BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[historymajor]

Hosted by Chapman University, Orange, California
1. Redlands (30-9)
2. Trinity (Texas) (33-11)
3. Chapman (27-10)
4. Cal State East Bay (24-10)
5. Texas Lutheran (32-11-1)
6. George Fox (27-13)

[Ron Boerger]

F the NCAA.  SIX straight years these guys have gotten to host the regional because of geography.  

Sorry, Millsaps, you get it too.   In both the Midwest and the West the #3 seed ends up being the host.   

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps will open up with Webster University.  I don't think the two teams have a common opponent this season.  Webster just finished their conference tournament this past weekend while Millsaps has been off for about 3 weeks--I'm not sure who that favors but I think it might favor Millsaps. 

Webster looks like a team with its strength at the plate.  They have a .338 team batting average compared to .334 for Millsaps.  Millsaps does hold the edge in the on base percentage and the slugging percentage.  From a pitching standpoint, Webster doesn't seem to have that one big starter that is head and shoulders above the rest of the staff.  Their three main starters are 5-2, 5-3, and 4-1 with ERA's ranging from 3.90 to 4.97. 

A release from Millsaps says that the two teams will play the 2nd game on Wednesday but there is no game time given.  On the Millsaps baseball page it says that all games will be webcast.  Here's a link to that page:

http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/baseball/index.shtml

[BigPoppa]

Looks like Millsaps got hosed. This is a tough regional to be in. Carthage and Aurora are both solid clubs. Aurorua was #1 in the region for quite awhile until they collapsed last week after beating Carthage in a non-conference game. AU fell apart in the NIIC tourney and was lucky to get a pool C berth. Carthage is a young, streaky team that is hot right now. They live on pitching.

From the Carthage Website:
The Carthage College baseball team (33-7), ranked eighth in the May 2 American Baseball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, is the top-seeded team in a six-team regional at Kelly Field on the campus of Washington University (Mo.) in St. Louis, Mo.  The Red Men will open regional play on Wednesday, May 17 versus sixth-seeded the College of Mount St. Joseph (28-15) at 10 a.m. In the second game at 1 p.m., second-seeded Millsaps College (34-11) will play fifth-seeded Webster University (26-16), and third-seeded Washington University (Mo., 34-5) will take on fourth-seeded Aurora University (29-11) at 4 p.m. in the third game of the day.  The regional continues with three games on Thursday, May 18, three games on Friday, May 19 and the championship round on Saturday, May 20.  Kelly Field does not have lights.

[Ralph Turner]

Looks like Millsaps got hosed. This is a tough regional to be in. Carthage and Aurora are both solid clubs. Aurorua was #1 in the region for quite awhile until they collapsed last week after beating Carthage in a non-conference game. AU fell apart in the NIIC tourney and was lucky to get a pool C berth. Carthage is a young, streaky team that is hot right now. They live on pitching.

From the Carthage Website:
The Carthage College baseball team (33-7), ranked eighth in the May 2 American Baseball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, is the top-seeded team in a six-team regional at Kelly Field on the campus of Washington University (Mo.) in St. Louis, Mo.  The Red Men will open regional play on Wednesday, May 17 versus sixth-seeded the College of Mount St. Joseph (28-15) at 10 a.m. In the second game at 1 p.m., second-seeded Millsaps College (34-11) will play fifth-seeded Webster University (26-16), and third-seeded Washington University (Mo., 34-5) will take on fourth-seeded Aurora University (29-11) at 4 p.m. in the third game of the day.  The regional continues with three games on Thursday, May 18, three games on Friday, May 19 and the championship round on Saturday, May 20.  Kelly Field does not have lights.

Big Poppa, since the NIIC was a "pool B" conference, and did not have an AQ, their (Aurora's) performance was balanced by the season long in-region record, IMHO.

My first impressions with the post-season conference tourneys in baseball are:

-- that they do not raise a a team to Pool C that wasn't already on the radar screen;
-- that they may knock out a marginal Regionally Ranked team like Simspon IIAC #5 Central;
-- and that anything under 4th in the regional rankings must win it all if they want a bid!  (The Northeast Region is a bit unusual due to its size.)

[frank_ezelle]

I don't know enough about these other teams to know if Millsaps did or didn't get a raw deal.  I've looked at the stats of all 6 teams to see how they compare but I don't know if that is a very valid comparison since I don't know how their strength of schedule compares.

To me it looks like all of the teams can hit and score runs.  I think the big question for every team will be their pitching.  My guess is that John Fox and Todd Kindler stack up well with the 1-2 pitchers of the other 5 teams.  Jay Hollenbeck at 4-0 and about a 2.00 ERA isn't a bad guy to have as the #3 starter, especially after his 7 inning, 1 run performance vs. DePauw in the SCAC Tournament.  Behind those three you have Tal Hendrix, Tait Hendrix, Brandon Ingram, Drew Maddox, David Hutzel and Brad Miserany, and I have confidence in all of those guys.  On paper, it looks like the only staff that might be stronger is the Carthage staff but that's just on paper and it doesn't mean that it is reality. 

