BB: WIAC: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Dagger · April 20, 2009, 10:24:42 AM

Wow, what a weekend! Lots of surprises around the league, the biggest of which IMO was UWO losing three to UWP. I'm not surprised that superior beat up WW by the mercy rule one game because they are an emerging team and are capable of doing that to anyone at anytime. Point's sweep lax was huge for them, and now magnifies the hurt that was a result of an 0-4 weekend against the hawks earlier this season. If they split that series or win three of four like they very easily could have, they are standing awfully pretty right now for their first regular season title in years! Still, they are in a position to go out on top by playing some good ball here during the next couple of weeks. Must split with UWO to have any chance though.

To catch up on some other posts (I was gone all weekend)...UWO is a disappointment to me this year, but in no way a national disgrace, that's ridiculous. Cummings is in the lineup for a reason, like what you see or not he earned that position...and trust me Bloom isn't starting him because he's a senior! Say what you want about one weekend making his average for the year, but hitting .300 is a very respectable clip.

Looking back on my thoughts of last week, I'm glad to see point pull it together and sweep lax at lax (like was mentioned for the first time in the bloom era)! I still believe that the mental aspect of their game is going to be the biggest hurdle for them, and it appears that the leadership is there and has emerged to lead the club in the right direction. sometimes it just takes a couple (or a lot) of bad losses in a row to light that fire and get some guys going. If that fire stays light for point, they are a legit contender for the number one spot. Funny that I say that, as last week I was questioning their ability to make the tourney...but I was saying all that with full confidence in the team, and assuming that the teams ahead of them were going to keep up the work that they had been doing, and that did not happen. UWO almost getting swept by UWP is a nasty weekend for the titans. It's a sprint to the finish line now, and there really isn't a favorite in my opinion, it could really go to anyone of the top 4-6 teams!

TitanBystander · April 20, 2009, 10:44:08 AM

RE: Oshkosh historically throwing away games & conference championships against Platteville

Quote from: TitanBystander on February 10, 2009, 04:57:20 PM
That is...If they don't throw away games against Platteville.
Think about this, if you were to throw out one of the three losses to Platteville in 2006, and 1 ugly loss to them in 2008, the Titans would be on a 3 year conference championship winning streak. I know, IF only..., but it just shows how tight the league really is. One unexpected loss can kill you. Hard to believe that the conference championship may be decided April 18-19 when Platteville visits Tiedeman Field.

How prophetic was this statement?

poly god · April 20, 2009, 10:53:56 AM

Great weekend for Point. And they needed it to say the least! Alot of hits all over the line up. The only concern for me is Surman. He does not seem to be moving or swinging well. Is he trying to play through an injury?

cubs · April 20, 2009, 02:03:47 PM

I used to think the phrase "Wacky WIAC" was only used to describe the basketball season, however after this weekend, I guess baseball is going to need to use it as well.

-Point was being written off by some on here, and had been swept by Whitewater as recently as just a couple of weeks ago. La Crosse had just gotten done splitting a four-game set against nationally ranked Whitewater last weekend and sweeping Platteville on Wednesday. So what happens this weekend? Point goes to La Crosse and sweeps all four games from the Eagles.

-Oshkosh, who was considered the favorite by some on here (myself included) beats Whitewater for the third time via the mercy rule on Wednesday, but then proceeds to struggle this weekend and is beaten three times by Platteville.

-Superior, who had won just one WIAC game this season, knocks off Whitewater via the mercy rule on Sunday, 10-0.

I said before the weekend that this six-game stretch was going to make or break Point. Well, by sweeping La Crosse, the Pointers are right back in the race. However the shoe is now on the other foot this week, as Oshkosh's season may come down to how they play over the next eight days, having the pair against Point the next two Wednesdays with a four game set at home against La Crosse sandwiched in between on Saturday and Sunday. Anything less than 4-4, and it may be the Titans who are in jeopardy of missing the WIAC Tournament.

If this is what we can expect over the next two weeks, buckle in for an enjoyable ride.

cubs · April 20, 2009, 02:19:24 PM

Quote from: Brewers20 on April 19, 2009, 08:40:20 PM
*What a bummer for Brad Demmin this year. His senior year and he gets hurt in practice and has missed almost half of the season. I'm sure he'll be back soon though.

Don't be so sure about that..... I have heard some news on the situation and lets just say the injury is worse than first thought.

titan2000 · April 20, 2009, 09:07:56 PM

What is the nature of the injury? Can Lechnir recruit someone from the student body to fill in this late in the season?

Dagger · April 21, 2009, 09:12:25 AM

great start for zimmy last night against the braves. a two hour delay due to rain finally made way for his first career victory, over derek lowe mind you! He was a little erratic from time to time, but other than the home run to diaz on an elevated fastball (0-2) he didn't really make any major mistakes. He looked extremely calm and put together considering the circumstances. Only threw 72 pitches in 6 innings and would have thrown more if not for a bottom of the 6th rally that saw him get pinch hit for. I believe of those 72 pitches 51 were strikes! Good Start

UWP SID · April 21, 2009, 09:46:08 AM

Zimmermann's pitching was especially needed for a team that is literally missing its "O".

