BB: WIAC: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[cubs]

Whitewater with crooked numbers in each of their first five at-bats and they are well on their way to advancing to the Regional Championship as they lead Cal Lutheran 16-1 after five innings...

La Crosse hasn't been able to tack much on after their five run first inning and is trailing Coe 8-6 after six innings. Coe hit three HR's in the sixth inning to push across six runs and take the lead. Matl relieved DePrez in the sixth and has given up three runs in 2/3 of an inning, including a pair of HR's.

[d3dog]

I understand how some teams get into the regional by winning conference tournaments, but still do not understand how some at large teams get in when the WIAC conference has better teams at home watching!  The NCAA selection refuses to put more than two teams in the tournament Even though they are the better teams!
It happens every year!! Case in point Whitewater last year!!

[ShineTime]

Whitewater could've won today with me on the mound holy smokes but not surprised they have far and away the best team in d3. Top 2 pitchers no one can legit hit and there's not a hole in their lineup. The tournament would be better overall with Oshkosh and Point in it they are so much better than so many of the trams that Made it but bottom line is they weren't advancing in either regional just would've made for better baseball

[badgerwarhawk]

Whitewater could've won today with me on the mound

I'm not so sure about that. 

[cubs]

Whitewater with crooked numbers in each of their first five at-bats and they are well on their way to advancing to the Regional Championship as they lead Cal Lutheran 16-1 after five innings...

La Crosse hasn't been able to tack much on after their five run first inning and is trailing Coe 8-6 after six innings. Coe hit three HR's in the sixth inning to push across six runs and take the lead. Matl relieved DePrez in the sixth and has given up three runs in 2/3 of an inning, including a pair of HR's.

La Crosse loses a heartbreaker in their first game today as they squander a 5-0 lead and fall behind 8-6 late...  They do battle back to tie it 8-8 thanks to a two out, 2-run HR from Vivian in the 7th inning, and take a 10-8 lead in the 8th inning only to see Coe hit a pair of solo HR's in the bottom of the 8th to tie it.  After a Vandenheuvel solo HR in the 10th to take an 11-10 lead, Coe hits back-to-back solo HR's with two outs in the bottom half for a 12-11 victory.  Coe hit EIGHT HR's in the game (Jake Brosius accounted for three of them) which accounted for 11 of Coe's 12 total runs in the contest. 

[cubs]

La Crosse didn't take much time to feel sorry for themselves after losing to Coe, as they put up 9 runs in the first inning against Benedictine and used that to carry themselves to an 18-15 victory over Benedictine in an elimination game this evening.

Whitewater will need to be at Centre one time tomorrow (in two games if necessary) to advance to the Super Regionals next weekend, while La Crosse will have to be at Coe twice tomorrow to do the same thing.

Good luck Warhawks and Eagles!  I'd love to see another All-WIAC Super Regional this year, but I just don't see La Crosse having enough pitching to win a pair of games.  Schmitt, DePrez, and Anderson have all started the last two days, and Katz threw in relief this afternoon so who knows if he'll be available to start tomorrow?  The Eagle bats might have to do the heavy lifting tomorrow if they don't want their season to come to an end!

[d3dog]

If the goal is to get the best teams to the World Series, why do all the WIAC schools have to be in the same region For bracketing purposes? In other divisions, they rate the teams, then separate them wish they would do that for baseball and the WIac teams. There could be multiple teams from the conference good enough to make the World Series But we have to beat each other to get there.

[Ralph Turner]

If the goal is to get the best teams to the World Series, why do all the WIAC schools have to be in the same region For bracketing purposes? In other divisions, they rate the teams, then separate them wish they would do that for baseball and the WIac teams. There could be multiple teams from the conference good enough to make the World Series But we have to beat each other to get there.

Welcome to the message boards, d3dog.

