Birmingham Southern picked up two splits this week, one at home against in-state NAIA rival Spring Hill College, Wednesday, and one on the road against Berry College, Saturday. Against Spring Hill, BSC won the first game, 8-0 in six innings, but dropped the second game, 5-0. Against Berry, the Panthers lost the first game, 3-2, and won the second game, 3-0. BSC is now 23-9 on the season, led by senior Jena Franks batting .394, followed closely by freshman Misha Aldridge batting .392. Franks also leads with 29 RBIs, and she and Aldridge lead the team with four home runs apiece. The Panthers are still out-scoring their opponents 198-79 and out-hitting them 285-181. As a team BSC is also 60-of-73 on stolen bases and has a .967 fielding percentage. The Panther pitching staff owns an overall ERA of 1.67 with 13 shutouts, 205 strikeouts, and a .228 opponent batting average.

Centre opened the week with a double header against Wilmington College on Tuesday, April 13 at home and the Colonels fell in both games losing the first game 12-1 and the second game 7-1.  The Colonels then took on Mount St. Joseph on Thursday, April 15 in another double header at home.  In the first game Centre fell 4-3, while winning the second game by a score of 7-6.  In the seventh inning the bases were loaded and Rachel Akins hit a single that drove in Ashley Coomer and Taylor Childress to give Centre the come from behind win.  The Colonels then traveled to Greencastle, Ind. to take on conference rival DePauw University.  On the first day the Tigers won both games by a score of 5-1.  In the second day of games and the final regular season games for the Colonels, the Tigers handed Centre a 3-0 loss, as well as a 10-2 loss.  Centre will be traveling to Conway, Ark. this week to compete in the SCAC Championships, which will take place on Friday, April 23 through Sunday, April 25.  Centre, the number three team from the East, will play at 12:00 p.m. against Southwestern, the number two team from the West, on Friday, April 23.

#11 DePauw improved to 28-3 overall and finished 15-1 in SCAC play while extending its win streak to 16 with a series sweep of visiting Centre. The Tigers won both games on Saturday by 5-1 scores before taking a 3-0 win in Sunday's first game and a 10-2 victory in the nightcap. The Tigers hit .304 as a team and held Centre to a .180 average. Jen Kosinski paced the team with a .462 average with seven runs. Holly Paris batted .455 with seven RBI. Megan Soultz and Kristin Barrow each went 2-0 for the weekend. Soultz posted a 0.47 ERA with 13 strikeouts and just three walks in 15 innings, while Barrow had a 1.75 ERA. Each allowed just eight hits. Soultz finished with a 31-1 career record in SCAC games, while Barrow was 9-0.

Hendrix was even at 3-3 this week after a doubleheader mid-week sweep of in-state rival University of the Ozarks on Tuesday evening and then a 1-3 record against Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Millsaps College on Saturday and Sunday.  The Warriors stand at 17-19 overall and 4-12 in SCAC play.  Hendrix junior first baseman Jaclyn Herrera crushed a walk off home run over the left field fence to notch an 11-3 mercy rule victory over Ozarks in Tuesday night’s second game.  Herrera earned an 11-7 complete game victory from the circle in the opener.  Millsaps tallied 13 hits in both games and collected four home runs to earn a doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon at Warrior Field.  The Majors took an 8-0 victory in the opener and then won a 14-3 contest in five innings for the night cap.  Herrera tossed a two hit shutout to lead the Warriors to a 1-0 victory over Millsaps in Sunday’s doubleheader at Warrior Field.  The Majors took a 4-3 decision in the first game.  The Warriors snapped an 11-game SCAC skid with the night cap victory.  Millsaps (21-15/12-4 SCAC) will take the No. 1 West seed into the upcoming SCAC Championships, hosted by Hendrix College on April 23-25.  Herrera improved to 5-5 on the season after allowing just one free pass and fanning two batters.  She retired 11 straight batters after the leadoff in the top of the second doubled to right field.  Herrera then finished the game by sending the next seven batters back to the dugout.  She forced 10 fly outs and nine grounders in 76 pitches (53 strikes).

Millsaps clinched the SCAC West Division title for the first time since 2005 and third overall by winning three of four games at Hendrix College over the weekend after sweeping a doubleheader with Huntingdon College earlier in the week. The Majors scored the first run of the game thanks to a Hawks error in the fourth. In the seventh, LeAnn Williams led with a solo home run to give the Majors a 3-2 lead. Megan Yglesias added a sacrifice fly before Kasey Thibodeaux came in and closed out the game earning the save. Lindsay Drane pitched two innings allowing only one hit while recording the victory in the 4-3 ballgame. In game two, Millsaps fell behind 1-0 in the first inning but answered back with a two-run home run by Jennifer McKinley, her single-season record setting 12th home run. After the Hawks evened the score, the teams headed into extra innings where the Majors scored five runs for a 7-3 victory. Opening the final weekend of SCAC action at Hendrix on Saturday, the Majors jumped out to a 5-0 lead, highlighted by back-to-back home runs by Emily Spicer and Williams. McKinley followed with her 58th career walk, passing Tiffany Ladnier for most all-time in Millsaps history. Thibodeaux went the distance in the circle for the Majors throwing a six-hit shutout with six strikeouts in the 8-0 win. The first seven batters reached base safely to start game two as the Majors opened a 7-0 advantage after the first inning and never looked back. McAllister pitched the final three innings for Millsaps to record her fourth win of the season allowing three runs on five hits as the Majors earned the Saturday sweep, 14-3. On Sunday, Millsaps clinched the SCAC West Division with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory against the Warriors. After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, Spicer hit a two-run double to even the score 2-2 in the top of the second. The Warriors reclaimed a 3-2 lead until the Majors scored two runs in the seventh, courtesy of two Hendrix errors to take a 4-3 lead before holding on for the clinching win. Thibodeaux picked up the complete game win for her 15th victory of the season. In the series finale, Millsaps fell behind 1-0 in the third inning and could not recover recording only two hits as the Warriors got their only win of the weekend, 1-0 in a pitcher’s duel. Before the playoffs begin, Millsaps will host the University of West Alabama for a doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 2 p.m. The Majors will open the SCAC Tournament on Friday, April 23, after a first-round bye and face the winner between Trinity University and Rhodes College at 6 p.m.

Trinity was able to play just two games of a four-game SCAC weekend series against Southwestern, and Trinity was edged in both games. In the opening game, only a single unearned run determined the outcome, as the Tigers were shut out 1-0.  In game two, Trinity lost a 4-2 decision as Southwestern swept the Sunday doubleheader. Trinity finishes the regular season third in the SCAC West Division, and will open up SCAC Tournament play this week. The Tigers have won seven SCAC Championships since 1999, which is the most in the conference. Trinity’s last title came in 2007, when the Tigers won 2-0 over Centre College in the championship game.

To view the entire SCAC Fast Pitch Weekly for week nine, click here.