2011 - SCAC Baseball Media Days - DePauw

The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference office will conduct its first annual baseball "media days" event beginning Monday, February 7.

Day one features a sit down with head coach Jake Martin along with junior third baseman Alex Wright of DePauw University.

Martin enters into his second full season as the manager for the DU Tigers. Last year he guided DePauw to a record of 26-17, 9-6 in SCAC play, and a runner-up finish at the SCAC Tournament.

Wright enters his junior season after posting a .333 batting average with 51 hits, 28 RBIs and 25 runs scored. In the field Wright had 55 assists from third with a .953 fielding percentage.

To listen to head coach Jake Martin, click here.

To listen to junior third baseman Alex Wright, click here.

Trinity claims Sixth SCAC Baseball Title

Trailing 1-0 for most of the game, the Trinity University Tigers tied the DePauw University Tigers 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth and from there used a two run eighth inning rally to top the Indiana Tigers 3-1 and win the 2010 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship.

Trinity (32-7) claimed its second SCAC title in the last three years and the program's sixth since 1992 with a dominant performance from starter Ryan Lucero. Lucero lasted eight innings, scattered nine hits while allowing just one earned run and struck out seven in earning the win. With the win Lucero improved to 5-1 this season. Trinity earned the league's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.

Sophomore left-hander Elliott Ross suffered a tough defeat in dropping to 8-2 this year. Ross limited a Trinity offense that was ranked sixth in the nation in batting average (.379) and second in the nation in scoring (11.7 runs/game) heading into the SCAC tournamnent, to just three runs on eight hits and struck out six in 7.1 innings of work.

"Ross was phenomenal," Trinity head coach Tim Scannell said. "He throws three pitches for strikes. He pitches backwards and he pitches both sides of the plate. He's a tough type of pitcher to face."

"He (Ross) has been outstanding in any role we put him in." said DePauw head coach Jake Martin. "We put him in tough spots throughout the year and has just been lights out for us."

Trinity was in DePauw's shoes a year ago. It was the Tigers of Trinity who were trying to win two games on championship Sunday to win the SCAC title last season. Trinity dropped an 11-1 run rule contest to Hendrix in the championship and today's win hit home for Scannell.

"We've been on the DePauw side of it before," he said. "We've been real fortunate to be able to get to the finals and I think our players just kind of willed themselves to win today."

DePauw put the game's first run across in the top of the first. After a Rob McPike double to left advanced Taylor Hoffman to third, Hoffman came around to score on Jason Cohen's sacrifice fly.

The game remained scoreless until Trinity batted in the bottom of the sixth. After a Dylan Early strikeout, second baseman Jonathan Hall tied the game with a solo homerun just over the left field foul pole. Trinity then tacked on the championship runs in the eight. A run scoring single from Hall, and Nick Papas' bases loaded walk were the difference for the 19th-ranked Tigers, as they held on for the win.

"I'm proud of our guys," Martin said. "We fought hard all year long and overcame some adversity."

Hall finished the game batting 2-for-4 with two RBI, a home run and run scored out of the lead off spot in the batting order. Papas finished 1-for-3 with one RBI. First baseman Evan Jones, who came into the championship game hitting .818 (9-for-11) during the tournament was 0-for-4 with two strike outs.

DePauw (24-17) was led by Hoffman (2-for-4, one run) and Cohen (2-for-3, one RBI). The duo were the only two DePauw Tigers to post multi-hit games on the afternoon.

After the game Jeff Debaldo of the SCAC had a chance to speak with both head coaches.

To listen to DePauw head coach Jake Martin, click here.

To listen to Trinity head coach Tim Scannell, click here.

SCAC Baseball Touranment - DePauw vs. Rhodes

For the first time since it won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball title in 2001, DePauw is in the championship game after eliminating Rhodes by a 5-3 score early this morning at USA Stadium.

DePauw scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to break a 2-2 tie and Andy Manson (pictured) pitched a complete game with 13 strikeouts as the Tigers lifted their overall record to 24-16. The Lynx dropped to 26-16 with the loss.

Ben Gardner led off the DePauw first with a walk and moved to third on Taylor Hoffman's single. Gardner scored when Rob McPike hit into a double play. The Tigers made it 2-0 in the second when Jon Newman led off with a triple and scored on Drew Holy's sacrifice fly.

The Lynx knotted the contest at 2-2 in the fourth as Travis Perkins reached on a walk before Brett Lindsey reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a DePauw error. Perkins scored on Chris Conkell's single before Lindsey was picked off. Lynden Pindling followed with a single that scored Conkell and evened the score at 2-2.

