BB: WIAC: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[BigPoppa]

WOW! When was the last time Oshkosh gave up 20 runs??! The WIAC is going to be very interesting. Today will tell the story for UW-O as they should have their top arms on the hill.

[OshDude]

WOW! When was the last time Oshkosh gave up 20 runs??! The WIAC is going to be very interesting. Today will tell the story for UW-O as they should have their top arms on the hill.

Curious about that myself. Looked it up and it was Whitewater, 20-13, in 2005. Thought I'd have to search further back than that. UWW won the title that year, so maybe DePauw wins it this year? Man, 20-9 ... only one way to go from there, I'd think. Would like to have heard the pep talk after that one.

[Dagger]

that is an absolute shocker to see the titans go down giving up that many runs.  If they don't pull out at least splits in their next two series, bye bye at large bid!  I mean it's awfully early to be talking about that and lots of things could happen, but they desperately need some wins here in the near future to have a chance come post season bids. 

[cubs]

In all fairness to the UWO pitchers, the defense committed five errors, (which led to 11 unearned runs) so the 20 runs COULD be a little misleading. 

Unless of course that is the type of defense UWO is going to play the majority of the season.

[Brewers20]

The 5 errors didn't help UWO at all, but what about the 5 errors DePauw committed? I think those would've helped UWO make the game a little closer, but the errors the Titans made must have been more crucial.  Well i guess anybody can have a bad day, believe me I've experienced a few myself in my years of playing, but the key is after a bad game like that, you have to be able to bounce back and forget the past. Lets see if the Titans can do that, otherwise, they're going to be in bad shape returning up north.

[Brewers20]

I just had looked at the UWW overall stats for offense and I think they're going to have to get in the cage or something.  .218 team average with your best hitter posting a .118 average and only 2 rbi coming back from Florida, I don't care who you're playing, that is for lack of better word, brutal.  Maybe he isn't getting pitched to and he is starting to get frustrated and swinging at balls out of the strike zone, idk.  But if WW wants a shot at being at the top again, a .218 team avg. isn't going to cut it. 

From the games played around the WIAC, I am going to have to go with UWSP having the best start. UWW is right there with the competition they've played, but that offense puts them behind Point.  Superior, Stout and LAX have also posted good records as well, but all of their schedules were fairly weak.  Oshkosh is off to a very poor start as everyone knows, and Platteville posting a 5-5 record against that competition is nothing to brag about.

[szlongball]

The next 2 weeks should prove how the top 3 teams will shake out. Point starts out with Stout on April 1st and then 4 games against Whitewater. Oshkosh will have 4 games against Whitewater (april 1st and 8th). The weaker teams in the conference have better records then they have probably ever had to this point(or any point in their seasons). Congrats to Whitewater on the wins they got against some very good teams. While Point didn't play their usual tough schedule in Florida, they still beat up on in region teams(which matters at the end of the season)Personally don't like Oshkosh, so I'm glad they are struggling, but should still be of some concern to their fans. Didn't expect to see them struggle so far.

[cubs]

The 5 errors didn't help UWO at all, but what about the 5 errors DePauw committed? I think those would've helped UWO make the game a little closer, but the errors the Titans made must have been more crucial. 

I had originally thought the same thing when I saw that Depauw had also committed five errors, however of the nine runs they gave up only one of them was unearned.  I guess Depauw's pitchers were either able to do a better job of over-coming the errors, or the errors happened at times when it didn't really matter and the runs would have scored regardless.

[cubs]

From the games played around the WIAC, I am going to have to go with UWSP having the best start. UWW is right there with the competition they've played, but that offense puts them behind Point.  Superior, Stout and LAX have also posted good records as well, but all of their schedules were fairly weak.  Oshkosh is off to a very poor start as everyone knows, and Platteville posting a 5-5 record against that competition is nothing to brag about.

Point's schedule wasn't exactly the greatest either.  The combined records of the teams they played?  46-43....  When you compare it to La Crosse's (45-42) they are actually pretty similar, and one could argue that a couple of the the team's that La Crosse played (and lost to) are traditionally a little stronger (St. Scholastica, and Johns Hopkins.).

For the sake of comparison, Superior opponents have gone 32-49, while Stout's are 28-54, which may help explain the nice records from the Blue Devils and Yellow Jackets.

[Brewers20]

FYI the DH location between UWSP and St. Norberts has been changed to Stevens Point due to poor field conditions in De Pere. http://athletics.uwsp.edu/news/2009/3/26/BSB_0326091641.aspx?path=baseball

[szlongball]

Correct me if I am wrong, but in regional games count a lot towards post season bids. Yes, Point didn't play a tough schedule this time in Florida, but all but one win was against in region teams. Stout, and the gang of weaker WIAC teams didn't play outstanding competition either, but a win is a win, especially if you have a program that is not used to winning. They still put up wins, scored runs and had some outstanding pitching. Will they keep it up? Don't know, but shouldn't be knocking them for at least trying to get their programs better, instead of the cupcake teams on the WIAC schedule for the big 3.

[cubs]

Don't know, but shouldn't be knocking them for at least trying to get their programs better, instead of the cupcake teams on the WIAC schedule for the big 3.

Who is knocking them?

[ShineTime]

I don't care who Superior has played this year they are for real and it's going to be very difficult for Oshkosh, Whitewater, or Point to win all 4 against them.  They have some solid pitching and a few good sticks in the lineup.  Platteville will also be tough to sweep because Lange is a stud on the hill.  The question is whether Superior will get enough home games with the bad weather we have coming the next few weeks.  I know Point was suposed to be play all 4 there last year and they got moved and Point hung on a few of the games making me believe Superior would've probably taken 1 or 2 from Point last year if the games would've been at Superior.  I don't think Stout is much to worry about but also think LaCrosse is going to have a pretty solid offense.  That freshman they brought in from Viroqua is going to be 1rst team WIAC like Surman last year.

[badgerwarhawk]

Do you mean cupcakes like Wooster (ranked 7th nationally),  St Thomas (ranked 24th nationally), Carthage (receiving votes nationally), the University of Washington (D1) and the Minnesota Twins Class A minor league team?

[Brewers20]

Do you mean cupcakes like Wooster (ranked 7th nationally),  St Thomas (ranked 24th nationally), Carthage (receiving votes nationally), the University of Washington (D1) and the Minnesota Twins Class A minor league team?

I think what szlongball was saying is that  teams in the WIAC like Stout and Superior are trying to better their programs by getting some wins, so their not the cupcake/easy wins for the WIACs big 3.