BB: WIAC: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[badgerwarhawk]

Facing a grueling 8 games in 5 days schedule the WARHAWKS have cancelled today's doubleheader against Benedictine.  So it's down to 6 games in 3 days instead.  Doubleheaders with Oshkosh Friday and Saturday and a doubleheader with St Norbert Sunday.

[Baseball Geek]

Facing a grueling 8 games in 5 days schedule the WARHAWKS have cancelled today's doubleheader against Benedictine.  So it's down to 6 games in 3 days instead.  Doubleheaders with Oshkosh Friday and Saturday and a doubleheader with St Norbert Sunday.

Benedictine had to reschedule a conference DH, which will now be played today.

[badgerwarhawk]

Facing a grueling 8 games in 5 days schedule the WARHAWKS have cancelled today's doubleheader against Benedictine.  So it's down to 6 games in 3 days instead.  Doubleheaders with Oshkosh Friday and Saturday and a doubleheader with St Norbert Sunday.

Benedictine had to reschedule a conference DH, which will now be played today.

That probably was more a reason than our schedule.  I just really didn't like the idea of 8 games in 5 days.  Thanks for the information.

[Baseball Geek]

Facing a grueling 8 games in 5 days schedule the WARHAWKS have cancelled today's doubleheader against Benedictine.  So it's down to 6 games in 3 days instead.  Doubleheaders with Oshkosh Friday and Saturday and a doubleheader with St Norbert Sunday.

Benedictine had to reschedule a conference DH, which will now be played today.

That probably was more a reason than our schedule.  I just really didn't like the idea of 8 games in 5 days.  Thanks for the information.

I don't think anyone did. That's a recipe for injury, IMO ... I imagine there were arms breathing a sigh of relief at the news. Six-in-three is plenty.

[Pat Coleman]

Looks like the WIAC will be a short stop for Illinois Tech:
http://www.d3sports.com/notables/2017/05/illinois-tech-to-nacc

[Just Bill]

Looks like the WIAC will be a short stop for Illinois Tech:
http://www.d3sports.com/notables/2017/05/illinois-tech-to-nacc

I wonder if having 7 teams for one season (2018) will reset the WIAC's two-year grace period in keeping their AQ?

[Pat Coleman]

Great question and I have no idea.

[badgerwarhawk]

I asked the same question on the other forum before opening this one.

[badgerwarhawk]

Standings & Results (Thru 5/4)

WARHAWKS: 13-3
Platteville: 15-5
Lacrosse: 14-6
Oshkosh: 10-8
Stout: 4-13

WARHAWKS: St Thomas (W 5-2, W 10-1), Concordia Moorhead (L 0-1, W 3-2), Wm Paterson (W 9-7), Webster (W 10-2), Rutgers-Camden (W 7-2), Southern Maine (W 5-4), Clarkson (W 3-1), Union (W 7-6), St Scholastica  (W, 10-5, L 8-10), Ripon (W 8-2, W 9-8), Concordia (Wi) (L 3-21), Milwaukee School of Engineering (W 21-4)

Lacrosse: St Johns (L 0-1, W 6-0), Concordia-Chicago (W 6-2), College of New Jersey (W 6-4), Wm Paterson (L 4-5), Webster (L 0-4), Rampo (W 5-3), Southern Maine (W 4-2), Benedictine (W 10-5), Cornell (W 3-1,  W 10-2), St Mary's (W 4-3, W 7-3), St Scholastica (L 5-6, L 7-10), St Thomas (W 5-2, L 4-9), Milwaukee School of Engineering (W 4-0), St Olaf (W 16-4, W 6-4)

Platteville: Fontbonne (W 6-4), Buena Vista (L 0-10), Ripon (W 8-2), Stockton (W 5-2), McDaniel (L 0-5), College of New Jersey (L 7-8), Minn Morris (W 7-2), Eastern Connecticut (W 7-4), Western New England (L 0-3), Simpson (W 14-7, W 10-2), Northland (W 5-3, W 6-1), Marian (W 6-1, W 4-3), Illinois Institute of Technology (W 6-4, W 3-2), Illinois Institute of Technology (W 14-10, W 10-5), Edgewood (L 2-4)

