April 16, 2007

CONWAY, Ark. -- After winning their third consecutive conference series with a weekend sweep over the Hendrix College Warriors in a 4-game set, the 22nd-ranked Millsaps Majors have earned the title of SCAC Western Division Champions for the first time since 2004 and the third time in seven seasons.

Senior second baseman Nick Crawford was the key ingredient in the Majors' offensive output over the weekend, batting an even .500 (5-for-10) with seven total bases, six runs, five RBIs, four walks, four hit-by-pitches and two doubles. He also sported a .700 slugging percentage with a stellar .684 on-base percentage.

In a watershed season for the Majors on the diamond, Crawford set yet another NCAA career record this past weekend, surpassing John Dano (93) of Division II Missouri Western State and Tony Hurtado (92) of Division I San Francisco with the most career hit-by-pitches at any collegiate level with 96.

Crawford, who surpassed Kevin Sangiolo's (75) career hit-by-pitch record at Division III Blackburn on Feb. 17 against Sewanee in Memphis, Tenn., only four games into the 2007 season, took a pitch off freshman right-hander David Hagan in the third inning of a 10-4 Game 3 win against Hendrix to set the all-time record.

At 30-9 overall with one non-conference game left to play against Belhaven and the SCAC Divisional Playoff right around the corner against Oglethorpe this weekend, Millsaps is riding a season-long seven game winning-streak after eclipsing the 30-win plateau for only the fourth time in the Jim Page era (19 seasons).

The Majors finish the regular season with a 12-4 conference mark, winning 10 of their final 12 games in conference play after splitting with Austin College in the opening weekend of SCAC competition in Jackson.

Belhaven, ranked No. 11 in the latest NAIA poll, enters the contest on a seven game winning-streak of its own after having their season-long 12 game winning-streak snapped 13 days ago by in-state foe Jackson State University in a 12-4 loss at Smith-Wills.

The Blazers boast a 36-11 overall mark and a 19-5 record in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference action, rallying behind senior Thomas Royals who leads the team in batting average (.436), hits (71) and RBIs (46) and is tied for the team-lead with fellow senior Ricky Owens in doubles at 19.

With Millsaps sitting at 3-2 in the coveted Maloney Trophy Series and Belhaven boasting a 4-1 record in the series race, the winner of Tuesday night's decisive Game 6 set to begin at 6 p.m., will have the opportunity to call themselves the Series Champions.