April 7, 2008

The SLIAC baseball race remains very much up for grabs as six of the nine squads are at .500 or better in league play and within two games of first place entering this week.  Most teams are at or near the midpoint of the conference season.  Maryville went 5-0 last week including doubleheader sweeps of Principia and Greenville to pull into a tie for first place with Webster.  The Gorloks of Webster outscored their opponents in five game played last week, but only managed a 3-2 mark after losses to Eureka (10-7) and Greenville (2-0).  Maryville isn't the only club on a five-game winning streak as the Westminster Blue Jays swept three games from MacMurray and a doubleheader from Fontbonne to move up in the standings.  Blackburn, which went 3-1 last week, began a tough week for Eureka with a 7-3 victory over the Red Devils.  Eureka went 1-3 to fall back into fifth place.  Those two will match up again this week for two games.  Key series this weekend include Webster vs. Blackburn and Fontbonne vs. Eureka.

Fontbonne is the lone remaining undefeated softball team in SLIAC play.  The Griffins, who have played just two SLIAC games thus far, play at Eureka Wednesday.  The Red Devils enter this week tied for second with Maryville after both teams suffered their first conference loss Saturday.  Eureka lost to Westminster (3-1) and Maryville fell to Greenville (3-2).  Greenville also handed Webster and Blackburn their first SLIAC defeats in recent doubleheader splits. Key match ups scheduled for this week include Maryville at Blackburn, Eureka at Webster and Webster at Maryville.

Maryville leads the SLIAC men's tennis standings at 4-0 entering the week.  The Saints did not play last week, but have a match scheduled with Principia Tuesday.  The Panthers topped Eureka last week in their first SLIAC match.  Principia also squares off with Westminster Saturday.  The Blue Jays won two league matches last week over Greenville and Fontbonne to move to 4-1.

Webster held on to the top spot in the SLIAC women's tennis standings with victories over Fontbonne and Blackburn last week.  The Gorloks will be tested by last season's champion, Principia, and Maryville this week.  Greenville finished second to Principia last year.  Those two are scheduled to meet Thursday as part of a busy week for both teams.  Principia also is slated to play Fontbonne and third place Westminster, while Greenville plays Eureka and Blackburn on Saturday. 

Out of the five SLIAC golf squads competing in the Gorlok Spring Invitational, Maryville had the best score and took second place overall.  Nick Profancik shot a five-over-par 147 to take fifth place individually for the Saints.  Webster carded a sixth place finish, followed by Westminster, Eureka and Fontbonne.  Three SLIAC squads are entered in the Big Blue Classic hosted by Millikin University this weekend.