BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Spence]

Man you're full of great lines, Doc!

[frank_ezelle]

A Huey Long quote on the SCAC message board--I think that's a first.  

My guess is that Trinity will need to hold Rhodes to 5 runs or less this afternoon if they want to play on Sunday.  Certainly they are capable of that but are they likely of doing that?  I guess that's the $64,000 question.

I do know that Evan Bronson held Millsaps to 2 runs in 9 innings so he is capable of shutting down a good lineup.  Zack Bukowski is someone who hasn't pitched much but he has interesting numbers with a 0.64 ERA and holding opposing teams to .218 at the plate.  Whoever it is, I think that Trinity only gets to Sunday if someone comes up with a truly outstanding performance on the mound today.  

[Spence]

I looked at Bukowski but it looks like he's played against people that just about anyone on their staff could beat.

Bronson's got nice numbers.

[infielddad]

Evan Bronson pitches a 3 hitter and Trinity wins 9-0.  Vera gets them going with a 2 run homer and freshman Evan Jones does the same.  Quality production up and down the lineup.
Tomorrow should be a lot of fun.  The Trinity seniors have been in these situations since winning the SCAC's their freshman year.  Vera came up huge in the 2004 championship game and I would not be surprised to see him do the same tomorrow.
One of those two teams has huge expectations and an entire season riding on tomorrow and one has nothing to lose.  That  seems like an interesting matchup.  BTW, Trinity has more pitching...like the guys who combined to beat TLU on Tuesday.

[Doc Nelson]

Hats off to Trinity for a splendid 9-0 victory today.  Evan Bronson pitched superbly, with able backup from his teammates at bat and on the field.  Maybe I should have realized before I quoted them that Ronald Reagan and even Huey Long were right a good bit of the time!

That said, Rhodes has a stronger pitcher in Chris Catalanotto (5-1, 2.54 ERA) than anyone Trinity can field for Game 3.  Also, Rhodes's pattern this year has been to follow bad days--and there have been a few, even in a 34-8 season--with  good ones.  Poise and resilience have been this team's watchwords all year.

[frank_ezelle]

What an interesting first half of Day 2.  Congratulations to Centre and Trinity for stepping up the pitching and heating up the bats to even those series after losing the first day by double-digits.  It should be interesting tomorrow and I can't see where there is any way to call a favorite in those two games.

I'm curious what everyone else thinks about Rhodes getting an NCAA at-large bid.  Keeping in mind that they did beat #10 Washington and #3 Emory last weekend, do you think they have done enough to get an at-large bid if they lose tomorrow or will a lose tomorrow end their season?

[Doc Nelson]

Can I piggy back onto Frank's question and ask how the process for issuing at-large bids works?  I'm thinking of basic questions like who makes the call, how many slots are there, whether bids can only be in one's region, etc.

[infielddad]

    Rhodes has a stronger pitcher in Chris Catalanotto (5-1, 2.54 ERA) than anyone Trinity can field for Game 3.

Doc, I am not sure that Chris' record in any way reflects he is "better/stronger" than anyone Trinity can pitch. But I would hope Rhodes heads into the game thinking that way.  Coach Scannell coaches for the end of the season.  He has guys with a lot more innings and experience than Rhodes, especially if Trinity gets to Catalanatto early.
Let me tell you a little story about Coach Scannell.  In 2004, in the final game of the West Regional, he started a freshman against Scott Hyde/George Fox.  That freshman had pitched in some very tough situations but his "stats" weren't all that eye catching.  That freshman went 5 innings and gave Trinity a chance to win. The next year, that kid was the SCAC pitcher of the year.  The moral is don't think Trinity doesn't have some good arms, like the guys who beat TLU.
Frank, I would be absolutely shocked if Rhodes gets an at large if they lose tomorrow.  I realize Trinity and Millsaps have given the conference good showings in the regionals and improved the way the conference is perceived.  But losing 2-3 to a Trinity team having a very off season, not making the conference tournament and winning the weaker SCAC division won't do it unless the South is very weak.  By analogy, in 2003, Trinity enterred the tournament ranked in the top 20 after playing a very rugged schedule. If I remember right, they broke TLU's 35 game win streak and knocked them out of the #1 slot in all of DIII.  Trinity ended up about 32-10 and that ended their season.  If Rhodes loses tomorrow, despite having Doc's stated "edge" in the pitching, I think they start working on next year.

[Just_Some_Guy]

That said, Rhodes has a stronger pitcher in Chris Catalanotto (5-1, 2.54 ERA) than anyone Trinity can field for Game 3.  Also, Rhodes's pattern this year has been to follow bad days--and there have been a few, even in a 34-8 season--with  good ones.  Poise and resilience have been this team's watchwords all year.

