BB: ASC: American Southwest Conference

[Ralph Turner]

CTX 14, SRSU 4

1.     Texas Lutheran	6-3	17-9
Mary Hardin-Baylor	6-3	14-9
Schreiner	6-3	13-11
4.    Hardin-Simmons	5-4	13-11
5.   Concordia	4-5	14-13
McMurry	4-5	11-12
Howard Payne	4-5	11-13
8.    Sul Ross State	1-8	2-25

[TexasBB]

UTT split the double header with Ozarks. The first game was a pitchers duel with Bruce Cammeron of Ozarks pitching his best of the year limiting the potent UTT offense to just 1 run and 3 hits. He outduled Brett Holland who gave up 3 runs on 8 hits. Both pitchers went the distance. In the night cap Blake Booher had a very good outing going 6 innings and allowing just one run on 9 ks. as the Patriots won 7-1. Campbell and Ziegler combined in relief for 6 more strike outs as Ziegler struck out the side in the 9th the second time he has done that in his last 3 outings. The Patriots improve to 5-1 in conference play and 21-5 overall.  Their record against west region teams is 18-4.

[Ralph Turner]

UTT split the double header with Ozarks. The first game was a pitchers duel with Bruce Cammeron of Ozarks pitching his best of the year limiting the potent UTT offense to just 1 run and 3 hits. He outduled Brett Holland who gave up 3 runs on 8 hits. Both pitchers went the distance. In the night cap Blake Booher had a very good outing going 6 innings and allowing just one run on 9 ks. as the Patriots won 7-1. Campbell and Ziegler combined in relief for 6 more strike outs as Ziegler struck out the side in the 9th the second time he has done that in his last 3 outings. The Patriots improve to 5-1 in conference play and 21-5 overall.  Their record against west region teams is 18-4.

Please remember that the threshold for Pool C is about an in-region record of >.775

UTT has 14 more West Region games  (AC UDallas and series versus UTD, LeTU, LaCollege and Miss College).

I think that the only ASC team with Pool C chances is UT-Tyler.

Currently...... 18-4
Finish............11-3
Reg.season....29-7

ASC tourney... 2-0 (sweep of first weekend series)
ASC tourney....1-2 (win at least one game in the finals)

West Region....32-9   (.780)

"Results" versus regionally ranked teams....maybe AC, or Trinity Tx or Southwestern or Hendrix or UMHB.  Two losses versus McMurry may not help.

[Jack Parkman]

UTT split the double header with Ozarks. The first game was a pitchers duel with Bruce Cammeron of Ozarks pitching his best of the year limiting the potent UTT offense to just 1 run and 3 hits. He outduled Brett Holland who gave up 3 runs on 8 hits. Both pitchers went the distance. In the night cap Blake Booher had a very good outing going 6 innings and allowing just one run on 9 ks. as the Patriots won 7-1. Campbell and Ziegler combined in relief for 6 more strike outs as Ziegler struck out the side in the 9th the second time he has done that in his last 3 outings. The Patriots improve to 5-1 in conference play and 21-5 overall.  Their record against west region teams is 18-4.

Please remember that the threshold for Pool C is about an in-region record of >.775

UTT has 14 more West Region games  (AC UDallas and series versus UTD, LeTU, LaCollege and Miss College).

I think that the only ASC team with Pool C chances is UT-Tyler.

Currently...... 18-4
Finish............11-3
Reg.season....29-7

ASC tourney... 2-0 (sweep of first weekend series)
ASC tourney....1-2 (win at least one game in the finals)

West Region....32-9   (.780)

"Results" versus regionally ranked teams....maybe AC, or Trinity Tx or Southwestern or Hendrix or UMHB.  Two losses versus McMurry may not help.

Ralph-  Is the .775 winning % a requirement in the Pool C race or just an estimate?

[Ralph Turner]

Just an estimate.      Here is the URL to the handbook for the primary criteria.

UT-Tyler lost two games to CTX last year and bounced themselves from the Pool c consideration.  (I think that it was a "log-jam effect" with CTX, with very little else to distinguish itself from the other Pool C's on the table.)

http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/champ_handbooks/baseball/2009/3_baseball_handbook.pdf

[TexasBB]

I know it will be tough for any ASC team to get a shot at a Pool C bid especially if the West Region is comprised of only 6 teams due to costs. The only sure way to get in is to win the conference tournament. I believe this year the ASC is to be hosted by the East Division Champion assuming that the champion wins the first round best of 3 in the playoffs. So UTT has an excellent chance of hosting the tournament finals. They are a much better team at home.  They are 8-4 on the road and 13-1 at home. The only sure way in is to win the conference tournament. Vilade has to be hungry for that as it eluded him since his days a UD.

