BB: WIAC: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

badgerwarhawk · August 04, 2025, 08:15:35 PM

Quote from: cubs on July 21, 2025, 12:40:49 PMThree pitchers from Whitewater's 2025 National Championship squad have transferred to the DI level, following in the footsteps of former teammate Michael Hilker (Arizona):

Cade Hansen -----> Baylor
Logan Eisenbarth ----> Florida Gulf Coast
Jack Hagen ----> Butler

I'd pretty much figured Hansen and Eisenbarth were likely candidates for the portal but Hagen was a surprise. I hope they all do well and find a spot they like. It really hurts though. Pitching was going to be a strength next year and now the starting rotation is decimated. I've got a feeling we're going to be relying on some young pitchers.

tomt4525 · August 20, 2025, 03:23:19 PM

https://athletics.uwsp.edu/news/2025/8/20/haupt-returns-to-uwsp-as-assistant-baseball-coach.aspx

New assistant coach for UWSP is a familiar name. Former Pointer player Zack Haupt is back in Stevens Point. In his short time as an assistant coach after his playing days, has an impressive resume.

cubs · September 09, 2025, 11:47:17 AM

Quote from: tomt4525 on July 05, 2024, 12:00:34 PMA couple WIAC arms have committed to D1 schools from the portal...

Michael Hilker Jr to Arizona
Tyler Schmitt to Illinois
Mason Weckler to UW Milwaukee

Thought for sure that I had already mentioned this, but it appears not...

Hard to argue with Hilker and Schmitt transferring to a couple of Power 4 schools, as they were also able to parlay those transfers into also being selected in the 2025 MLB Amateur Draft.

Schmitt went in the 17th Round to the San Diego Padres while Hilker went in the 20th Round to the Minnesota Twins. Congrats to both former All-WIAC Pitchers!

It will be interesting to see if any of the trio of Hansen/Hagen/Eisenbrath can duplicate the feat with all of them also transferring to a D1 school this offseason.

cubs · February 27, 2026, 10:20:42 AM

Tough start to the season for the defending 2025 National Champion as Whitewater travels to San Antonio and drops three out of four games vs Trinity. They won the opener 6-2 and then lost the final three by scores of 12-1, 5-4, and 6-5.

Whitewater actually held a 4-0 after six innings in the series finale, but then gave up two in the 7th, three in the 8th to tie it, and then got walked off in the 9th. This was after falling behind early in Game #3 of the series only to tie it up 4-4 before Trinity scored the eventual game winning run in the 8th inning. Game #2 could be described with just one word... U-G-L-Y!

I have a feeling that despite all of the pitching that transferred out, people around the WIAC might not want to get their hopes up just yet. The duo of Gradin Taschner and Theo Zeidler are going to cause some headaches for opposing hitters this season.

cubs · February 27, 2026, 10:30:04 AM

Stout also opened the season over the weekend, however things didn't go well... Pitchers combined to give up 26 runs while the offense tallied just a single run while being swept in a DH by Coe, by 11-0 and 15-1 scores.

badgerwarhawk · March 03, 2026, 03:05:19 PM

I don't even recognize our team, 15 transfers and 7 freshmen. It's going to be an interesting season.

cubs · March 27, 2026, 11:53:22 AM

WIAC play scheduled to open up this weekend... Looking at the overall non-conference results leaves a bit to be desired, especially when you compare them to how non-conference play went for WIAC teams in football and basketball. (I know, I know, baseball is a different sport...)

That being said, quite a bit of talent left the league in the offseason, so the fight for a couple playoff spots might be something to watch?

BigPoppa · March 28, 2026, 12:09:37 PM

Here we go... WIAC play opens this weekend. Feels like a lot of uncertainty around WIAC teams this spring... transfer portal has definitely influenced rosters. Anyone care to make some predictions?

cubs · March 28, 2026, 04:42:40 PM

Quote from: BigPoppa on March 28, 2026, 12:09:37 PMHere we go... WIAC play opens this weekend. Feels like a lot of uncertainty around WIAC teams this spring... transfer portal has definitely influenced rosters. Anyone care to make some predictions?

Give me Whitewater, La Crosse, and Stevens Point as the top three teams...

After that, it's a total coin flip for the fourth playoff spot. Stout could be sneaky if their young pitchers come through.

cubs · March 28, 2026, 07:33:02 PM

Eau Claire sweeps UWO today?

BigPoppa · March 29, 2026, 01:02:11 PM

Quote from: cubs on March 28, 2026, 07:33:02 PMEau Claire sweeps UWO today?

"The world turned upside down"

badgerwarhawk · March 29, 2026, 08:36:21 PM

WARHAWKS sweep Pointers 8-7, 10-8, 8-7 and 17-3. Game one went 10 innings and was won via a bases loaded walk. Theis and McVey combine for 6 RBI in game two. Grennier and Olson hit back to back home runs in the B8 for the winning margin in game three. 9 runs in the B1 ended game four as quickly as it had started. The two teams, aided by the wind, combined for 19 home runs (WW-12; SP-7) in the series.

So EC takes 3 of 4 games from the Titans. Which begs the question...Has EC gotten their act together and put together a competitive team or are the Titans that down?

cubs · **Yesterday** at 10:31:10 AM

Quote from: badgerwarhawk on March 29, 2026, 08:36:21 PMSo EC takes 3 of 4 games from the Titans. Which begs the question...Has EC gotten their act together and put together a competitive team or are the Titans that down?

In all fairness to Eau Claire, this is just year #6 into the revival of their baseball program. (I'd wager it will take River Falls even longer?) Getting it back to a competitive level was going to take multiple solid recruiting classes and likely waiting for them to be upperclassmen in a league like the WIAC. I'd say year #6 is off to a good start, and depending on how the rest of the year goes, this series might be the determining factor in whether they earn a WIAC Tournament bid. Eau Claire in general is a baseball community so you knew there would be support for the program.

As far as UWO goes, I have a feeling they might struggle to make the WIAC Tournament. They lack starting pitching and the offense was senior laden last year. Now did I expect a series loss at home to Eau Claire? Nope, but many of the traits that the UWO program were built on are non-existent when you lock at the current state of the program.

BigPoppa · **Today** at 11:02:21 AM

River Falls, while only a second-year program, seems directionless to me. Feels like they are chasing transfer players instead of building with HS recruits to form a solid base for their program. Great facility, 30 minutes from the Twin Cities(and it's large recruiting base) but they cannot seem to get a footing yet. Some pretty bad losses for a WIAC school to non-power programs (Carroll x 2, Macalester, giving up 22 runs vs Bethel)... team ERA over 8.00... and struggling with a very winnable non-league schedule to this point.

UWRF certainly has some players, but not nearly enough to compete in the WIAC at this point.