BB: IIAC: Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[youcantseeme]

I am not certain how Wartburg is not given more respect in the poll. I know they are picked to win it again, but to only get two first-place votes is odd.

What are you talking about man?  How can you say that they aren't getting any respect?!?  They lost 98% of their starting pitching from last year and lost Greiner, Pauli, Henderson, Numendahl, Blacker, O'Donnell, and Kersbergen.  That is a TON of holes to fill.  In my opinion, it is only on respect for the program that they got any 1st place votes at all, let a lone the nod for the pre-season conference champs.

[BigPoppa]

I am not certain how Wartburg is not given more respect in the poll. I know they are picked to win it again, but to only get two first-place votes is odd.

What are you talking about man?  How can you say that they aren't getting any respect?!?  They lost 98% of their starting pitching from last year and lost Greiner, Pauli, Henderson, Numendahl, Blacker, O'Donnell, and Kersbergen.  That is a TON of holes to fill.  In my opinion, it is only on respect for the program that they got any 1st place votes at all, let a lone the nod for the pre-season conference champs.

Wartburg has consistently proven they can fill those holes. Look at it any way you wish, but Wartburg will be standing on top of the conference when all is said and done.

[youcantseeme]

I wasn't saying they arent deserving of that respect, but I think that pulling the line that they aren't getting respected because they aren't rated higher is crazy considering their losses.  Besides, if you are talking about pre-season conference polls, those are done by the conference coaches and I am guessing the coaches throughout the conference know what they are voting on. 

Side note: any Wartburg fans know why that O'Donnell kid isn't back.  Man he was good at the end of the season last year for them. 

[baseball23]

So if you know so much, why isn't the Odonell  kid back this year?

[Jim Dixon]

First baseman Jake Shandri of Wartburg College and starting pitcher Bill Dictus of Edgewood College have been named the first NCAA Division III National Hitter of the Week and Pitcher of the Week for 2007 as chosen by representatives of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association for the week of Feb. 26-March 4.

[BigPoppa]

First baseman Jake Shandri of Wartburg College and starting pitcher Bill Dictus of Edgewood College have been named the first NCAA Division III National Hitter of the Week and Pitcher of the Week for 2007 as chosen by representatives of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association for the week of Feb. 26-March 4.

What a great start for the Central Region... both players for national honors in week #1!!

[youcantseeme]

A really good start for the IIAC in the Central region with Central and Coe getting wins over ranked teams. 

Anyone have any insight about the season coming up?  Who looks strong?  Who might falter? 

I think the three-game sets will really show the overall strength of the pitching staffs. 

[youcantseeme]

Lee Boyse is the national pitcher of the week.
Iowa Conference dominance so far.
 
http://www.d3baseball.com/

[BigPoppa]

3 of the 4 national players of the week have come from the IIAC. Not a bad start for the conference.

[youcantseeme]

Conference starts this weekend.  Any thoughts?  Big change of venue for the Norse and the Dutch this weekend. 

[DutchHawk]

Looks like Luther had a couple good pitchers, Mahan gave up 1 ER but still lost...lots of errors by the Dutch...they will need to clean that up!

[wartburgalum]

As most might expect, Wartburg is standing atop the IIAC and is well on their way to their 11th straight title.  So much for all of those holes to fill.  Pitching staff is looking good and nobody can come close to the numbers they are putting up offensively and defensively, good luck all.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Sounds like the Wartburg-B.V. series was fun to watch for those who attended.  The Beavers are off to their best start since 1975 and the Iowa transfer Ryan Dupic has had a very good season so far.

I don't know if Wartburg is "well on their way" to another conference title since they are in 2nd place as of 4/16/2007.  They are having another good season in the league, and winning the B.V. series was very solid.

Baseball is very hard to predict, but it always makes sense to pick the team with recent history clearly on their side.

[Kohawk Krazy]

How about those Kohawks scoring a school record 33 runs in their route of Mt. Mercy.  I know it's just MM, but 33 runs is a ton!!!

[Floyd in Iowa City]

That was a very eye-popping number to see, regardless of who they played.  They backed that performance up by beating Loras yesterday in a low scoring contest.

Coe was predicted by the league coaches to have a good Iowa Conference team this year (they had more 1st place votes than anyone and were tied with Central for 2nd in total votes).  They have struggled so far to a 3-9 mark in the IIAC, but maybe they can turn these last two performances into some positive momentum heading down the stretch.

Coe was being slightly outscored by the opposition on the year before the Mount Mercy game (122-116).  Now they are outscoring the opposition (152-126) by a decent margin.