BB: WIAC: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Dagger · March 18, 2009, 08:18:16 PM

Point scored 9 runs in the late innings against ripon. Hemi looked to be much more convincing today with his stuff which is a big relief for the pointers I'm sure. He's a master with the changeup and will rely on it all year, as he's still maxing out in the upper 70's with the heater! Nice pair of wins for them today, as rhodes was without question their best competition thus far. I'm not convinced that ripon is worth noting as a good win for a team of points caliber, despite the history between them...I just don't think Ripon is any good. Tomorrow's games against washington and jefferson will be good ones to gauge their team one last time before heading home.

once at home they get right at it with their first home weekend series being against the warhawks. Be nice to know right off the bat where both of those teams stand in respect to one another. exciting starts all around the league thus far though, so conference play will be interesting to follow this year to see who will separate themselves from the pack.

OshDude · March 19, 2009, 07:08:40 AM

Pointers, I have a dumb question. Did Z always have two N's at the end of his name? I don't remember seeing "Zimmermann" before this year. Now everywhere I look it says "Zimmermann." Take it easy on me. I went to Oshkosh. I'm not as smart as you guys, and I never retrieved baseballs that Z accidentally let someone hit, so I'm doubly behind your knowledge. It's just one of the stupid things that I (and very few others, probably) am curious about.

OshDude · March 19, 2009, 07:54:13 AM

Quote from: Titan20 on March 12, 2009, 08:21:13 PM
Oshkosh's roster is up on their website

Bruce Erickson is not listed as an assistant? Big loss, imo.

BigPoppa · March 19, 2009, 08:23:27 AM

Quote from: OshDude on March 19, 2009, 07:54:13 AM
Quote from: Titan20 on March 12, 2009, 08:21:13 PM
Oshkosh's roster is up on their website
Bruce Erickson is not listed as an assistant? Big loss, imo.

Not having Bruce Erickson is a huge loss. One of the greatest guys ever and a even better coach. I knew him quite well as he coached Appleton West for year who was in my high school conference as well as knowing his son Matt very well. Matt got a cup-o-coffee in the bigs and retired last year. He was just named the hitting coach for the Brewer's Single A team in Appleton.

szlongball · March 19, 2009, 10:13:26 AM

2 nns in Zimmermann. Maybe it was just listed wrong before.

Dagger · March 19, 2009, 10:07:00 PM

good start for the warhawks, taking an early game from (11-3) Wooster by one run. They play Otterbein on Friday, another very good team.

Dagger · March 19, 2009, 10:17:24 PM

point splits with W&J on their last day in florida winning by one in extra innings and then losing 8-2 in the nightcap. Seems to me like there were some costly errors in that second game, combined with the middle of the order going 0 for the day! Those two things in combination never boast well for the final outcome. That's just my opinion on the game from reading the box score and play by play, anyone who was there and has more insight to offer, please do so...I'm interested in hearing about these two games.

Brewers20 · March 19, 2009, 10:42:56 PM

Quote from: Dagger on March 19, 2009, 10:17:24 PM
point splits with W&J on their last day in florida winning by one in extra innings and then losing 8-2 in the nightcap. Seems to me like there were some costly errors in that second game, combined with the middle of the order going 0 for the day! Those two things in combination never boast well for the final outcome. That's just my opinion on the game from reading the box score and play by play, anyone who was there and has more insight to offer, please do so...I'm interested in hearing about these two games.

apparently point just didn't show up at all in the nightcap, it was by far their worst performance of the year. with the errors and only getting 3 hits offensively, looks to me like it was just one of those games. hard to believe the bats just went quiet after belting out 16 hits in game one, granted it was 10 innings, but still. kind of shocked about what happened to nixy in game 1, hopefully it was just a bad day for him. oh well, it was a pretty successful trip for the pointers, but it's tough to leave with that feeling in your stomach, hopefully they'll be able to get back on track when the play Norberts.

Other WIAC game down in Florida, Whitewater had a big win against perennial powerhouse Wooster, that's a pretty big win for them, and came as a surprise to me. WW has a pretty tough schedule down there, playing Otterbein three times, Carthage twice and the Minnesota Twins A ball team; should be interesting.

