BB: NCAC: North Coast Athletic Conference

[ScotsFan]

They just said on the radio that Johnson is 15 for his last 16 at bats.  I don't care who you're playing against, that is just insane. 

Right after they said that he grounded out.   

They jinxed him!   

[wally_wabash]

Wabash pitchers did fine...the defense really let Swart down last night.  Wooster is too good to give them extra outs which is exactly what happened in both the second and fifth innings last night.  Wooster scored six unearned runs in those two innings.  Credit to the Scots for taking advantage of the extra outs.  See how easy that is....to actually give a team credit for winning a game.  If I were arrogant and disrespectful, I'd write 500 words on how Wabash played down to Wooster and lost because of their own mistakes, but that's not how I roll.  Wooster played a better game last night and won.  Doff of the cap to the Scots. 

The road is tough through the loser's bracket...have to win two 9-inning games today and then beat the Denison/Scots winner twice tomorrow.  That's a lot of innings in two days. 

[ScotsFan]

See how easy that is....to actually give a team credit for winning a game.  If I were arrogant and disrespectful, I'd write 500 words on how Wabash played down to Wooster and lost because of their own mistakes, but that's not how I roll.  

Isn't that big of you.  Trust me.  We know how you roll...  

BTW, could you please explain to me how you go about writing 500 words on how a Wabash team with a record of 18-22 'played down' to Wooster and their 32-7 record???  I know you're the spin king so this ought to be good. 

[wally_wabash]

What does that even mean?  Don't post something nondescript and end with an eyeroll.  Make your point already. 

And I wouldn't post anything about Wabash playing down to the competition because that's about the most arrogant and disrespectful line of commentary imagineable (a line of commentary, by the way, that you engage in repeatedly).  I give credit where credit is due.

[ScotsFan]

What does that even mean?  Don't post something nondescript and end with an eyeroll.  Make your point already. 

You roll with a flame thrower.  You're nonexhistent in this forum until the last week of the season.  Then you suddenly appear with nothing constructive to say except all of your sarcastic overreacting opinions.    You constantly spin things others say blowing things way out of proportion.  And then you come in at the end acting as if you're the most respectful poster on this board?  That's how you roll!   Talk about arrogance?  Look in the mirror.

All in all, I don't even know why I bother.  You're flaming ways are becoming tired and I take the bait every time.  I'm done fanning your flames!  Enjoy talking to yourself the remainder of the baseball season.  At least you have all your Wabash buddies on the football forum to talk about all of the 5* recruits Wabash is stealing away from Notre Dame these days to look forward to!

[wally_wabash]

At least you have all your Wabash buddies on the football forum to talk about all of the 5* recruits Wabash is stealing away from Notre Dame these days to look forward to!

That's funny.  We all know Notre Dame can't land 5 star players. 

[HeyScots]

Looking good for the scots...up 8-1 in the 7th

[wally_wabash]

Impressive result for the Scots.  Wooster advances to the championship round tomorrow and is very much in the driver's seat.  Whoever survives today is going to have to find enough arms to beat Wooster for 18 innings tomorrow....after playing 18 innings today.  That's a tall order. 

First elimination game between Wabash and Allegheny starts shortly.  The winner gets to turn around and play Denison in another elimination game this evening. 

[wally_wabash]

LGs strike first...John Holm has a three-run home run in the bottom of the 1st to put Wabash up 3-0.  

Wabash has added one run in the 2nd.  Allegheny has had one baserunner through three innings.  Wabash is threatening in the 3rd...runners at the corners with two out.  Seibel singles to score one.  Runners still on the corners with the top of the order now up for Wabash.  LGs lead 5-0.  RBI single for Brian Lares...6-0 Wabash.  Strawser gets lifted for Allegheny.  6 ER (on the hook for the two runners on base as well), 10 H in 2 2/3 IP.  Rough afternoon for Strawser.  Abbot gets Allegheny out of the inning.  6-0 Wabash after three innings.  

Solo home run for Holm in the 4th.  John is seeing the ball well today.  7-0 Wabash through the 4th inning.

2 doubles + 1 single = 2 runs for Allegheny in the fifth.  7-2 Wabash as the game moves to the bottom of the fifth.  3 up, 3 down for Wabash...first inning of the game that Wabash hasn't pushed a run across.  7-2 Wabash after 5 innings.  

Wabash threatening in the 7th...bases are full of LGs with two outs.  Pennington doubles and clears the bases.  Wabash pushes the lead to 10-2.  

Leadoff home run for John Holm in the Wabash 8th.  That's a 4-5, 3 HR day for Holm.  Yikes.  Wabash leads 11-2.  

Last chance time for the Gators...down 11-2 in the top of the 9th.  The Gators shall not quietly into this good night...Fago has hit a two run home run to bring the Gators back to 11-4.  Wabash would love for starting pitcher Keegan Leckrone to go the distance here...we'll see if he can finish the job.  One more run for Allegheny before Lowmaster flies out to end it.  Wabash stays alive with an 11-5 win over Allegheny.  CG for Leckrone, which is huge given the number of innings left to play if Wabash is to win this tournament.  Wabash vs. Denison in the second elimination game coming up in a bit. 

[countyroad]

John Holm had a day he won't soon forget.  Gee wiz!

I'm interested to see what he does against Denison this evening. 

