BB: IIAC: Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[doolittledog]

What do people think of the new bats?

The old geezer in me is more comfortable with 6-5 type scores than the 23-17 scorelines we were seeing a few years ago. 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

What do people think of the new bats?

The old geezer in me is more comfortable with 6-5 type scores than the 23-17 scorelines we were seeing a few years ago.

I don't miss the 23-17 games at all, and I am a big fan of offensive baseball.  Scores that high also had too many walks and errors for my taste.

I do miss Luther having 2-3 guys that might hit 10 or more doubles and 4 or more HRs.  So I guess I wish Luther had better offense but not to the point where there are lots of 16-14 games.

The thing I never liked about the recent bats or the steroid era is both 150 pound players hitting lots of bombs and guys like A-Rod getting totally fooled or jammed and still hitting them out.  It is much more fun when there are sluggers with some skill who drill the ball by using the sweet part of the barrel.

[warrior35]

I think the biggest effect will be on the D1 players, and actually I think it is for their benefit.  Having metal bats with less pop will help the transition to wood in a small way... It should help elite players start to perfect and tweak their swing for increased bat speed to achieve a higher ball-off-bat speed earlier, which are many of the same tweaks that players have to make to be successful with wood.  So, in that way I think it's better for batters and for pitchers... but the benefit isn't necessarily there for as many of the D3 hitters that won't be playing at the professional level.

[doolittledog]

Dubuque beats Wartburg 7-5

Wartburg 5 runs on 14 hits and 2 errors
Dubuque 7 runs on 15 hits and 1 error

Wartburg with 2 in the 1st, 1 in the 3rd, 2 in the 7th
Dubuque with 1 in the 1st, 1 in the 3rd, 4 in the 5th, 1 in the 6th

[doolittledog]

Wartburg beats Dubuque 4-2 in the 1st game of the double header today.

Wartburg beats Dubuque 4-1 in the 2nd game of the double header today. 

Wartburg coach picks up his 500th win at Wartburg and 600th win overall this weekend.  Congrats on those milestones!!!

[doolittledog]

Dubuque beats Cornell 6-1 @ Dubuque this afternoon. 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Congrats to Central to this point for getting to a great 7-1 start.  Sometimes a fast start is about who you have played, but they have swept Wartburg and a doubleheader from Simpson.  I always think those are good wins when you can get them.

Coe is 5-3 and sitting in solid shape.  Simpson is 5-3 and perhaps not in as solid of shape

Cornell should be very happy with the 2-2 start as they are only 5-14 overall.

Is anyone else in the league happy with how things have started so far?  Loras (co-champs in 2009), Wartburg (12-time champs since 1997), B.V. (2010 champions and 2011 CWS 3rd place finish), and Luther (co-champs in 2007 and 2009) are currently in 6th through 9th place in the league.

While Luther Softball is off to another great season so far, the "DANGER!" alarm should be sounding somewhat for the Norse Baseball team.  Not only is the coaching staff different from the group that won the two recent conference titles, but the pitching staff has been underachieving for much of the season.  The thing that might be the hardest to change in the short term is that I see a hitting lineup with only 2-3 legit bats in it to this point.  Lack of quality depth in the hitting lineup was an issue in 2011 even though Chris Reynolds had a very good season.

B.V. is coming to town on Friday and the Norse open the 2012 home schedule.  Early April is too early to panic or write off a season, but it would be good for followers of the Norse if the team could stop the bleeding and find a way to win a series.

They easily could have won the 3rd game of the Simpson series as that extra inning game was there for the taking for both teams.  If they had, things might not look so bad with a series win under their belts.  Being swept in a doubleheader by Loras (who was 1-5 going into Tuesday) does not sit well though.

This is the worst start to the season since 2003.  Hopefully that changes on Friday as my son and I head to Decorah!  We have seen four games in the Dome, but these will be the first league games I have seen in person in 2012

Go Norse!

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther loses 1-0 to B.V. in the first game of the doubleheader today.  They are now 1-5 in the league.