Dagger · March 20, 2009, 10:03:27 AM

I'm very surprised with the whitewater win over wooster. I guess I really shouldn't be because they always seem to come out of every year being successful. It's just hard to look at that roster and believe they have any kind of staying power, we'll see! Like Brewers20 said UWW has a very difficult schedule, very similar to points schedules of the past two years (wooster, otterbein, etc..) I'm interested to see where the hawks finish their trip at, as the pointers always left there right around .500 in my time served! Last time UWW played a rookie team ( I believe it was the twins rookie team) they beat them!

As for nixy, that's pretty much standard throughout a season. He'll be lights out one day and just plain off the next! For someone with nix's talent it is something that you just deal with, because he has amazing stuff when he's on. I'm not too concerned with that performance, because he's bound to do that another one or two times yet this season! He's fine, he'll be a dominant shut down kind of guy in all of his other starts. If he could find a way to stay away from these types of outings his numbers would be ridiculous. Lorenz has been looking pretty good for points pen thus far also, nice to see that for the pointers/him.

Dagger · March 20, 2009, 04:18:07 PM

UWW wins 3-2 against Otterbein today! Great start for the hawks, looking to prove all their doubters wrong...and so far doing a very good job of that. Extremely impressive wins down there to start off their trip. not sure how the carthage game went.

Dagger · March 20, 2009, 04:23:32 PM

UWW beats carthage 9-0...I'm now forced to take back all the bad things I said about this years teams chances! They are once again, and shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's been alive the past 6 years or so, a powerhouse! I would normally be a little hesitant to give too much praise to a team this early in the season, but with their track record and the quality of the teams they are playing and beating...I'm impressed...look out WIAC. Still think point will win the season series, but they look to be much better than I had originally suspected! Granted two of their three games down there have been 1 run games, but that just goes to show you they can handle tough situations and finish games off when they need to...very interesting start for them, one that I would have never guessed.

Brewers20 · March 20, 2009, 08:53:12 PM

Quote from: Dagger on March 20, 2009, 04:23:32 PM
UWW beats carthage 9-0...I'm now forced to take back all the bad things I said about this years teams chances! They are once again, and shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's been alive the past 6 years or so, a powerhouse! I would normally be a little hesitant to give too much praise to a team this early in the season, but with their track record and the quality of the teams they are playing and beating...I'm impressed...look out WIAC. Still think point will win the season series, but they look to be much better than I had originally suspected! Granted two of their three games down there have been 1 run games, but that just goes to show you they can handle tough situations and finish games off when they need to...very interesting start for them, one that I would have never guessed.

WW is definitely playing with a chip on their shoulder. The thing is with WW every year, no matter how good their team is or what their record is, they have tremendous confidence, and they think nobody can beat them, thats what it takes to be a great baseball team. You have to give them credit, they are a perennial powerhouse. I will stand behind the pointers to take the series as well in the WIAC opener, but all of the games will be battles.

BoBo · March 20, 2009, 10:01:08 PM

UWW skeptics of the world - unite...lol...

...both the Otters and Carthage had a difficult time with their defense, 5 errors each. As a result, take what you want out of these games. Warhawks won each, but it's way to early to reach conclusions, IMO. At least the 'hawks are playing traditionally strong competition in the early going and posting a few 'W's.'

OshDude · March 21, 2009, 09:50:02 AM

I'm gonna echo BoBo's UWW hedge. I think the '09 Hawks are simply better than Carthage and Otterbein. I thought they would win both. Not at all surprised Dott and Olson shut out Carthage. UWW only plays Carthage and Otterbein down there, so they could come back undefeated against them. I may be alone, but I think Carthage is down a few pegs talent-wise this year. Still probably an NCAA team, but not a favorite in many games against UWO, UWSP or UWW (or St. Olaf/St. Thomas, if CC gets bused up here again) this year.

There are a few new Whitewater guys like Doug Hanson who are just names and numbers to many of us right now. I look forward to seeing Hanson and the other new faces. Hanson had a nice line against Otterbein, merely a decent team imo.

I'll stick with my third-place prediction for UWW – which will no doubt have wins over UWO and UWSP – but I wouldn't be shocked if Vode makes me eat my words. I like a lot of their parts, that's for sure. I think a lot hinges on Hooper, Hanson and whoever emerges as the No. 4. I'm a believer in Hooper. I'm curious about the others, that's all.

BoBo · March 21, 2009, 08:23:57 PM

La Crosse drops one to Johns Hopkins (7-7) 6-4 in Phoenix today after picking up a pair of wins vs Brockport State yesterday 10-3 & 4-2. The Eagles are now 7-2 on their spring trip to the desert.