BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[frank_ezelle]

New Coaches Poll out:  http://www.muhlenberg.edu/sports/abcapoll.html

Millsaps drops to 22, Rhodes moves up to a tie for 30.  In the South, Millsaps is in tie for 4th and Rhodes is 6th. 

I can't complain about the ranking for Millsaps.  Only one other school with 9 losses is in the top 30 and that is Methodist at 18th.  I think Rhodes is 1-0 vs. both Millsaps and Methodist so they might feel like they should be higher. 

DePauw plays #10 Washington today in a DH starting at 1:30 Eastern time.  They have live stats at:  http://www.depauw.edu/ath/live/baseball/xlive.htm

[colonel42005]

Any Centre fans out there....looking through the box scores I did not see Justin Basham pitch against DePauw?? He's their #2 on a very thin pitching staff....makes a big difference when games 3 and 4 roll around. Any news?

I believe Basham is hurt, may be done for the season. 

[frank_ezelle]

#10 Washington defeats DePauw 9-4 in the first game of DH.

[Doc Nelson]

Just my luck to post my first message right after Rhodes drops two straight to LaGrange, 9-1 last night and 5-4 (in 10) this afternoon.  I'm a Rhodes professor, the faculty associate (i.e., informal adviser) for the baseball team, and I'm writing a book under contract with LSU Press called Serious Play: A Year in the Life of the Division III Rhodes College Baseball Team.  The season I'm writing about is 2008.  I've enjoyed reading all of your posts and have learned a lot. 

One comment for now: Rhodes has shown great resilience this season--lose to Hendrix, then beat Millsaps the next day; lose two to DePauw, then run off seven straight against DePauw, Centre, and DII Christian Brothers; and so on.  Bad days have never turned into bad weeks, much less tailspins.  If recent history is any guide, the losses to LaGrange will only spur Rhodes to make its best effort against Washington University and Emory University this weekend.  I'll be posting about the games from Millington, a wonderful baseball facility just north of Memphis.

[consultant]

Doc,
Welcome aboard!  Congratulations on your contract to write what will be an interesting story! 

[DPU3619]

DePauw won the nightcap 11-1.  9 runs in the first for DPU, only 3 of them earned.  David Morefield tossed a gem.

[frank_ezelle]

Doc, that sounds great about the book and I look forward to more posts from you on this board.  Various notes:

--Millsaps vs. LA College was rescheduled for 6 this evening.  I think there is no internet/radio coverage of the game.

--Nice comeback by DePauw to split with #10 Washington.  In the first game DePauw got behind early on a sloppy inning and that hurt a lot so I guess it was turn around to get those unearned runs early in the second game.

--Certainly the Rhodes story has been the most interesting in the SCAC this year.  I think it hurt them as a team to move to the SCAC East instead of playing the stronger schedule in the SCAC West.  Now they are faced with their hardest stretch of the season--two road games against a very good LaGrange team, 3 Memphis area games against top-10 teams, and then a crossover series against a good SCAC West team.  I thought they would get two from LaGrange but the hitting wasn't there.  In the first game the LaGrange catcher and 1st baseman combined for 24 of the 27 putouts which is a bad sign.  Without a doubt, they need to win at least 1 game this weekend but ideally they would come away with 2 out of 3.

(For the record, I'd like to see the SCAC get 2 teams in the NCAA this year and I'd also like to see Millsaps win the SCAC Tournament.  The best way for that to happen is for Rhodes to have great results this weekend so I'm 100% pulling for Rhodes to get some big wins over Washington and Emory.)

[historymajor]

Doc, Frank....  Looks like Trinity will limp up to MEM with what is most probably a four seed.  I guess that'll mean they'll face Rhodes, or possibly DePauw.  In any case the games will be webcast and available for anyone to listen.  Just check Trinity's website for links before gametime.

[frank_ezelle]

Historymajor, any thoughts on the current season at Trinity?  This hasn't been a typical winning season for Trinity and it looks like a combination of losing a lot of key players from the 2006 team, a tough schedule, and maybe some bad luck here and there.

Trinity seemed to lack their normal pitching depth when they played Millsaps but their pitching really isn't that bad.  In 33 games they have given up 183 runs but only 119 were earned.  Contrast that to Millsaps giving up 152 runs with 125 being earned in 34 games.  That points to some defensive problems. 

On the flip side, obviously the hitting is lacking at this point in the season (compared to the typical Trinity team).  A team batting average of .291, a slugging percentage of .400, 13 HRs with 7 coming from Nick Vera, less than 6 runs per game.  It's just not what we normally see from a Trinity team.

All that being said, I don't count them out.  Trinity only goes to the NCAA if they win the SCAC Tournament so I think they'll really be focused on this second chance opportunity.  They certainly have the pitching to win a 2 of 3 weekend if they get some timely hitting and solid defense.  If they win that then they play the SCAC Tournament close to home and pitching depth is a little less critical than it was in past SCAC Tournaments.  I just see Trinity being a factor as they are every year.

[historymajor]

Frank... you are correct sir!  I couldn't have said it better!  Win, or go home!  I hope they'll snap out of their funk....  Last night's win over Schreiner showed me some of the 'old' spark!

[Spence]

If Trinity is the 4 seed that this is a tough draw for Rhodes. Like some have said, Trinity's pitching doesn't look that bad. Certainly not an easy series.

[infielddad]

Trinity has played most of this season without the top 3 pitchers  they expected to return from last year.  Chuck Huggins, their #3 guy from last year transfered to a DI program where he is now the #2 pitcher and likely to be a higher round draft pick come June.  Brian Oates has battled injury and is shut down. I think the same might be true with Drew Bignall but he pitched last night and hopefully is fully healthy.  Drew is now their #1 and did not pitch in the Millsaps series.  That staff led Trinity to the SCAC title last year and the West Regional so they lost a lot!!!
Trinity has also struggled with the bats and up the middle.  They just have too many players playing out of position and have pretty much used up all their depth to do so.
With that said, this group has played in high profile games and they know what is at stake.  Bignall is as good as any pitcher in the SCAC and is capable of beating anyone. Matching up with him in the first game in a cross-divisional could be a huge challenge.  Vera is such a good hitter he could put this team on his back for a short series.  Vera has produced big time in huge situations since his freshman year. 
As historymajor posted, it is time to do it or go home and these guys are not used to going home anywhere near this early.  Will be interesting to see how they respond.

[Gus Sinski]

 What seems to be ailing Oates? Is this a re-flare of a pre-existing injury, or something new altogether? And what does this mean for his possible draft prospects?

[infielddad]

I am not sure of the answer.  Brian is  a very hard worker and competitor. He had one or two very good early outings with limited innings and a low pitch count.  Whether things flared when he tried to extend or whether something new happened, I don't know.
My guess would be he will not be drafted and may apply for a redshirt and come back in 2008.

[Doc Nelson]

Not that it matters a whole lot, but Rhodes beat Rust 40-6 today in a seven-inning game.  For the record, Rhodes did its best to avoid running up the score--twenty-eight players played in the field, including six pitchers.  Flanagan took a turn at third base (he also went one-for-one at the plate) and Holt played an inning at first.  What can you do when the rules require that a fight that should have been stopped in the second round (it was 27-5 at that point) must go seven?