Oshkosh: Adrian (W 8-4), Birmingham Southern (L 3-6), Transylvania (W 8-4), Mass-Boston (L 3-4), Eastern Connecticut (L 5-17), Clarkson (L 14-16), Washington Jefferson (W 4-1), Bowdoin (W 6-1, W 10-0), St Thomas (W 3-2), Union (W 6-1), St Scholastica (L 4-5, L 3-4), St Mary's (L 1-4, W 8-3), Concordia (WI) (L 2-3), Ripon (W 14-2), Benedictine (L 2-5), Ripon (W 5-3), Edgewood (W 6-1)

Stevens Point: St Thomas (L 2-6, L 5-7), Clarkson (W 6-5), Rampo (L 4-6, L 5-15), Westfield State (W 9-3), St Olaf (W 7-1), Worcester State (W 13-3), Southern Maine (L 4-6, L 4-6), Benedictine (L 1-11), Washington Jefferson (W 5-4), Ripon (W 6-1, W 15-14), St Norbert (L 1-8, W 4-1)

Stout: Bethel (W 1-0, L 0-8), Hamline (L 1-2, W 6-1), Augsburg (L 1-5, L 4-7), New York University (L 6-17), Wisconsin Lutheran (L 6-8), Skidmore (L 1-12), LaSalle (W 9-6), North Park (L 1-8), Western Connecticut (L 3-20), Edgewood (L 1-6), St Thomas (L 1-4, L 0-2), Superior (L 1-11) (W 20-10)

WIAC: 65-44 (.600)

Out of conference only.

[cubs]

I decided to look into last year's Pool C bids a little deeper since there seems to be some differing of opinions on the WIAC's chances at earning a Pool C bid.

Here were the records and SOS numbers of the 14 teams to get a Pool C bid last season:
North Central-30-10-SOS-.547
Oswego State-32-9-SOS-.543
College of New Jersey-30-10-SOS.549
Ohio Wesleyan-27-14-SOS-.545
Whitewater-29-14-SOS-.563
Whitworth-29-11-SOS-.520
Shenandoah-32-10-SOS-.535
Frostburg St.-30-12-SOS-.538
Case Western Reserve-26-13-SOS.593
UMass Boston-28-14-SOS-.524
Wartburg-33-11-SOS-.532
WashU-31-16-SOS-.569
Johns Hopkins-26-15-2-SOS-.572
Kean-26-16-SOS-.582

Going off of last year (which I know might be a bit flawed based on what teams have done this year) it appears, you need 14 or less losses to earn a Pool C bid, unless you have a Top 15 Strength of Schedule number, in which case a couple more losses (Kean-#5, Johns Hopkins-#10, WashU-#14.) might be acceptable. 

Going into the weekend, the WIAC Pool C candidates:
La Crosse-22-14-SOS-.580 (#7)-The SOS number will take a "hit" this weekend when they head to Platteville (currently #270, which shows just how weak Platteville's non-conference schedule was this season) for four games.

UWO-22-14-SOS-.553 (#41)-The SOS number should get a bump as they host Whitewater (currently #29) for four games this weekend.

Stevens Point-16-16-SOS-.604 (#2)-The SOS number will drop this weekend as they host Stout (currently #30) for four games this weekend.


In my opinion, La Crosse needs to sweep Platteville in order to head into the WIAC Tournament at 26-14.  Adding two losses onto their profile against a pair of Top 30 SOS teams likely won't hurt their chances at a Pool C bid, and 27-16 or even 26-16 at worse might still be enough to get them in.  They clearly have the best chance of earning a Pool C (unless Whitewater is upset in the WIAC Tournament) among WIAC teams based on being ranked #6 in the second edition of the Midwest Regional rankings which were released this morning.

UWO needs to at least get a split this weekend, and even then I am not sure they would be able to jump La Crosse in the Pool C pecking order, despite possibly finishing ahead of La Crosse in the WIAC standings.  Falling out of the Midwest Regional rankings this week obviously hurts their chances, but splitting with Whitewater this weekend would likely go a long way in returning to the rankings in Week #3.

Stevens Point needs to sweep Stout, and probably would still need to win multiple games at the WIAC Tournament to have even a minuscule shot, like 0.1%.  While the SOS number is great, it likely wouldn't be enough to cancel out the 18 losses (at best)on their record.  Rowan had the #3 SOS last year, but since they went 24-18, it didn't matter as they were left on the outside looking in.  In my opinion, Stevens Point would need to win the WIAC Tournament to qualify for Regionals this year.

