BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Started by RedmenFB44, January 05, 2006, 12:14:15 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

Mr. Ypsi

I'm also very scared about IWU pitching.  Today they won 14-3 against Westfield  St., but no idea if that is an accomplishment.

In 8 games against unknown (to me) competition, they are now 5-3 and have outscored the opponents 70-45.  But it very much worries me that I don't recognize their opponents.  I'm not a close follower of d3 baseball, but I follow it enough to recognize the usual contenders for the WS, and these ain't them.  45 runs in 8 games is worrisome.

Gregory Sager

If you're a North Central, Augustana, or Wheaton fan, you're pretty happy with your pitching staff right now. If you're an Elmhurst fan, you're not sure yet what you've got on the mound, because your 'jays have only played two games -- and they were both against a Lawrence program that hasn't had a winning baseball campaign since 1989. If you're a fan of one of the other five teams, you're very worried about your pitching staff right now.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gregory Sager

NPU's propensity to give up the big inning came back to bite the Vikings in a big way today, as they blew an 11-1 fifth-inning lead and and then a 12-9 lead going into the bottom of the ninth and lost to Delaware Valley, 13-12. For the third game in a row the Vikings gave up a six-run inning in the middle of the game. After that, the Aggies whittled away and then caught up with NPU and scored the winning run on a two-out single.

Poor defense played a major role in this loss; the Vikings committed five errors, as six of Del Valley's 13 runs -- including all four in the ninth -- were unearned.

North Park (5-5) will try to get this straightened out tomorrow morning when the Vikings take on Eralham in their penultimate spring-trip contest.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gregory Sager

The silver lining from today is that the NPU offense is continuing to improve. The Vikings now have a team OPS that's well ahead of their opponents' OPS. Jake Reinhardt has snapped out of his season-opening funk, as his 3-5 morning included his second triple of the season. And the Vikings were 11-13 on the basepaths, setting a new single-game record for stolen bases in the Luke Johnson era.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gregory Sager

North Park bounced back nicely this morning with a 6-1 victory over Earlham. Vikings DH Anthony DiNardo led the way with a 4-4 game, including 2 RBI. Michael Pritts pitched his way out of several jams before freshman Tyler Banks came in and picked up the victory with 4 2/3 scoreless innings for the Park.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Mr. Ypsi

Finally a bright spot for Titan pitching: Nick Brune threw a 14-strikeout, 4-hit shutout against previous unbeaten SUNY-Purchase yesterday.  Final score was 7-0; IWU moves to 6-3.

Today's game against Wheaton (MASS) is just getting underway.

Mr. Ypsi

Back-to-back good outings as IWU downs Wheaton (MASS) 4-2.  Three pitchers combined to yield only 5 hits and two runs.  Wheaton falls to 5-3; IWU improves to 7-3.

Gregory Sager

NPU wrapped up the spring trip with a 14-4 win over Geneva. After a shaky start, Justin Woolbright ended up pitching six strong innings of four-hit ball, giving up only one earned run on four hits and two walks, to record the win. The three Vikings hurlers who were on the mound today combined for a dozen strikeouts. The Vikings were ahead after seven, 14-2, but continued the game in order to get in some extra work, so the Golden Tornadoes picked up single unearned runs in the eighth and ninth to make the final score more palatable for them.

This is North Park's first common opponent with another CCIW team, as Wheaton defeated Geneva earlier this season by a 6-1 score.

In a footnote that probably interests nobody other than Mr. B and myself, for the first time ever a Kiwi student-athlete saw varsity game action for North Park in any sport, as sophomore Matt Thomas, a New Zealand native who was strictly a JV player last season, came in for Cullen Gilbertson to play first base in the bottom of the ninth. Alas, NPU reliever Matt Pizur struck out three Golden Tornadoes in that inning, so Thomas didn't even get to record a putout. :(

The Vikings head northward with a 7-5 record and will next face perennially-formidable Concordia (IL) (6-1) in River Forest a week from tomorrow.

