BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[tusid]

Trinity's West Region Tournament games will be webcast, and will also feature live stats (as long as they are working - they have been hit-or-miss recently).  The links to both can be found on Trinity's athletics site at:

http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/index.htm

[historymajor]

Some tech difficulties .... hpoe they were ironed out in time....

TU and Millsaps 'cruised'....


http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Baseball/Recaps/2006/TU-NCAA1.htm

http://www1.chapman.edu/athletics/05-06/baseball/regionals/game2.htm


http://bearsports.wustl.edu/releases/baseball5-17-06.html

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/baseball/ncaa2.htm

[frank_ezelle]

Congratulations to Trinity on winning the game against Texas Lutheran that counted the most this season.  Trinity and Millsaps played in a 6 team conference tournament so we should both be familiar with how big the #5 game is today.  That's the "winner's bracket" game that has the 1-0 team vs. the 0-1 team.  In both regions the 1-0 team is the #6 seed and probably the underdog in the game.  Therefore, a win by Millsaps and Trinity today could very likely give them the winner's bracket edge after only 2 games.

If that happens, then your 3rd game of the tournament isn't against a 2-0 team but against a team that is playing its 2nd game of the day and 4th game of the tournament.  That's a pretty good deal.  On the other hand, if the #6 seed does win and you face them in a winner's bracket final, then you have to think that their #3 starter won't be very strong--there is a reason that they are the #6 seed.  That's not a bad situation either. 

The bottom line is that Trinity and Millsaps have a chance to really grab the upper hand in their regionals with a win today since the #1 seeds both got sent to the loser's bracket on the first day.  It should be an exciting afternoon and evening of baseball and a win by both of the SCAC teams would greatly improve the possibility that these two teams might just meet again in 2006.

[Ron Boerger]

Great comments, Frank.  Millsaps and TU really need to reach back and pull out a W today.  As you say, it would put them in the driver's seat for the rest of the regionals. 

[frank_ezelle]

Hate to see that Trinity went down in a late game last night.  Looked like they were still in the game until a sloppy 4-run Chapman inning.  Started off with a HBP, then a walk and all of a sudden you have two men on with no outs and Chapman hasn't even put the ball in play.  Throw in an error, a wild pitch, and a few hits and that was the ball game.

On paper Trinity has the pitching to come back but it seems like the Trinity staff got a little thin in the SCAC Tournament.  Still, they should be in better shape then most teams when it comes to pitching.  The big question is will the bats heat up again after last night?  They need to bounce back with a few 10-12 run outputs and they'll have a good shot of taking the region.

[Ron Boerger]

They had the misfortune of facing Chapman's best P ... but that's life.  The good news is with him having pitched the CG last night, he should be unavailable should TU face Chapman in a rematch (or two).   TU got 2 ER off of Drag, who had an 0.69 ERA before yesterday's game.

TU has to turn around and play the first game today ... going to make it tough.  I imagine Trinity will start Chuck Huggins this AM and hope to have Britton Horn for a possible rematch with Chapman in the nightcap ... tho the opposite could easily be the case as well.  Bignall should be good to go if there is another game after that, but they have to get by George Fox this afternoon. 

Huggins is the best at denying hits (.200 OBA) and has 53 K's in 52.0 IP,  but also leads the team with 38 walks, 11 WP and seven hit batsmen. 

Chapman will have to start their #3 today, Billy Sulentor (4-4, 3.49).   Klovstad probably comes back on Saturday and after that, should it be necessary, who knows. 

[historymajor]

Some call it a conspiracy theory...  At best, I call it a cluster f*&*...

The brackets were redone late this morning and TU's noon game is now 4pm,,, after already having taken BP this morning, they are left to chill til 4, and win to force a second game at against hometown Chapman...  hmmmm... First wierd seedings,,, why would the two TX teams play first in front of the 4 Cali teams?  Scouting, maybe?  Well the first result was ONE of THE TWO were forced into the losers bracket... with the #1 seed (the first bounced out) Redlands out of play...
Now TU faces a double header to stay alive... and poor TLU has to try to round up it's team (who can't all be accounted for because they weren't scheduled to play until later)... no BP... yada,, yada,,, yada...  The NCAA has really bolluxed (sp) this one up!!!!  And the TX teams seam to be getting the worst of it....

http://www.chapman.edu/images/userImages/daiken/Page_9036/brackets.pdf

[Tom Brady]

What the heck?  That is some crazy stuff.  I wouldnt call it a conspiracy that 2 TX teams played each other right away, Chapman and East Bay are very familiar with each other too.  Weird stuff about the time changes though

[frank_ezelle]

I've got a copy of the West regional bracket after the first day of play.  There are still 2 potential brackets and the one you will use is dependent on the winner of the Cal State East Bay vs. George Fox game.

