BB: NCAC: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woosterbooster]

Wooster sweeps Carroll, 7-1 and 10-6, to go 4-0 on the season. After a needed day off today to allow the boys to work on their surfing skills, the Scots will take on the always tough (8-1) Profs of Rowan, whose only loss is to a DII school (and I use that term generously), Barry University, already 15-7 on the year.

[wally_wabash]

Wabash's game at Depauw today has been pushed back to tomorrow "due to weather." And so we wait....

[woosterbooster]

Wooster looks like they've found a shortstop to take over if not replace Luke Ullman. Freshman John Quimby is 7-10 with 2 doubles in 3 games. Other position player newcomers off to good starts are Sheldon Steiner and Oliver Enos. And then there's pitcher Jeff (Double-A) Kaatz, who struck out the first three batters that he faced.

The Scots appear to have been saving Luke Katich for the big game against Rowan tomorrow.

[woosterbooster]

Wooster's game vs Rowan tonight will be webcast by WQKT, the local Wooster radio station.  Here's the link:

http://www.wooster.edu/interactive/

[woosterbooster]

Wooster dropped a ridiculous game to Rowan tonight.  I think the final was 18-15, but I'm already fuzzy on that and so was Ken Nemeth (the Scots broadcaster) during part of the game.

Luke Katich got shelled as did his successors.  Wooster didn't hit much until late, but got myriads of gift runs from wild Rowan pitchers.  (At one point, the Scots had the bases loaded and scored three successive runs on three successive wild pitches.  The Rowan pitcher then proceeded to hit the Wooster batter with his final pitch to him.) 

Neither team seemed to be able to play a lick of defense. The boxscore will be incredibly ugly when it arrives, and Wooster suddenly appears a lot less ready to occupy a spot on the national scene than they did just two days ago.  This game seemed much more like an Oberlin intrasquad affair than a ballgame between two high-ranking teams.

[BASH6-4-3]

Unlike Wooster's most recent game, Wabash drops a 1-0 defensive struggle to DePauw on Wed.
The LG's continue to come up short against upper tier competition, especially evident in our 7 year drought against the Dannies.
I think we get another crack at them at home next week. I'm remaining optimistic that we can break through and challenge the upper tier teams but pounding 30+ runs in a DH against a depleted Wisc. Lutheran team and following it up with a 9 inning shutout performance only 5 days later shows that numbers can be deceiving in DIII baseball.  I believe that the only accurate way to measure ourselves is against the perennial power schools and not by stats.

[woosterbooster]

I agree, there is a tremendous disparity in the competition in DIII baseball, maybe even moreso than in basketball.  Wooster invariably hits .360 or so as a team, but those numbers are tremendously inflated by the 6 or 8 games that they play each year against teams of the caliber of Oberlin.  Once the tournament starts, averages drop about 100 points.  The really good hitters, their Jake Franks, Matt Millers, Luke Ullmans, can hit quality pitching.  Some of the other guys begin to struggle, though.

One stat that's able to cross borders, though, is defense.  An error is an error, whether against a stiff or a contender.  And although I still haven't seen yesterday's boxscore, it seemed as if Wooster had a handful of them and that's not good.

[BASH6-4-3]

good post Wooster Booster. I agree 100%

Just for conversation sake however, I could argue that more errors will be committed against better competition for the following reasons:

1. pitchers will pitch more carefully to better hitters, sometimes leading to long counts which invariably lead to fielders being flat and more errors
2. better hitting teams put more runners on base, put more pressure on fielders by being on the move and can lead to errors.
(This is why I love the game so much. Change one variable just slightly and a cascade of new outcomes potentially appear)

I also believe these points can be merely excuses for poor defensive performances, but over the course of a season they tend to play out as true.

[ScotsFan]

This game seemed much more like an Oberlin intrasquad affair than a ballgame between two high-ranking teams.

One stat that's able to cross borders, though, is defense. An error is an error, whether against a stiff or a contender. And although I still haven't seen yesterday's boxscore, it seemed as if Wooster had a handful of them and that's not good.

You have to remember it's also the 1st week of the season.  This is basically still considered spring training for these guys.  Also, Wooster was playing in just their 5th game of the season as opposed to Rowan playing in their 10th.  If Wooster's fielding problems persist throughout the season, than there is reason for concern.  But in just the 5th game of the year, I'm not going to get excited about it just yet.  Like I said, it's basically still spring training right now.

[ScotsFan]

And to add to my previous thoughts, Rowan swept Wooster last year in Florida 3 straight games.  However, Wooster came back to dominate the Profs in last year's CWS.  I'd rather be winning at the end of the year than at the beginning.

[woosterbooster]

Wooster, now 7-1 and having scored 56 runs over their last three games, takes on Rowan in a rematch at 7 PM tonight.  Wooster's last game was a 26-0 romp over Bethel.  It will be interesting to see if they can reverse their fortune against Rowan, who handed them their only loss, 18-15.

[ScotsFan]

Wooster avenged it's only loss of the season defeating #5 Rowan last night 8-7.  That's a little more of a respectable score than the rediculous 18-15 result in the 1st meeting between these two teams.

[kcreds]

OWU had a successful Florida trip finishing 8-3. They beat 2nd ranked Cortland State 10-8 and lost to 5th ranked Rowan 4-5. The other two losses were to Wis.-Oshkosh but both were close games. OWU outscored their opponents 101-50. Wooster appears to have had a good trip and is a team with lots of support. I am looking forward to the Wooster match ups late in the season. Bring on the warm weather and good baseball. Go Bishops!

[ScotsFan]

kkreds,

Thanks for the OWU updates.  The Bishops look like they had a good trip.  UW-Oshcosh was just outside of the top 30, so those weren't bad losses by any means.  Looks like OWU could just as easily be 11-0.  They had a good Florida trip nonetheless. 

Wooster still has another week down in sunny FLA.  They have a key double header this afternoon (actually starting in about 15 minutes) with #27 St. Thomas MN.  These will probably be Wooster's toughest games outside of their 2 games with Rowan so far this season.  The Tommies are currently 5-2 and are 5-0 so far on their Florida trip.

[formerd3db]

Yeah, I would say OWU had a great start.  They beat Hope this weekend included in that record.  Looks like they will be the team to watch in your conference.