BB: WIAC: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[voice]

I'm interested to see the pitcihng match-ups for this weekends four game series between Oshkosh and Whitewater.  I would assume with Tincher and Donovan throwing on Wednesday, they will both come back and start on Sunday.  That would mean Lambert and Lee would more than likely get the starts on Saturday.  If you are Oshkosh, do you match-up your two most consistent pitchers (Rubens and Westphal) with Tincher and Donovan on Sunday, or do you throw them on Saturday against the Warhawks #3 and #4?

Is Ruebens even in the mix??

[OshDude]

So the Titans have some fight left. Oshkosh won two over Whitewater today, 4-1 and 5-4. UWO scored two in the ninth in Game 2. The last run scored on an error with one out.

[ShineTime]

Being a Pointer fan I was excited to see Oshkosh won both today.  I'm hoping they can take 1 of 2 tomorrow but Whitewater will have their big dogs going.  What is going on with Reubens?  Point won both today at Platteville 9-4 and 15-3 in 7.  Delorit had a strong outing going 8 innings and striking out 9.  Casey Barnes continues to tear it up ever since becoming the every day LF hitting a grand slam and having 3 hits in the 2nd game.  If Point can take both tomorrow and Whitewater loses 1 they should be sitting good for hosting the WIAC tourney.  

[cubs]

First of all, whoever is acting like a third grader and dinging my karma everyday, it's starting to get a little annoying.  If you have a problem with my posts, at least be big enough to call me out about it.  I have no problem defending my opinions, and trying to explain my comments for those who disagree with me.....

Ok, now that I have that taken care of, lets move on to today's DH at Oshkosh.  For those who decided to brave the 25 mph winds, you got to see two well pitched games by both teams. 

Game #1
Luke Westphal literally battled through about the first five innings without his best stuff.  However once Oshkosh scored three runs in the bottom of the 5th inning to take a 3-1 lead, and Rubens walked down to the bullpen, it was as if he became a different pitcher for the final four innings.  His curveball was sharper, he was locating better, and the results showed, as he allowed just a pair of two out singles the rest of the way.  If I didn't know any better, it almost appeared Westphal said this is my game and nobody is relieving me.  There were two balls that were absolutley CRUSHED in Game #1-Donovan's SAC FLY to CF, which went about 380 into the teeth of the wind, and Kamps two run triple to center in the 5th inning that landed about 385-390 feet from home plate, again into the teeth of the wind.  With the win, Westphal improved to 5-0, and actually lowered his WIAC leading ERA to 1.06.  Today's game was evidence that he has truly taken the next step in his progression as a pitcher.  The Whitewater line-up that he went through is as solid as it gets #1-9.

Game #2
You could tell right away during warm-ups that Rubens wasn't the same pitcher that the WIAC has grown accustomed to seeing pitch.  His motion looked completely different, and there just wasn't much on the ball.  Whitewater scored two in the first to take a 2-0 lead.  Wells came on in the 2nd inning, (Rubens tried to take the mound and was stopped by Lechnir about 10 steps outside the dugout) and pitched pretty effectively.  Outside of walking the #9 hitter on four straight pitches in Whitewater's two run 5th inning, he pounded the strike zone and was ahead in the count most of the game.  However, I was actually more impressed with Matt Roberts.  He stayed down in the zone the entire game, and Oshkosh never really squared one up off of him all game.  Unless it was a pitch count issue, I couldn't understand why he was pulled.  Both Kerndt and Coe were one-pitch pitchers (fastball) and Oshkosh took advantage of it.  Hiroskey's double to left off of Kerndt would have been a game-tying two-run HR on any other day.  Coe did a nice job of limiting Oshkosh to just one run in the 8th inning as he inherited 2nd and 3rd with one out.  The 9th inning saw the lead-off walk cause issues again, as Kachel got the rally started with his secod walk of the game.  Following a sac bunt, Fadness hit a sinking liner to center which caused the pinch-runner to have to freeze, making him stop at 3rd.  After a wild pitch moved Fadness to 2nd, Whitewater decided to bring the infield in which allowed Kamps ground ball to turn into a diving attempt/stop instead of a routine grounder for the 2nd out of the inning.  As the second baseman tried to recover and get an out, he threw wild which allowed Fadness to score from 2nd for the win.  Before the ball was put in play were questioning Whitewater's decision to bring the IF in, as it was only tying run at 3rd and not the go-ahead run.  The only thing we could come up with was that Whitewater was limited in the bullpen and didn't have anyone they felt comfortbale with if the game went extra-innings.