Obviously if UWO wins three out of four this weekend against Whitewater (I personally don't see it happening) all of the above would be for naught, but as of today this is how I see things in the WIAC.

Thoughts from anyone else?

[Baseball Geek]

Nothing like a little extra hype for the big weekend series
http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/2017/05/04/uw-oshkosh-baseball-team-hopes-state-its-case/101277368/

[TitanDoubles]

In my opinion, La Crosse needs to sweep Platteville in order to head into the WIAC Tournament at 26-14.  Adding two losses onto their profile against a pair of Top 30 SOS teams likely won't hurt their chances at a Pool C bid, and 27-16 or even 26-16 at worse might still be enough to get them in.  They clearly have the best chance of earning a Pool C (unless Whitewater is upset in the WIAC Tournament) among WIAC teams based on being ranked #6 in the second edition of the Midwest Regional rankings which were released this morning.

UWO needs to at least get a split this weekend, and even then I am not sure they would be able to jump La Crosse in the Pool C pecking order, despite possibly finishing ahead of La Crosse in the WIAC standings.  Falling out of the Midwest Regional rankings this week obviously hurts their chances, but splitting with Whitewater this weekend would likely go a long way in returning to the rankings in Week #3.

Stevens Point needs to sweep Stout, and probably would still need to win multiple games at the WIAC Tournament to have even a minuscule shot, like 0.1%.  While the SOS number is great, it likely wouldn't be enough to cancel out the 18 losses (at best)on their record.  Rowan had the #3 SOS last year, but since they went 24-18, it didn't matter as they were left on the outside looking in.  In my opinion, Stevens Point would need to win the WIAC Tournament to qualify for Regionals this year.

Obviously if UWO wins three out of four this weekend against Whitewater (I personally don't see it happening) all of the above would be for naught, but as of today this is how I see things in the WIAC.

Thoughts from anyone else?

This situation reminds of 2012 when UWW finished third and UWSP finished second. UWSP, even though they finished ahead of UWW, lost the first two games of the conference tournament and UWW went 2-2 in the conference tourney and got the at-large bid.

The only way I could see UWL getting in after finishing third in the conference would be if they could pick up two games in the conference tourney AND UWO were two get bounced in their first two games. I just don't see it happening and even if it did, they'll be a long shot.

[cubs]

The only way I could see UWL getting in after finishing third in the conference would be if they could pick up two games in the conference tourney AND UWO were two get bounced in their first two games. I just don't see it happening and even if it did, they'll be a long shot.

If La Crosse sweeps Platteville this weekend to finish 26-14/12-8 while UWO splits to finish 24-16/13-7 entering the WIAC Tournament, it will make for an interesting Midwest Regional Ranking next Thursday....  Despite UWO possibly finishing ahead of La Crosse in the regular season standings, I'm not sure a split against Whitewater will move them from being out of the Regional Ranking to ahead of La Crosse in the Week #3 rankings.

If you truly feel La Crosse is a "long shot" in that scenario above, I can only wonder what your thoughts about UWO's chances at a Pool C would be....  The order of the final Regional Rankings will be the determining factor in who might earn that coveted Pool C bid, not the WIAC Regular season standings.

[cubs]

A bit surprised not seeing UWO go with either of their top two pitchers (Treml and Sustachek) in the opening game of the series knowing they need to win three out of four in order to host next weekend....

Whitewater wins Game #1, 9-3....  (Chamberlain with a grand slam in a six run fifth inning for Whitewater)

La Crosse wins Game #1, 11-0 in 8 innings.....

Stevens Point wins Game #1, 15-5 in 7 innings...  (Point puts up 9 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning)

All three Game #1 finals, about what was expected, although how they got to that point might be a bit surprising to some.

Gonna guess Renz wrapped up the WIAC Pitcher of the Year award with his Game #1 performance, as I believe he will end the WIAC portion of the schedule with an ERA of 1.00.

[cubs]

Whitewater clinches the WIAC regular season title with a 7-1 victory over UWO in Game #2....  Jones picks up right where Renz left off in Game #1 limiting UWO to just six hits.

La Crosse is nipping at UWO's heels after winning Game #2 over Platteville 4-1 to finish off the DH sweep.

Stout bounces back from the middle inning collapse in Game #1 to shutout Point in Game #2, 6-0.  Noah Brown with a three home run game for Stout.