Check out how the team names on Dunn's and Ryan Zimmerman's jerseys were spelled Friday night.

http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/23207/natinals_make_bizarre_cash-saving_pick

BoBo · April 21, 2009, 10:14:15 AM

Quote from: UWP SID on April 21, 2009, 09:46:08 AM
Zimmermann's pitching was especially needed for a team that is literally missing its "O".

Check out how the team names on Dunn's and Ryan Zimmerman's jerseys were spelled Friday night.

http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/23207/natinals_make_bizarre_cash-saving_pick

No wonder they're off to the worst start in MLB!!

That had to be an intentional stunt.

Oh, and as good a game as he pitched, ESPN highlights only showed 1 pitch that he threw, the gopher ball to Diaz...welcome to the big leagues, kid!!

BaseballFan · April 21, 2009, 12:35:05 PM

Quote from: BoBo on April 21, 2009, 10:14:15 AM
Quote from: UWP SID on April 21, 2009, 09:46:08 AM
Zimmermann's pitching was especially needed for a team that is literally missing its "O".

Check out how the team names on Dunn's and Ryan Zimmerman's jerseys were spelled Friday night.

http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/23207/natinals_make_bizarre_cash-saving_pick

No wonder they're off to the worst start in MLB!!

That had to be an intentional stunt.

Oh, and as good a game as he pitched, ESPN highlights only showed 1 pitch that he threw, the gopher ball to Diaz...welcome to the big leagues, kid!!

MLB network talked about Zimmermann for awhile. Mitch Williams was really high on him and said when he was in trouble he got out of it except for one pitch. Oh and Zimmermann was hitting 96 in the first inning and the deuce look nasty!

Dagger · April 21, 2009, 02:19:41 PM

I watched the whole game, and he was never really in any serious trouble. Chipper hit a triple (thanks to dunn lumbering around out there) with no body out, and with 2 outs and an 0-2 count to diaz that's when the homerun came. So he darn near worked his way out of that one. Other than that, he had some baserunners, but never a big jam that he needed to work out of. Got one double play ball to end an inning with guys on first and second. He was definitely anxious though, you could see it in his location and the off speed pitches. the fastball was missing up often, and on two of the hits for sure he missed his spot by the width of the plate, but he was still good enough to only allow 6 hits! I was very impressed with his composure. The curveball is nasty, he didn't have that one at point, and his slider was absolutely dominating the opposing batters! When he got beat it was with the fastball that usually missed his spot. It was a good example of how major league batters will make you pay for missing a spot. It will be fun to see what he can do when he's really on top of his game, because he can certainly throw better than that...and he will! unbelievable to go out there and beat lowe in your major league debut though...too bad is was only in front of 1,000 people!

TitanBystander · April 21, 2009, 02:35:14 PM

Quote from: Dagger on April 21, 2009, 02:19:41 PM
...too bad is was only in front of 1,000 people!

It is unfortunte that the stands were empty, but I'm sure it didn't matter to him or the friends & family that came to see his debut. Personally, I would sit through a Katrina sized hurricane to see any of my kids dream come true.

I found it funny that the SportsCenter I was watching this morning had to bring up the fact that he was from Wisconsin about 5 times in the 60 second segment. Just stopped short of saying that the only athletic thing we do here is milk cows.

badgerwarhawk · April 21, 2009, 04:57:56 PM

The information previously linked regarding the conference tournament was incorrect. This was probably due to the fact that the information was distributed last fall prior to the final decision being made on location and format.

If I'm understanding the information I've received correctly the 3 and 4 seeds will play the first game and the loser will be eliminated. The winner will move on to play the loser of the match up between the 1 and 2 seeds and that loser will be eliminated. If it happened to be the winner of the original 3-4 matchup they would be eliminated with a single loss. If it happened to be the loser of the 1-2 matchup it would be a second loss. It would be possible for the league champion to be determined with two wins.

This is how I'm understanding it. I've requested clarification and if that is received and changes anything I'll post a correction.

Congrats to J. Zimmermann. A great start to what I hope is a long career. The Nats pitching is bad enough that he may end up moving up in the rotation. They've already dumped two pitchers though both were on the relief staff.

titan2000 · April 21, 2009, 06:06:45 PM

Great.

That means Lechnir can save his ace for Game 3 and never use him.

Just Bill · April 21, 2009, 09:29:03 PM

Think of the new tournament format as a standard 4-team double elimination, except that the first two games have already been played and the higher seed has won. Seeds 3 and 4 have dropped down to the losers bracket and Seeds 1 and 2 have advanced. Start from Game 3 and it works just like a regular bracket.