BB: WIAC: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[badgerwarhawk]

Standings & Results (Thru 5/7)

WARHAWKS: 15-3
Platteville: 15-5
Lacrosse: 14-6
Oshkosh: 10-8
Stevens Point: 8-8
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), St Norbert (W 14-9), (W 13-1)

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: 67-44 (.604)

Out of conference only.

[TitanDoubles]

Didn't get a chance to see any of the UWO vs. UWW series but I heard it was even uglier to see in person than it was looking at the box scores.

You can call me crazy but I think UWO has as good of a shot of winning the conference tourney as any #4 seed that we've seen.It is going to be very difficult for UWW to beat UWO five times in a row. If UWO can win game #1 with UWW, then they'll most likely avoid having to face Boushley or Ericson in round 2. I'm not saying I would bet on UWO to win the conference tournament or that they are the favorites but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if they won it.

[Baseball Geek]

Someone recently noted that the Warhawks had 13 home runs (including 4 grand slams) during this six-game stretch. I'm not sure anyone would have predicted that from this team. Nice to give the pitchers some breathing room.

The WIAC tournament environment is always so electric. It's gonna be a long four days waiting for that.

I tried looking at prior years' position POY and it doesn't seem like leading in AVG is always the deciding factor, but presumably the body of work over the course of the season. It'll be interesting to see if Egan is the choice or perhaps Fleischman.

[cubs]

Didn't get a chance to see any of the UWO vs. UWW series but I heard it was even uglier to see in person than it was looking at the box scores.

You can call me crazy but I think UWO has as good of a shot of winning the conference tourney as any #4 seed that we've seen.It is going to be very difficult for UWW to beat UWO five times in a row. If UWO can win game #1 with UWW, then they'll most likely avoid having to face Boushley or Ericson in round 2. I'm not saying I would bet on UWO to win the conference tournament or that they are the favorites but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if they won it.

Not going to call you crazy, but think you might be in denial just a bit....

What makes you think an offense that struggled to score off of both Jones and Renz is going to fair any better this Friday?  Add in the fact that Whitewater didn't seem to be fooled by Sustachek (or Treml for that matter) and the odds are stacked against UWO. 

In my opinion, Whitewater is a level (or more) above each of the other three participants in the WIAC Tournament.  They have the best pitching rotation, #1-9 batting order, and their defense is pretty solid as well.  Add it all up and you have a team that won the regular season by SIX games. 

Now could they fall flat this weekend?  Sure, that's just how baseball works sometimes, but even if they were to lose the opener Friday, they still have a deep enough pitching staff to come back and win four straight in order to win the Tournament.

[badgerwarhawk]

Praying ShineTime doesn't weigh in on this discussion.

[cubs]

Praying ShineTime doesn't weigh in on this discussion.

I'd be more worried about him weighing in on Regionals and beyond....  Even if Whitewater were to go 0-2 Friday, their ticket is already punched for Regionals.

[cubs]

I tried looking at prior years' position POY and it doesn't seem like leading in AVG is always the deciding factor, but presumably the body of work over the course of the season. It'll be interesting to see if Egan is the choice or perhaps Fleischman.

Based off of the WIAC-Only Stats, I think it is Fleischman's to lose....

He leads the WIAC in batting average, slugging percentage, hits, total bases, runs (tied with Eagan,) tied for second in HR's and on-base percentage, tied for third in RBI's, tied for fourth in doubles, and tied for fifth in triples.  I believe he is the lone individual to be in the Top 5 of all those categories.

As far as the Pitcher goes, it's probably between Renz and Boushley, but I would lean towards Renz this season based on the WIAC-only stats they both put up.  Renz started five conference games, and won all five, while allowing opponents to only hit .163 against him, which lead the WIAC.  He went at least seven innings in each of those five games, giving up 0, 2, 1, 0, and 2 runs en route to a 1.00 ERA which also lead the WIAC.  If you were to take into account stats from the entire season, I'd be more apt to select Boushley, but that isn't how it works.  With that said, even if Renz wins the WIAC Pitcher of the Year award, I could see Boushley having a better shot at All American status because of the overall stats.

[Just Bill]

Praying ShineTime doesn't weigh in on this discussion.

Careful. If you say his name two more times he'll appear.

[badgerwarhawk]

WARHAWKS: 14
St Norbert: 9

St Norbert got an unearned run aided by a passed ball to open the scoring in the first inning but the WARHAWKS got a pair in the second when Kuczynski hit a two out, two run home run.  The bottom fell out for Shah in the bottom of the inning when the Green Knights plated six runs.  Shah faced five batters, allowing a single, committing a throwing error, hitting three with pitches and walking one, in the inning before being relieved by Georgakas.  Defensively the WARHAWKS had three errors in the inning.  Aldridge's single plated a run in the third reducing the deficit to four runs 7-3.  That score stood to the sixth when the WARHAWKS strung two singles and a base on balls together and followed with a grand slam home run by Bersch to tie 7-7.  St Norbert regained the lead 9-7 in their at bat in the inning with a pair of runs on a home run of their own.  The WARHAWKS took the lead for good with three runs in the seventh.  Aldridge reached on an error which allowed two runs, one unearned, to score and a second unearned run scored when White hit a sacrifice fly to left field.  The WARHAWKS added three more runs in the eighth on a wild pitch. an infield error and a groundout.  Kuczynski's RBI single scored the final run in the ninth.  The two teams combined for 28 hits and 8 errors.  Krause (5x5, 3 RS), Bersch (3x4, 2 RS, 4 RBI, HR), Kuczynski (2x6, 1 RS, 3 RBI, HR), Aldridge (2x4, 2 RS, 3 RBI) and Aiello (2x4, 2 RS) had multiple hits.  Wary (1) and White (1) also drove in runs.  Shah struggled (2 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 HBP).  Georgakas picked up his second win in two days (5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K).  Nompleggi was credited with his sixth save of the season (3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K).