It is also telling when a team goes on the road and winning 2 out of 3 is considered a disappointing result. But that is the expectation surrounding this team which is probably a bit unfair.

[Ralph Turner]

I know it will be tough for any ASC team to get a shot at a Pool C bid especially if the West Region is comprised of only 6 teams due to costs. The only sure way to get in is to win the conference tournament. I believe this year the ASC is to be hosted by the East Division Champion assuming that the champion wins the first round best of 3 in the playoffs. So UTT has an excellent chance of hosting the tournament finals. They are a much better team at home.  They are 8-4 on the road and 13-1 at home. The only sure way in is to win the conference tournament. Vilade has to be hungry for that as it eluded him since his days a UD.

It is also telling when a team goes on the road and winning 2 out of 3 is considered a disappointing result. But that is the expectation surrounding this team which is probably a bit unfair.

There is no restriction by region on the number of teams that are sent to the tourney.  The West Region sent Linfield to the Regional in Rock Island IL last year.  Linfield won that regional and went to the Series!

As for the challenge of getting a Pool C bid, it is that hard.

IMHO, the second McMurry loss was the one that they should not have had and may not be able to afford. (And, if Concordia does not make the ASC tourney, then that game, too.)


I repeat over and over...

If there was a game that you should not have lost, then that is the game that knocked you out of Pool C. 



Here is another reason why the conference needs to consider splitting into 2 conferences.

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=1526.msg1044884;topicseen#msg1044884

[dp643]

Some very big games this weekend with Concordia hosting Hardin-Simmons, McMurry going to Schreiner, and UMHB going to TLU.

Any predictions?

[Ralph Turner]

Some very big games this weekend with Concordia hosting Hardin-Simmons, McMurry going to Schreiner, and UMHB going to TLU.

Any predictions?

HSU takes two big ones on the road over CTX.

McMurry needs to win at least 2 of 3 from the Mountaineers.

TLU needs to win 2 of 3 from UMHB.

HPU must sweep SRSU at home to stay in contention for that last playoff slot in the West.

[dp643]

Everyone needs to win 2 out of three ever weekend. I believe that if Concordia wins 2 out of 3 every weekend  now they should still sneak in at 12-9 maybe?

I think McMurry will win 2 out of 3, Concordia wins 2 out of 3, HPU wins 2 out of 3, and I have no clue how UMHB vs TLU turns out. I'm hoping to make it Saturday for the DH in Seguin.

[TexasBB]

Everyone in the west is still in it except for Sull Ross. Only 2 games separates first from second last. Will be interesting as every game now really matters.

Ralph,

I think UTT will have to do better than .780 to get a Pool C bid. Last year they were 33-9 in Region for .785 and did exactly as you indicated they should do this year in the conference playoffs and still did not get in. They Swept HSU in the first round and went 1-2 in the next round.  First loosing to Concordia then beating MC then loosing to CTX again. So they will have to at least make it to the finals this year as well as finish 33-8 in Region or better to get a pool C bid. They are the only team in the ASC that even stands a chance at a Pool C. I therfore personally believe that only the ASC champion will be going this year.

[tloc14]

UTT has a big series vs UT Dallas this weekend.  They played earlier at Tyler, with UTT winning 8-6.  UT Dallas' field is more of a hitter's park, so it will be interesting to see how the scores come out.  I fully expect UTT to take 2 of 3, but they really need a sweep to keep alive pool C hopes.  Honestly, they probably need to win out, which is more than possible.  They are a much better team than anyone else in the east, the thing that hurts the patriots most is that their bats arent as powerful as other schools. 

In their 2 most recent series they had atleast one game where their lineup struggled to plate any runs.  They trailed ETBU 7-0 going into the 8th inning in one game, and were shut down by the Ozarks.  It seems that if their pitchers have rough outtings, UTT may not have the firepower to overcome against decent pitching.  I know they lead in prettymuch every offensive, defensive, and pitching category, but UTT really needs to put it all together in each of the remaining conference series....or just win the conf tournament which they will almost certainly host.

[Ralph Turner]

Texas BB, I think that CTX and UTT "logjammed" each other out of the last slot.  UTT looked stronger until they were evaluated head-to-head versus CTX.  At that point, then the committee just threw up their hands and looked at another region.  (IMHO.)

Thanks for your thoughts on UTT.

Let's make it 34-8 then to get the Pool C bid, or win it all!

[Ralph Turner]

Everyone in the west is still in it except for Sull Ross. Only 2 games separates first from second last. Will be interesting as every game now really matters....

Yeah, and then SRSU gets to play "cockroach".  I found this link to Time Magazine on November 22, 1963, about Darrell K. Royal and Cockroaches from the Texas-TCU game in 1961.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898026,00.html

[Ralph Turner]

McMurry 7, Manchester IN 6 (12 innings)