Whitewater definitely has the advantage as they head into tomorrow, with their #1 and #2 (Tincher and Donovan) ready to go.  Oshkosh will likely send Schriber to the mound in one game, and either Mrkvicka or Murphy in the other.  If Oshkosh could manage to get a split tomorrow, they would have to be pleased with taking 3 out of 4 from the #1 team in the Midwest Region.  It would be interesting to see what a 3-3 week against the #1 and #2 teams in the Midwest Region would do to their Regional Ranking.

[cubs]

Standings Through April 30th
Stevens Point  14-4
Whitewater     13-5
Oshkosh         11-7
La Crosse        11-9
Stout              5-11
Platteville        6-16
Superior          4-12

Stout/Superior PPD due to wet field conditions and will try to make it up on Monday.

[biggio34]

It would be interesting to see what a 3-3 week against the #1 and #2 teams in the Midwest Region would do to their Regional Ranking.

I agree, it's going to be interesting.  Point will be #1 and I'd look for Oshkosh to move Olaf out of the top 6.  Almost all the MIAC series have been moved to today, and with Olaf all but officially out of the MIAC tourney, I can't see them staying in the rankings, even if they sweep St. Thomas today.  The Tommies have the #1 SOS in the country now, so if they sweep, I'll bet they move into the top 6 as well.  Who gets pushed out though?

[OshDude]

It would be interesting to see what a 3-3 week against the #1 and #2 teams in the Midwest Region would do to their Regional Ranking.

I agree, it's going to be interesting.  Point will be #1 and I'd look for Oshkosh to move Olaf out of the top 6.  Almost all the MIAC series have been moved to today, and with Olaf all but officially out of the MIAC tourney, I can't see them staying in the rankings, even if they sweep St. Thomas today.  The Tommies have the #1 SOS in the country now, so if they sweep, I'll bet they move into the top 6 as well.  Who gets pushed out though?

Not sure Olaf will get bumped this week. If the Oles sweep, I actually see them moving up. Olaf's SOS will jump to the high .500's after playing UST. A high .500's SOS would be around the top 10 in the country.

Even if Olaf is 18-11 in-region with a DH loss to UST, the SOS makes for a strong case to be ranked again, pending other results of course. The Midwest committee has been consistently clear in the past that it likes seeing high SOS numbers.

Not that anyone asked, but I agree with the MW committee's approach. I think the MW rankings, with rare exception, have been spot-on for several years. Even when I have a quibble, I know why the committee did what it did. When I see the Central rankings (and some others) I sometimes, sometimes don't understand them even after looking for plausibility hidden in the numbers. We don't often have that in the Midwest. We know what it takes to get ranked around here. It's been that way since the first regional rankings under the new-ish system. Play your best schedule within reason, and you'll be rewarded if you do well.

Sorry about the tangent, but I think we have a committee that does a great, often thankless job.

[biggio34]

It would be interesting to see what a 3-3 week against the #1 and #2 teams in the Midwest Region would do to their Regional Ranking.

I agree, it's going to be interesting.  Point will be #1 and I'd look for Oshkosh to move Olaf out of the top 6.  Almost all the MIAC series have been moved to today, and with Olaf all but officially out of the MIAC tourney, I can't see them staying in the rankings, even if they sweep St. Thomas today.  The Tommies have the #1 SOS in the country now, so if they sweep, I'll bet they move into the top 6 as well.  Who gets pushed out though?

Not sure Olaf will get bumped this week. If the Oles sweep, I actually see them moving up. Olaf's SOS will jump to the high .500's after playing UST. A high .500's SOS would be around the top 10 in the country.