WARHAWKS: 13
St Norbert: 1

Very little drama in this one.  The WARHAWKS opened the scoring with a pair in the second inning on White's RBI double and Wary's fielders choice RBI.  We added six in the third when Chamberlain had an RBI single, Aldridge a grand slam home run and an RBI bunt single by Bersch.  White got a second RBI in the fourth with a single and Chamberlain got his second with a single in the fifth along with RBI singles by Krause and Aldridge, his fifth.  Szubert closed out the WARHAWKS scoring with a solo home run in the seventh.  The Green Knights scored an unearned run in the bottom of the inning and left the bases loaded.  Aldridge (4x4, 1 RS, 5 RBI, HR), Szubert (2x4, 3 RS, RBI, 2B, HR), Chamberlain (3x4, 2 RS, 2 RBI) and Krause (2x3, 2 RS, RBI, 2B) had multiple hits.  White (2) and Wary (1) both drove in runs.  Heilenbach started (6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K) and picked up his first win of the season.  Finn (0.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 2 HBP) and  Langlie (0.2, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K) both relieved. 

The WARHAWKS conclude the regular season with a 32-6 record.   

[badgerwarhawk]

Didn't get a chance to see any of the UWO vs. UWW series but I heard it was even uglier to see in person than it was looking at the box scores.

That depends entirely on who's eyes you were looking through.    

[cubs]

Didn't get a chance to see any of the UWO vs. UWW series but I heard it was even uglier to see in person than it was looking at the box scores.

That depends entirely on who's eyes you were looking through.    

11 errors combined in the two games on Saturday is "ugly baseball" regardless of whose eyes you are looking through....

[Baseball Geek]

Didn't get a chance to see any of the UWO vs. UWW series but I heard it was even uglier to see in person than it was looking at the box scores.

That depends entirely on who's eyes you were looking through.    

I completely agree with you. Four of the 11 total errors were on the Warhawks. Two of those were made by non-starters who were brought in late in the big win, so I don't call that ugly. I call it gaining experience.

[cubs]

Didn't get a chance to see any of the UWO vs. UWW series but I heard it was even uglier to see in person than it was looking at the box scores.

That depends entirely on who's eyes you were looking through.    

I completely agree with you. Four of the 11 total errors were on the Warhawks. Two of those were made by non-starters who were brought in late in the big win, so I don't call that ugly. I call it gaining experience.

I guess we are all entitled to our own opinion.... 

For me personally, multiple errors equals "ugly baseball" regardless of who they are made by, starters or reserves...  Whitewater played beautiful baseball on Friday, but on Saturday, MY opinion would be different.

With that said, all errors are not equal in my eyes though either....  Having a ground ball go between your legs, dropping a pop-up, or throwing it in the dirt on a routine play looks more "ugly" to me than an OF throwing to get a guy at the plate and having it take a bad hop and being charged with an error because the batter advances an extra base.

[Ralph Turner]

Didn't get a chance to see any of the UWO vs. UWW series but I heard it was even uglier to see in person than it was looking at the box scores.

That depends entirely on who's eyes you were looking through.    

I completely agree with you. Four of the 11 total errors were on the Warhawks. Two of those were made by non-starters who were brought in late in the big win, so I don't call that ugly. I call it gaining experience.

I guess we are all entitled to our own opinion.... 

For me personally, multiple errors equals "ugly baseball" regardless of who they are made by, starters or reserves...  Whitewater played beautiful baseball on Friday, but on Saturday, MY opinion would be different.

With that said, all errors are not equal in my eyes though either....  Having a ground ball go between your legs, dropping a pop-up, or throwing it in the dirt on a routine play looks more "ugly" to me than an OF throwing to get a guy at the plate and having it take a bad hop and being charged with an error because the batter advances an extra base.

I agree. But I am expecting the non-starter to make the play in almost every case that the starter would make.  Surely, that player's fielding is not preventing him from starting.

[badgerwarhawk]

UW-La Crosse's starting pitcher Caleb Boushley was named to this week's  DIII team of the week.

SP  Caleb Boushley, Sr., UW-La Crosse

Boushley recorded his fifth complete-game of the season and second shutout in UWL's 11-0 at UW-Platteville. He went 8.0 innings, allowing three hits and one walk while tying his career-high with 12 strikeouts. Boushley set two school records in the win over UW-Platteville, becoming UWL's career leader in innings (241.2) and strikeouts (205).