I'm not sure that I agree with this statement.  Catalanotto pitched well against Wash U. but seemed vulnerable against conference opponents Olgethorpe and Depauw.

All this talk about Trinity's pitching staff not having enough depth is pretty far from the truth in my opinion. It's their sticks that are the weaker of the two. (Despite hitting Holt pretty well) With the exception of Nick Vera, they don't have any premiere guys at the plate. They're hitting .288 as team this year. Most solid playoff contenders are well into the .300s.

I feel like Trinity will go with Britton Horn whose stats my show him as vulernable (3-2, 4.75, .304 against), but he's a good pitcher and they have plenty others in that pen that can toss if they need to. Michael Hunter (.244 against, 25 BBs, 31 Ks in 23.2 IP).  throws it in there pretty well also. The problem is both guys HAVE to throw strikes to succeed. I agree with Spence that Bukowski (0.64, .218 against) hasn't throw against great competition all year, but he could see some work out of the pen. Finally, Ryan Poffenroth (3.79, 2.58 against) will see some time on the bump as well.

IF Bobby Zabor can fire them up, and Nick Vera can put them on his back for another game, I think this Trinity team has a chance.

After Catalanotto who does Rhodes have they can trust in a game like this? Gertz? Mueller? Simmons?  I agree that maybe Catalanotto matches up better than Horn or others in terms of SP and numbers thus far this year, but I think Trinity has more depth if either team can get in each others' respective pens.

Just my 2 cents, and I'm no SCAC afficionado.

Good luck to both teams.

[historymajor]

Southwestern just eliminated DePauw form the tourney with a bottom of the ninth tie-breaking run, 8-7.

So they will indeed 'host' the SCAC finals in Georgetown next weekend.

Congrats to Coach Shelton and all the SW players and fans.

[Spence]

Rule #1 of pitching use on an elimination/championship day: Everyone is available.

Rule #2: See rule #1.

If Catanalotto can get them through the first 5-6, I wouldn't be surprised to see a big lefthander come in to try to finish it. Trinity definitely has more options though.

[consultant]

Millsaps advances to the SCAC championships with an 8-7 win over Oglethorpe tonight.  The Stormy Petrels charted a furious comeback in the late innings, but Millsaps pushed across the winning run in the top of the ninth. 

Congratulations to Millsaps and Southwestern for advancing.  Good luck to Rhodes/Trinity and Centre/Austin on Sunday.  I expect two great ballgames.

Many to thanks to the dynamic duo of TrinitySID and SCACSID for giving us the play-by-play.

[frank_ezelle]

Let me add to consultant's post a congratulations to the team from OU for the hard fought effort this evening.  While they didn't come out with a victory, they certainly showed a lot of heart with the big comeback in the 8th. 

In hindsight, maybe Millsaps left Buffa in too long but he was pitching well, he is a senior and he is a competitor, plus Coach Page is extremely loyal to his players and I'm sure he wanted to see Buffa get a complete game.  It was good to see Bobby Osburn come in and pitch well to close the game just as he did Tuesday when Millsaps got their big win over Belhaven.

One other thing I'd like to point out.  OU walked 9 batters and hit 3 more during the game to give Millsaps 12 base runners during the game.  Some people may think that is just poor pitching and that OU "gave the game away" but I think the Millsaps hitters deserve a lot of credit for being patient and taking the walks instead of going after bad pitches.  You can throw them strikes and let them hit or pitch carefully and put a lot of runners on with walks--the way they can swing the bats it's not such a bad plan to keep the ball out of the strike zone.

[Just_Some_Guy]

Kind of surprised Scannell went with Bukowski over the more experienced Britton Horn despite his struggles with control of late.  I guess he didn't want to have a few early walks and dig a hole he couldn't get out of.   Poffenroth has been used in a TON of games this year.  I wonder how long he can go. Catalanotto is throwing quite well. 

EDIT: It's not over yet, but Catalanotto has pitched a gem, seemingly better than Rhodes #1 & #2 and TU can't get the bats going with the exception to Vera.  Score is 5-1 in the bottom of the 7th.

Anyone listening live?  How did Vera not score on the double play ball that Welch hit to 2nd.  Like I said before, I thought that Trinity was going to be doomed at the plate, as they have been all year.

[Spence]

If Austin were to beat Centre today, with Millsaps and Rhodes advancing as 1 seeds, how would they determine who would play the 2 seed Austin vs. the 3 seed Southwestern?