It says if George Fox loses that game, then bracket #2 will be used for the rest of the tournament.  George Fox lost the game.

In bracket #2 it logically has the loser's bracket game at noon, followed by the winner's bracket game at 3:30.  When the brackets are literally changed at the last minute in a move that gives the host team a big advantage, you have to wonder if this is a host team that deserves to get another regional.

[consultant]

Millsaps will start John Fox tomorrow morning vs. Aurora.  Fox claims that he felt great after his outing against Webster on Wednesday.  For Millsaps fans, let's hope that Fox does great on Saturday and that the bats stay hot.

Speaking of hot hitting, SCAC player-of-the-year, Garner Wetzel, broke the SCAC record for RBI in a season today with his 86th RBI.  The old mark was 84 RBI set by Ryan Dowdy of Southwestern in 1999 during a 50-game season for the Pirates.  Wetzel has knocked in 86 runs in 48 games played, and he has 10 RBI in 3 games played in the regional.

On another note Millsaps has outscored its opponents 39-9 in its first three games of the regional.

Tough to see the Trinity loss....and methinks I smell a rat in that regional.

[historymajor]

Ok, TU is out, after getting thumped by a very talented slap-hitting GF team....  I hope TLU meets them tomorrow... they may match up better than TU did.... Go Millsaps and TLU!!!!

[Ron Boerger]

Millsaps will start John Fox tomorrow morning vs. Aurora.  Fox claims that he felt great after his outing against Webster on Wednesday.  For Millsaps fans, let's hope that Fox does great on Saturday and that the bats stay hot.

Speaking of hot hitting, SCAC player-of-the-year, Garner Wetzel, broke the SCAC record for RBI in a season today with his 86th RBI.  The old mark was 84 RBI set by Ryan Dowdy of Southwestern in 1999 during a 50-game season for the Pirates.  Wetzel has knocked in 86 runs in 48 games played, and he has 10 RBI in 3 games played in the regional.

On another note Millsaps has outscored its opponents 39-9 in its first three games of the regional.

Tough to see the Trinity loss....and methinks I smell a rat in that regional.

TU bats just went cold ... I still think having the SCAC championships so darned early hurts the conference's representatives ... need to figure a way to keep the guys playing a game or two in the interim or push the championships back.  In hindsight (and you know what they say) maybe holding Horn back in hopes that Huggins could get the W wasn't the best strategy.

Congrats to Millsaps for doing a much better job with the layoff and good luck in the second game today. 

[consultant]

Congrats to Millsaps for doing a much better job with the layoff and good luck in the second game today.

Millsaps needs all that luck and more.....  Down 3-2 in the top of the fourth Millsaps gave up a 7 spot.  Score is now Aurora 10 - Millsaps 3 (Millsaps just pushed across the third run in btm of the fourth.  There's a lot of baseball left, but Aurora seems to be clicking.

[Ron Boerger]

Majors showed a lot of heart with the big comeback today, consultant.  Props on an excellent season that ended a couple runs short of a trip to the D3 CWS. 

[frank_ezelle]

Pick one of many plays to change and Millsaps is going to the World Series.  Maybe it's just one pitch, one decision, one call, a swing that is .03 of a second earlier or later, etc., and Millsaps is regional champions.  But that's the nature of the game and it's odd that the outcome of a game that is often determined by such tiny things creates an emotional difference that is so huge.  I know the Aurora players are on top of the world and the Millsaps guys had a tough ride home yesterday.

It was a disappointing finish to what was still a great year.  Out of over 300 teams, Millsaps made it to the last 16 teams playing.  They were ranked as the top team in the South and they had numerous outstanding performances as a team and as individuals.  It's also important to note that they handled themselves with class throughout the year and they were excellent representatives for Millsaps and the SCAC.  They lose a great group of seniors who have meant a tremendous amount to the program and to Millsaps but I'm sure the returning players will work hard and do all they can to make the step up to the next level.

Congratulations to the 2006 team for all they accomplished, good luck to each senior as he moves on to the next phase in his life, and I look forward to supporting another great team in 2007.