Millsaps has a 2-0 record against #2 seed Emory this year and a 4-3 record against #2 seed Trinity so they have proven that they can win against top competition.  Hopefully they will prove it again this week.

[Spence]

I don't understand some of the site selections. St. Louis has two minor-league stadiums that aren't being used until after the MLB draft. Sure it could cost to rent a little. Maybe they needed the money to ship Kings and Elizabethtown out to damn near Illinois.

Also curious is the selection of Rocky Mount for the South regional, when Methodist has lights. Give Methodist coach Tom Austin points for not choosing his own field to host at least. Maybe he lacked workers? NCWC has hosted at Barton in Wilson before, but they're hosting their conference tourney next week.

And does anyone other than Chapman submit regional bids in the West?

[historymajor]

Suck  it up and run this regional... Millsaps... you're better than all of them... and let's make a date with TU at Appleton!

[BigPoppa]

Suck  it up and run this regional... Millsaps... you're better than all of them... and let's make a date with TU at Appleton!

History... I love your enthusiasm for Millsaps. This is going to be one of the better regionals. Millsaps could easily be a #1 seed in this or another regional. Carthage and Aurora battled for control of this region for the last 14 years when Carthage was shifted from the Midwest to the Central. It seems like they meet in the finals every other year. I think Millsaps has a great chance to do some damage here.

[frank_ezelle]

Suck  it up and run this regional... Millsaps... you're better than all of them... and let's make a date with TU at Appleton!

I'd love it if Trinity had a chance to even their record against Millsaps in 2006.  I guess time will tell but I really think that the break between the SCAC Tournament and the NCAA Regionals will help both teams.  It certainly makes it more feasible that a pitcher who throws on Wednesday and maybe even Thursday will be able to come back and give some quality innings later in the Regionals.  I don't know if that will be true for guys who were pitching tournament games just a few days ago.

As for the rust factor of not having played in over 2 weeks, I'm hoping in both cases that the #2 seed will be strong enough to win over the #5 seed even if they are a little rusty.  After that first game I think the Trinity and Millsaps hitters should feel back in sync.  

I'm looking forward to following the Trinity games when they don't conflict with the Millsaps games and I'm pulling for them to get to the World Series along with the Majors.

[consultant]

Looks like there should be pleasant weather in St. Louis for the Central Regional tourney.  Millsaps arrived in St. Louis this afternoon after a routine 8-9 hour bus trip.  The coaching staff seems pleased with the bracket.  From what I understand, there are no injuires to report, and the Majors have had two weeks of "good, crisp practices and scrimmages."   

No word on who will be the starting pitcher for the Majors on Wednesday against Webster.  Because Millsaps likes the way they match up with Webster, I wouldn't be surprised to see a pitch-by-committee approach in order to save some arms. 

Millsaps is in a regional for the third time in the last four years.  This year's seniors were freshman in 2003 when the Majors played in the South regional at Miss. College.  Millsaps was the #6 seed that year and opened the tournament with a 2-1 10 inning win over #1 seed and second-ranked Carthage. 

[frank_ezelle]

While waiting for the Regional games to begin, may I just point out the joke that came out on May 15th, namely the ABCA Poll.

Millsaps and Trinity both finished their season on April 30th at the SCAC Tournament.  Millsaps finished 34-11, Trinity 33-11.  Millsaps won 4 of 7 from Trinity but Trinity did win the conference by a game.

In the May 2nd ABCA Poll, Trinity was 10th with 160 points and Millsaps was 14th with 127 points.  Not sure about that but so be it.  Now without either team playing a game we have the May 15th poll with Trinity moving up to 9th with 180 points and Millsaps falling to 17th with 114 points.  I guess Trinity was having better pre-regional practice sessions.  Why does the ABCA even bother?

[Pat Coleman]

While I know that this poll has consistency issues, one thing to keep in mind is that in general you cannot judge a poll in a vacuum. You didn't mention who fell behind Trinity or who may have passed Millsaps. Those affect a team's ranking and points total as well.

[BigPoppa]

While I know that this poll has consistency issues, one thing to keep in mind is that in general you cannot judge a poll in a vacuum. You didn't mention who fell behind Trinity or who may have passed Millsaps. Those affect a team's ranking and points total as well.

Pat... I agree.... most of the movement can be attributed to the wins/losses of their previous opponents. I know they did not play, but many others were still playing.

[scaccommish]

2006 All-SCAC Baseball Team

http://www.scac-online.org/baseball/06allscac.htm