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Scots pass test for Midwest Conference Baseball Championships
Release Date:
May 6, 2009
MONMOUTH, Ill. —
After playing 51 innings in three days last weekend, the
baseball team might not be well-rested, but they should have plenty
of confidence heading into this weekend’s Midwest Conference
Tournament in De Pere, Wis.
On Monday, the Fighting Scots won a one-game playoff with
Grinnell in convincing fashion to capture their eighth South
Division championship in nine years. The 15-4 win came after the
Scots and Pioneers split a four-game series over the weekend to tie
for the division lead.
To determine one of its qualifiers, the North Division also
required a one-game playoff. St. Norbert had won the division title,
but Beloit and Ripon tied for the final berth after the weekend’s
games. The Buccaneers knocked the Red Hawks out of the picture with
a 4-3 win, marking the first time since 1995 that Ripon has not been
in the league tournament.
Monmouth will meet Beloit, the second place team in the North,
and Grinnell will battle North champion St. Norbert in the first
round Friday morning. At 15-15, the Scots are the only team in the
tournament field with fewer than 20 wins, but don’t tell MC coach
Roger Sander that means anything.
“We could easily have 20 wins,” said Sander of his team that lost
eight games by two runs or less. “There were a lot of games that we
just gave away. It’s all about winning series. We won what turned
out to be a five-game series last weekend with Grinnell. Now, we’re
in another series. This time it’s win or go home.”
The Scots proved last weekend they have plenty of pitching to go
around. They’ve primarily ridden the arms of senior lefty Matt
Bourne and sophomore right-hander Robbie Hinkle, who each
sport ERAs under 3.00. They’ve also gotten solid performances from
do-it-all pitcher Brian Chandler, who Sander has used as a
starter, in long and middle relief and as a closer, and a bullpen of
six other capable pitchers. Together, the staff has an ERA of 4.46.
Offensively, the Scots banged out 18 hits – seven for extra bases
–and man-handled their way to the South title in Monday’s one-game
playoff. Chaz Baggio saw his batting average skyrocket to a
team-leading .452 during the crucial weekend. Baggio overtook
freshman Chad Kamm, who sports a .443 average and led the
team in that category for much of the season.
The Scots’ lofty averages will be put to the test early. Beloit
has the league’s lowest team ERA at 4.44, just ahead of the Scots’
mark. The Bucs’ Jordan DeGeorge leads their staff with a 2.68 ERA
and No. 2 starter Rick Krajewski is among eight pitchers with ERAs
between 4.35 and 5.96.
Beloit packs some punch with its bats, too. Eight of the Bucs’
regulars are hitting .300 or better, led by third baseman Mike
Kovach’s .479 average. The fleet-footed Kovach also leads the league
with 31 stolen bases in 32 games.
“I don’t know much about Beloit other than they got off to a
really good start,” said Sander. “You don’t win 20-some games with
smoke and mirrors, so they’ve got a good ball club.”
Another good club is St. Norbert. The Green
Knights don’t lead the MWC in any offensive categories, but they
have been good enough to roll to a 21-11 record and take the North
title.
Like the rest of the field, it begins with
pitching for the Green Knights. As a club, they lead the league
holding opponents to a .269 batting average. Their staff ERA of 4.75
is just behind Grinnell’s 4.61 mark, meaning the top four teams in
terms of ERA are represented at the tourney.
Outfielder Jared Yost paces St. Norbert with a
.473 average, good for second in the Midwest Conference. Shortstop
Tony Jandron has supplied nearly half of the Green Knights’ 13 home
runs.
The Scots know the tournament’s other team –
Grinnell – quite well after the marathon weekend. Outfielder Paden
Roder is the Pioneer’s top hitter in terms of average and power.
Roder is hitting at a .378 clip with a team-high six homers and a
.622 slugging percentage. Like the Scots, the Pioneers have two on
the mound with ERAs below 3.00. Ryan Harris and Gary Kahn have
notched nine of Grinnell’s wins, but the Pioneers have spread the
wealth around with seven pitchers throwing more than 20 innings.
“There are some good pitchers out there,” said
Sander of the championship field. “We’ve got some good ones, too.
I’ll put my staff up against anybody’s. We can go four-, five-, even
six-deep with our starters.
“As a team – hitting and fielding – we’ve been
really, really good, and we’ve been not so good,” he continued. “We
had a good weekend and now we’re back on top.”
Sander is hoping his team is on top after this
weekend, too. He’s just hoping it doesn’t take another 51 innings
and three days.
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