Jason Cohen doubled with one out in the DePauw half of the fourth and moved to third on Newman's single. Cohen scored on Alex Wright's sacrifice fly. Holy singled Newman to third and stole second. After Sam Linette walked to load the bases, Alex Jacques delivered a two-run double which gave DePauw a 5-2 lead.

Rhodes added one more in the fifth as Brooks Royer singled and moved to second on Brandon Valentine's grounder. Royer advanced to third on an error and scored on Perkins' single.

Newman and Jacques each had two of DePauw's seven hits, while Perkins collected two of Rhodes' seven. Manson improved to 3-0 with the win and his 13 strikeouts were a career high. Andy Meier dropped to 0-1 with the defeat.

After the game Jeff DeBaldo of the SCAC had the chance to catch up with both head coaches.

To listen to Rhodes head coach Jeff Cleanthes, click here.

To listen to DePauw head coach Jake Martin, click here.

SCAC Baseball Tournament - Trinity vs. Depauw

Trinity University advanced to its third consecutive Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game, with an 8-0 win over the DePauw University Tigers Saturday afternoon at USA Stadium.

Trinity, (31-7) will make its 15th appearance in 19 season in the SCAC championship. The Tigers of Trinity received a solid outing from starter Ben Klimesh. Klimesh threw a complete game shutout while scattering seven hits and striking out 11 DePauw Tigers. He faced just seven batters over the minimum during his nine innings.

The Texas Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead after four innings and then tacked on three in the sixth and two in the eight for the win. Trinity was once again led by SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year Evan Jones.

Jones continued his torrid hitting pace as he went 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored. He upped his tournament average to an astounding .818 (9-for-11) with six RBI, three doubles and one homerun. Through three tournament games, Jones has posted a 1.364 slugging percentage to go along with an .800 on base percentage.

DePauw struggled against Klimesh. The Indiana Tigers were able to seriously threaten the Texas Tigers twice. Both instances came late in the game. DePauw had runners on first and third with two outs only to see the rally end. Their best chance came in the bottom of the ninth. DePauw was able to load the bases with two outs. However, Klimesh buckled down and got Drew Holy to strike out to end the game.

Mike Peterson, DePauw's starter, took the loss to drop to 1-8 on the year. He pitched 5.1 innings, yielding six earned runs, nine hits and struck out three. Taylor Hoffman, Jon Newman and Alex Wright posted multi-hit games for DePauw.

After the game Jeff DeBaldo of the SCAC had the chance to speak with both head coaches.

To listen to DePauw head coach Jake Martin, click here.

To listen to Trinity head coach Tim Scannell, click here.

SCAC Baseball Tournament - DePauw vs. Austin College

The game of the night during the first day of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament was the nightcap between the DePauw University Tigers and the Austin College Kangaroos. After two slugfests preceded the game, DePauw and Austin College played a classic pitchers duel with the Tigers hanging on for a 3-2 win at USA Stadium.

DePauw, the East's #1 seed, scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the first inning and survived a furious Austin College rally in the top of the ninth. The #3 West seeded Kangaroos had runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the ninth when a wild pitch advanced Scooter Merritt and Jamie Garcia to second and third respectively. That was as close as the 'Roos got as Andy White flew out to center field to end the game.

Tigers starting pitcher Brad Gerlach tossed wonderful 7.1 innings, scattering eight hits while yielding two earned runs and striking out seven. Any Manson relieved Gerlach to pick up the last two outs in the eighth before freshman T.J. Witham closed the door in the ninth for the save. Gerlach improved to 3-2 on the year.

Kanaroo starting pitcher Tyler Steed was the tough luck losing pitcher. He pitched a solid eight innings scattering six hits, three earned runs and struck out four. He dropped to 5-6 this season.

DePauw got on the board thanks to a Jon Newman two-out RBI single. The next batter, Alex Wright, then doubled to right center scoring Newman and Rob McPike.

Austin College got on the board in the fourth. After Jordon Robison doubled to right center he was sacrificed to third. Robison then scored on Bennett Herrick's single to center field. The 'Roos then cut the lead in half in the top of the eighth when Tyler Appelquist doubled home Andy White.

DePauw will play Millsaps at 7 p.m. Friday while Austin College will take on West Division rival Trinity at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

After the game Jeff Debaldo of the SCAC caught up with both managers.

To listen to Austin College head coach Carl Iwasaki, click here.

To listen to DePauw head coach Jake Martin, click here.