 2-0 verses Huntingdon so any quality wins by that program would in theory help Millsaps. 

My prediction is that Millsaps won't really get that much of a boost even if they beat Emory today.  Obviously they will get some but I think we get back to name recognition.  Millsaps is not a nationally recognized overall D3 powerhouse so I doubt that they will get the votes that they might deserve.  Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised but I guess the silver lining is that a team that is slighted tends to stay motivated to prove the voters wrong.

[Ralph Turner]

Also on the Emory website is a story about the Friday game:
http://www.go.emory.edu/Headlines/2005-06/Head_Base.html

Notice the second story on the page about Emory's loss at Huntingdon earlier in the week.  Millsaps is 2-0 verses Huntingdon so any quality wins by that program would in theory help Millsaps. 

My prediction is that Millsaps won't really get that much of a boost even if they beat Emory today.  Obviously they will get some but I think we get back to name recognition.  Millsaps is not a nationally recognized overall D3 powerhouse so I doubt that they will get the votes that they might deserve.  Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised but I guess the silver lining is that a team that is slighted tends to stay motivated to prove the voters wrong.

Frank, my thoughts concerning Millsaps wiln over Emory deal with the Regional Criteria used by the Selection Committees.

We have the Regional Rankings coming out on Thursday.

[consultant]

Millsaps cruised to an 11-4 win over top-ranked Emory today.   The Majors' Garner Wetzel had another big day going 3 for 5, and starting pitcher Todd Kindler threw six and two-thirds innings en route to a win.   

BOX score:
http://www.go.emory.edu/Statistics/Current/Base/eu34.htm