The Norse have now lost three league games in the late innings when the starting pitcher gave the team a chance to win.  They have been perhaps the worst offensive team in the league to this point in the season.

With the early start I did not see the first three innings, but I saw few quality swings from Norse hitters in last four innings.  The Beaver pitcher had hitters off balance most of the time. 

Hopefully it turns around in the 2nd game, but these are missed chances when you are holding Simpson and B.V. to low numbers and still finding a way to lose.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

What a change from game 1 to game 2 as the Norse won, 9-6 on 12 hits!  The Beaver pitching staff walked seven guys and often was behind in the count, but I am not complaining.

Among the many big hits, Chris Reynolds had a big hit with the bases loaded.  Matt Reynolds, who pitched pretty well in game 1, got a couple big hits as the DH.

Norse pitching was erratic until freshman Alec Knop put up a couple of zeros late.

Augie Lindmark should go tomorrow in the Saturday rubber match.  A series win would be big.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Simpson beat Coe today, 10-6.  The Storm are now 6-3 in the league while Coe is 5-4.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

The Norse took game 3 today against B.V. by a score of 4-0!

Good to see a series win over the Beavers.  Senior Augie Lindmark pitched a great game that reminded me of some of his gems from last year.  He went the distance to get the shutout.

[doolittledog]

Dubuque is sitting at 4-8 in conference play, having lost every series 1 game to 2.  The Spartans lost an extra innings game to Central in which they entered the top of the 9th with the lead, and an extra innings game to Cornell in which they entered the bottom of the 7th with the lead.  Close out those 2 games and they are sitting at 6-6 with two 2-1 series wins and two 1-2 competitive series losses and I am thinking everything is rosy in Spartan land.  This team is so close to taking that next step up, but the win/loss record just doesn't show it

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Dubuque is sitting at 4-8 in conference play, having lost every series 1 game to 2.  The Spartans lost an extra innings game to Central in which they entered the top of the 9th with the lead, and an extra innings game to Cornell in which they entered the bottom of the 7th with the lead.  Close out those 2 games and they are sitting at 6-6 with two 2-1 series wins and two 1-2 competitive series losses and I am thinking everything is rosy in Spartan land.  This team is so close to taking that next step up, but the win/loss record just doesn't show it

They still have the Norse coming up!  If I remember correctly, Luther was 9-4 in the IIAC last year until Dubuque swept a doubleheader between the schools.  It was a swing weekend for both teams and the Norse ended the season 13-11 in the league.

Congrats to Cornell though yesterday as the Rams found a way to get themselves back to 4-5.  Part of me keeps waiting for things to fall apart for them, but maybe they will have a nice time in the final baseball season for them in the Iowa Conference.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

It was a big win for Luther yesterday as they beat Loras in the bottom of the 9th, 8-7.   Chris Reynolds drove in the tying and winning runs with a double, and that might be the 2nd time this year he won a game late.  Good stuff!

The Norse are still only 4-5 and not a contender (as of yet), but it is a good sign to me that they found a way to win game in which they were trailing almost the whole time.  It seems like teams that have good seasons have 3-5 of these kinds of wins.

Besides a rough start from Augie Lindmark and not as good on team defense, I was surprised to see starting pitcher Matt Reynolds at shortstop yesterday.  He was a Norse infielder/pitcher until shifting to pitcher last year, but it might be another sign that the depth is not there right now in Decorah.  If he can help at SS and P, go ahead and use him that way as a senior.  Maybe this SS/P stuff is just a short term thing.

Congrats as well to Central and Wartburg yesterday.  The Knights are back in the race per usual, and Central has had a very good season to this point.  Being 20-5 and 10-2 in the league at the middle of the race is a great place for the Dutch to be!

I am hoping Luther finds a way to win the series this weekend against Central.  That could make the race a little tighter.

[warrior35]

Does anyone know if Simpson charges entrance to their games?  Thinking about heading over tonight to get my baseball fix!  Thanks.