The philosophy of Division III is to emphasize the participation of the student-athlete. Prior to the late 1990's there were limited playoff slots in most sports and a committee awarded the bids. In the late 1990's, Division 3 presidents committed to awarding conference champions the Automatic Qualifier and reserving at-large spots for the remaining teams. Pool B was reserved for all of the at-large teams from conferences that did not have the minimum number of schools to earn the Pool A bid. The number of Pool B bids was determined by the number of eligible schools divided by an access ratio determined by the NCAA. The NCAA allocated a number of bids per sport and the at-large bids (Pool C) were to difference of total bid minus the number of Pool A + Pool B bids. In fact there were only 3 Pool C bids to allocate about 20 years ago in baseball. With extra money coming from the D-1 March Madness contract, D-3 was able to increase the number of bids per sport. D-3 has even decreased the number of schools required for the conference to have a Pool A bid. In some years, the WIAC has been in Pool B and WIAC teams have earned Pool B and Pool C bids. The net effect has been for independent teams to join conferences and for conferences to grow. This UWW and UWL have been deemed among the best 16 teams and so were granted hosting privilege for the 1st round. Other WIAC schools were in the consideration for playoff slots. They just weren't "that much better" than the rest of the field to earn a bid. UWW has been high in the Top 25 (and Top 25 rankings has no bearing on NCAA selections), but UWL has been back in the pack.

If WIAC schools wanted to move to a completely at-large playoff allocation, they could move to D-2 where (I believe) conferences do not have the AQ.

Here is the link to the Playoff FAQ.
This year, there were 39 conference Pool A bids, 2 Pool B bids and 19 at-large Pool C bids.

https://www.d3baseball.com/interactive/faq/ncaaTournament

[Ralph Turner]

As for flying teams around the country for playoff slots, D3 has a limited budget and, "geographic proximity" is a consideration in the scheduling of playoff bracketing in all sports.

[d3dog]

The reason I ask is In Volleyball they move them around.  One year Oshkosh went to Texas as an at Large.  Thank you for the  clarification - just would love to see the best teams in the country get rewarded. 

[d3dog]

Love the WIAC conference but think they don't get the credit they deserve!!

[tomt4525]

I don't have a clue what happened between Mason Weckler and UWSP this year, but he's entering the portal and looking to transfer.  Seems like an odd time with him not throwing a pitch this season due to injury.  Very important offseason for Pointer baseball this year, need a lot of help to get back to the playoffs.

[cubs]

I'd love to see another All-WIAC Super Regional this year, but I just don't see La Crosse having enough pitching to win a pair of games.  Schmitt, DePrez, and Anderson have all started the last two days, and Katz threw in relief this afternoon so who knows if he'll be available to start tomorrow?  The Eagle bats might have to do the heavy lifting tomorrow if they don't want their season to come to an end!

The Eagles bats showed up in full force in the first game against Coe and pound out 15 hits, drew 15 walks, and pushed across 18 runs to force the "if necessary" game in an 18-11 victory.  The Eagles got 9 innings of work from the duo of Redman and Clauson (with the latter having entered the day throwing just 11 innings on the season) and allowed them to "save" Katz for the winner take all game in the nightcap.

Other than a shaky start in the first inning, Katz was solid through seven innings of work before Coe chased him in the 8th inning to cut an 8-2 deficit down to 8-7.  Tyler Schmitt came on and got the final five outs of the game, and La Crosse pulls out a Regional Championship, winning three straight elimination games.

Whitewater does their thing and knocks off Centre 6-4 behind the pitching of Berendt, Hansen, and Hagen.

This means for the third straight season, we get an "All-WIAC" Super Regional which guarantees the conference a spot in the D3 World Series.  Good luck to both teams!

[ShineTime]

I hate to say it but Point is in serious trouble losing Comer and Weckler for sure and potentially more kids. Are Boos, Schultz, and Ferry returning next season?

[cubs]

Whitewater vs La Crosse at Super Regionals starts Friday with a berth in the College World Series on the line...  Whitewater took four out of the five contests between the clubs during the regular season, but the slate is clean and two wins by either team ends the series.

I have to believe we will see a Hilker vs Schmitt match-up in the series opener on Friday?  Whitewater put up 6 runs in six innings off of Schmitt in the regular season at La Crosse back in April, while Hilker limited to La Crosse to just two hits in seven innings while striking out 10 in that same series.

Looking forward to Friday!  Good luck to both squads!