[wally_wabash]

New game, new post....here we go....

Denison threatens in the first, but strands two RISP.  Wabash coming up in the bottom half.  Wabash also puts two on in the first, but fail to score.  0-0 after 1 inning.  

Still scoreless through 3...

Best scoring chance of the game so far...Wabash has runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the 4th.  Tyson pops up to short...two down.  Johnson grounds out...Denison is out of the jam.  Scoreless game after 4.  

Denison has scored first.  Nicholson reached on a two out error and scored on a Forgatch single.  Horn has followed with a single and the Big Red have two on with Aidan Lucas up.  Lucas doubles, two runs score.  Extra outs are killer.  Big Red lead 3-0...still batting in the fifth.  Triple for Teague scores Lucas.  4-0.  

Wabash has loaded the bases with one out in their half of the fifth.  Holm strikes out for the second out.  Timmons flies out and Wabash leaves them loaded.  Sigh.  4-0 Denison after 5.

Denison gets a two out double to score one more.  5-0 Big Red halfway through the 6th.

Wabash is finally on the board.  Leadoff triple and a sac fly scores one for the LGs in the 7th.  5-1 through 7 innings.

We're in the 9th.....


Denison is threatening with two on and one out.  Two out single for the Big Red plates two runs.  7-1 is the lead for Denison.  The Big Red have been able to get the big two-out hit tonight, Wabash has not.  There's your difference.  

Top of the order for Wabash in the 9th...let's see if they have one more big rally left in them.  Leadoff single for Lares.  Pennington flies out.  Coggins hits into a FC.  One out left for Wabash.  FC for Timmons.  That's the ballgame...Denison wins 7-1 and will play Wooster tomorrow with the NCAC championship on the line. 

Tough way to end the season, but Wabash has a lot of positive inertia.  Wabash graduates just two seniors and opens a new ballpark in 2011.  The future is bright for this team. 

[ScotsFan]

So.  Who does Denison send to the mound for today's game?  Do they go back to Lukas on just a day's rest after he pitched 8 innings on Thursday?  I didn't follow that game, so I don't know how many pitches he had to throw.  I would guess, judging by the fact that 'Gheny only had 6 hits and one run, that Lukas didn't have to over-exert himself too much.

Looking at the Denison pitching staff, it looks like they've had a solid 3 man rotation and then that 4th spot looks as if it's been a revolving door.  That's why I feel that the Big Red have a tall tall order in trying to not only beat the Scots twice today, but somehow find a way to cool off those hot bats. 

Even if Lucas goes in game one and somehow gets the job done, who does Denison turn to in game two?  Vaske wasn't very effective yesterday against Wooster.  Hardly think he's going to be much better trying to go on no rest.  And Smith pitched well last night, but how much does he have left in the tank?

Meanwhile, Wooster has Matt DeGrand who if fully rested.  And they've also got their 4th starter in Tyler Fugate who only pitched 3.1 innings of relief of McDowell on Thursday night.  I would think McDowell could give some innings as could a host of others including Tanner Hall, Josh Stidham or Gemberling-Johnson. 

All in all, whoever takes the mound for Denison is going to have a tall order ahead of them in trying to cool off these Scot bats.  I mean, Vaske had been a hot pitcher coming into yesterday's game.  He'd won his last 3 starts only giving up less than 2 per game over those 3 starts.  And all Wooster did was touch him up for 8 runs in just 5.2 innings of work.  For Denison, the prospect of going at these hot Wooster hitters with tired arms does not make for a probable happy ending for the Big Red.

BTW, did anyone notice that Aiden Lukas and Park Smith not only are Denison's top 2 pitchers in terms of ERA?  They are also Denison's top 2 hitters in terms of batting avg.  That's a stat you don't see too often.

[ScotsFan]

Also, I doubt this game is going to start at 11.  There are some pretty nasty strorms about to move into the Chilicothe area.  At least this is one advantage of having field turf.  The field should still be in good playing condidtion no matter how hard it rains.

[countyroad]

Well, Wooster and Denison are under way.  After 1 inning there's not score. 

[ScotsFan]

Go figure.  Denison's starter has just 6 appearances total this season and an era over 9 and he's outpitching Woo's #3 man in Matt DeGrand so far today.

Top of the 5th and Denison leads 6-4.

And DeGrand can't get out of the 5th.  Denison has runners on the corners with 2 outs and Wooster brings on Keenan White.

And Giarratani can't make it out of the 5th either.  But I'm sure that Mike Clark will take that performance from his starter.  Giarratani walked back to back batters on 8 straight pitches to force Clark to make the change.  Wooster has the tying run at the plate.

McCosker is the new pitcher for the Big Red.  He has a 6.00 ERA.

Denison makes an error on a routine DP that would have ended the inning.  Instead, a run scored on an errant throw and now Wellstead comes through with a big 2 out RBI.  Scots making Denison pay for the error and it's a one run game.  7-6 Denison and now Wooster has runners at the corners as the 2 out thunder continues for the Scots!

Bases are now loaded.  Wooster's hottest hitter at the plate.  And we are now tied as the Big Red walk in a run!  And Clark is making another pitching change.  And Clark goes to a guy with an ERA over 14.  And Sorensen gets sutton to fly out to center.  But not before the Scots score 3 to tie it at 7's through 5.