Even if Olaf is 18-11 in-region with a DH loss to UST, the SOS makes for a strong case to be ranked again, pending other results of course. The Midwest committee has been consistently clear in the past that it likes seeing high SOS numbers.

Not that anyone asked, but I agree with the MW committee's approach. I think the MW rankings, with rare exception, have been spot-on for several years. Even when I have a quibble, I know why the committee did what it did. When I see the Central rankings (and some others) I sometimes, sometimes don't understand them even after looking for plausibility hidden in the numbers. We don't often have that in the Midwest. We know what it takes to get ranked around here. It's been that way since the first regional rankings under the new-ish system. Play your best schedule within reason, and you'll be rewarded if you do well.

Sorry about the tangent, but I think we have a committee that does a great, often thankless job.

The tangent is appreciated, well said, and its hard to argue with your point.  I think its frustrating for other teams on the bubble to see a team like Olaf ranked ahead of them, when they are currently playing well, and Olaf is struggling.  The criteria is the criteria, and you are probably correct.  I personally don't agree with ranking a team who is not in the top 3 or 4 of their league, but that's how it is, and everyone knows it going into the season.

[OshDude]

Granted it also helps if your conference ends in IAC. There's a built-in security knowing your numbers won't be damaged by playing forced competition. Even with some dings from the bottom, teams from the WIAC, MIAC and IIAC are set up to succeed before the first pitch of the season.

If there were a mid-major level between the divide, the yearly regional eventualities (MIAC and WIAC dominate MW rankings, CCIW and IIAC dominate C rankings) wouldn't be so pronounced. But it's a meritocracy when a team like BLC can prove to be a reliable opponent and improve its SOS by leaps and bounds from a few seasons ago.

[scrapper]

Don' t really understand the logic that Olaf could still be ranked even with a DH loss to St Thomas just because it will help their SOS.  Totally illogical.

[OshDude]

Don' t really understand the logic that Olaf could still be ranked even with a DH loss to St Thomas just because it will help their SOS.  Totally illogical.

Maybe incorrect, but not illogical. It's a body of work up to a certain point, not a snapshot of weekly results. You may be right that a DH loss to UST would put SOC outside the top six. All I wrote is, pending other results, 18-11 with a very high SOS may be enough to remain in the rankings. I think that's plausible.

[scrapper]

Incorrect,illogical or whatever words you want to use, if St Thomas sweeps St Olaf they should be rated higher than ST OLAF along with Oshkosh,BLC and others.

[ShineTime]

Whitewater is putting a hurting on Oshkosh game 1 today.  What has happened to Oshkosh's pitching staff?  Reubens and Schreiber are both struggling and the only guy who appears consistent is Westphal.  Hopefully Schreiber will save the day and go at least 7 strong in game 2.

[badgerwarhawk]

19-2 final in 7 innings.  WARHAWKS score in every inning except the 4th.
Tincher goes the distance.  7 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts.
Coe, Wessels, Beyer and Donovan hit home runs.
Putnam (1), Coe (1), Donovan (3), Keller (2), Fon (1), Beyer (3) and Wessels (4) with RBI.

It would have been nice to have some of this offense yesterday.


Game two:

WARHAWKS 6  Oshkosh 4
Donovan gets the win going 6 innings, 8 hits, 3 runs (earned), 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
Schmidt, 2 innings, 2 hits, 1 run (earned), 2 strikeouts
Coe, 1 inning, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, save
Eichstaedt 3x5, Brent Young 2x3 home run
Coe (2), Dylan Friend (2), Young (1) RBI

This one was nip and tuck.  WHITEWATER led 3-0 but Oshkosh got a pair in the 6th.  The WARHAWKS answered with a pair in the seventh but Oshkosh got single runs in both the seventh and eighth.  The WARHAWKS got an insurance run in the ninth and the game ended with Oshkosh leaving runners on third and first. 

[GBMAN]

UW-W takes game 2 today.... 6-4...