"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Mr. Ypsi

Bad day for the Titans in St. Louis, as the batters apparently missed the bus ride.  WashU swept a DH, 6-0 and 2-1.  Nick Brune entered game 1 with an era of 0.50, and dropped it even further with three hitless innings - then the Bears figured him out. :(  He gave up 3 in the 4th and 3 more in the 5th, and that was that.  Quinn Gudaitis was just the reverse of Brune, entering game two with an era north of 5, then pitching seven two-hit innings (one unearned run).  In the bottom of the 9th with a 1-1 tie, the Bears scored the game-winner (also unearned).

The Titans fall to 7-6 with their third straight loss; they play WashU in a single game tomorrow.

Mr. Ypsi

BTW, sophomore Matt Blaney took the loss in game two to fall to 1-1 for the season, but, since the run was unearned, he maintains his perfect 0.00 era (6.2 innings over 6 games).

BigPoppa

Carthage split it's home opener with Defiance yesterday losing 13-10 and winning 14-1. Redmen are now 8-5 on the season heading into CCIW play. The offense lookse almost unstoppable as they continue to pile up double-digit runs game after game. The pitching is all over the place. Head Coach Augie Schmidt referred to the Carthage pitching staff as "Forrest Gump's box of chocolates" in response to the staff's inconsistency to this point.

I had some lofty expectation for this Redmen team in 2019 in terms of getting back on to the national scene, but at this pointI may overestimated them with my Carthage-colored glasses on. If they can find some consistent outings on the bump they could be a dangerous team, but until then, they'll need to keep up the ten-run offensive efforts to have a chance each day.
Baseball is not a game that builds character, it is a game that reveals it.

Mr. Ypsi

IWU fell to 7-7 with their 4th straight loss, 6-2 at WashU.  In the 3 game series at WashU. they scored 3 runs.  It's starting to look like a lo-o-o-ng year! :(

Gregory Sager

NPU's game against #4 Concordia (IL) was postponed due to the threat of rain today, and I can almost guarantee that that call by Cougars head coach Mike Stawski didn't make Luke Johnson happy. The best time to play the fourth-ranked team in the country is on a Sunday afternoon after they've already played a game on Friday and two on Saturday. Now they'll have to make up the game on a date that will undoubtedly be more favorable to the Cougars.

It barely sprinkled for more than ten minutes all afternoon at North Park, where we were able to get in three softball games at Holmgren Athletic Complex without any weather problems at all. I can't imagine that there was some sort of biblical-level deluge over in River Forest, which is only about seven miles away as the crow flies.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Mr. Ypsi

Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 24, 2019, 07:38:42 PM
NPU's game against #4 Concordia (IL) was postponed due to the threat of rain today, and I can almost guarantee that that call by Cougars head coach Mike Stawski didn't make Luke Johnson happy. The best time to play the fourth-ranked team in the country is on a Sunday afternoon after they've already played a game on Friday and two on Saturday. Now they'll have to make up the game on a date that will undoubtedly be more favorable to the Cougars.

It barely sprinkled for more than ten minutes all afternoon at North Park, where we were able to get in three softball games at Holmgren Athletic Complex without any weather problems at all. I can't imagine that there was some sort of biblical-level deluge over in River Forest, which is only about seven miles away as the crow flies.

That's CURF for ya - they live in River Forest; they pretend to be in Chicago (maybe it rained there?). ;)

mr_b

Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 24, 2019, 07:38:42 PM
NPU's game against #4 Concordia (IL) was postponed due to the threat of rain today, and I can almost guarantee that that call by Cougars head coach Mike Stawski didn't make Luke Johnson happy. The best time to play the fourth-ranked team in the country is on a Sunday afternoon after they've already played a game on Friday and two on Saturday. Now they'll have to make up the game on a date that will undoubtedly be more favorable to the Cougars.

It barely sprinkled for more than ten minutes all afternoon at North Park, where we were able to get in three softball games at Holmgren Athletic Complex without any weather problems at all. I can't imagine that there was some sort of biblical-level deluge over in River Forest, which is only about seven miles away as the crow flies.
The game has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 23rd, in River Forest.  That might not be so favorable for the Cougars, since they'll be coming off conference twin bills on the 20th and 22nd.  They'll likely want to use their top four arms in conference games.  The Vikings, on the other hand, have no games over the four-day Easter weekend.