BB: NWC: Northwest Conference

[Jack Parkman]

Wow! Really log jammed in the NWC, and series sweeps thus far are precious commodities, no matter the match-up. Gotta love it, and huge kudos to Lewis and Clark, and in particular their pitching staff for battling for two competitive,low scoring games yesterday, then getting the win today vs. Linfield.

I know it's still early (kind of) but Linfield really needs to start sweeping teams.  They cannot afford to lose many more games if they plan on making the conference tournament.  Let the rest of the NWC beat up on each other while they sweep is really the only way they climb the standings.

[wildcat11]

I know it's still early (kind of) but Linfield really needs to start sweeping teams.  They cannot afford to lose many more games if they plan on making the conference tournament.  Let the rest of the NWC beat up on each other while they sweep is really the only way they climb the standings.

Pretty much spot on..

[Westside]

Looks like we got the top 4 teams facing off against each other this weekend. Should be some good games.

Willamette (6-3) vs. Puget Sound (7-2)
Whitworth (4-2) vs. PLU (6-3)

Puget Sound is hitting a ridiculous .380 in league games this year... let's see if they can keep it up.

[NWBaseballFan10]

Looks like we got the top 4 teams facing off against each other this weekend. Should be some good games.

Willamette (6-3) vs. Puget Sound (7-2)
Whitworth (4-2) vs. PLU (6-3)

Who would've thought no Linfield and no George Fox in this discussion after 3 weekends of conference play

[NWBaseballFan10]

PLU loses today verse Whitworth so they finish the weekend 2-1. The Lutes are now 8-4 in conference play and sitting in 2nd place at the halfway point of the NWC season. Coach Loomis deserves a lot of credit for producing yet another formidable pitching staff (2.64 ERA) and doing so without one of their key starters in Mahlum (and All-American closer Konopaski who has missed some weekends due to arm issues).

UPS took down Willamette in Game 1 of their doubleheader and maintained their NWC lead. The freshman Rowan-Kennedy got the win on the mound for the Loggers and after a hot start the Bearcats have lost 4 of their last 5.

Linfield got 2 much needed wins today over quality opponents in Concordia-Chicago and Cal Lutheran. It was nice to see the bats finally come alive and cash in some runs in the first contest. The 7-5 win over Cal Lu also makes me feel a little bit better after the Cats poor start to league play. Hopefully Linfield can keep the momentum rolling against Wesleyan tomorrow before returning to NWC action next weekend. Taking 3 out of 4 (the loss being an extra inning affair against #2 St. Thomas) against some good competition should build the Cats' confidence back up to where it needs to be.

[Wildcat17]

PLU loses today verse Whitworth so they finish the weekend 2-1. The Lutes are now 8-4 in conference play and sitting in 2nd place at the halfway point of the NWC season. Coach Loomis deserves a lot of credit for producing yet another formidable pitching staff (2.64 ERA) and doing so without one of their key starters in Mahlum (and All-American closer Konopaski who has missed some weekends due to arm issues).

UPS took down Willamette in Game 1 of their doubleheader and maintained their NWC lead. The freshman Rowan-Kennedy got the win on the mound for the Loggers and after a hot start the Bearcats have lost 4 of their last 5.

Linfield got 2 much needed wins today over quality opponents in Concordia-Chicago and Cal Lutheran. It was nice to see the bats finally come alive and cash in some runs in the first contest. The 7-5 win over Cal Lu also makes me feel a little bit better after the Cats poor start to league play. Hopefully Linfield can keep the momentum rolling against Wesleyan tomorrow before returning to NWC action next weekend. Taking 3 out of 4 (the loss being an extra inning affair against #2 St. Thomas) against some good competition should build the Cats' confidence back up to where it needs to be.

As an update to the weekend games, Linfield finished 3-1 for the weekend in Tucson, with wins over # 5 ranked Cal Lu (7-5 in 11 innings), over #13 Concordia-Chicago (13-7) and Wesleyan (6-2 in 9 innings), and the sole loss to #2 ranked St Thomas coming 4-3 in 11 innings.  There was a lot of good pitching and some clutch hitting, especially by the Cats 4 and 5 hitters, Andrews and Carroll.  It looks like most of the NWC Sunday games were rained out, so it will make it interesting when Linfield returns to conference play next week against Pacific.  Linfield is on 5 conference losses, and there are now four league teams on four losses.  A sweep against Pacific puts Linfield right back in the league race, and the weekend's results in Arizona should boost the kids' confidence. 

[Jack Parkman]

Will UPS and Willamette make up the rained out games?  It shows as canceled on the UPS site but those games could be huge in the overall standings.

[Wildcat17]

Will UPS and Willamette make up the rained out games?  It shows as canceled on the UPS site but those games could be huge in the overall standings.

Whitman and George Fox are making up their game from Sunday.  Whitman is currently up 3-2 with 2 outs in the 8th.  Not sure about UPS and Willamette, but they should since the games are so critical in a close league race. 

[Whatagame]

Yeah there is no way those two Willamette/UPS games aren't played. I'm really surprised they weren't just played today, just as Lewis and Clark/Pacific and George Fox/Whitman did today to complete their weekend series.

[WestisBest]

Hello. I stumbled across this board awhile ago and finally decided to join the conversation about the NWC.  I've been watching UPS for the last two years, so I've seen most of the conference teams play.

As for last weekend's UPS-Willamette rainout games - there was no way the field would have been playable on Monday. That field drains poorly and it was inundated with water. So playing on Monday was not an option. Also, WU is into midterms this week and that may have factored into the decision on whether to try and play on Monday.

I know this board has a lot of love for Linfield, but after seeing them 4 times this year, I don't share that perspective.  Its defense is up and down, and outside of 2 or 3 hitters, the offense has sputtered. And the pitching was average.

This should be the year another team claims the conference title.  Don't know who it will be, but it should be a really fun post-season tournament.

[Wildcat17]

Hello. I stumbled across this board awhile ago and finally decided to join the conversation about the NWC.  I've been watching UPS for the last two years, so I've seen most of the conference teams play.

As for last weekend's UPS-Willamette rainout games - there was no way the field would have been playable on Monday. That field drains poorly and it was inundated with water. So playing on Monday was not an option. Also, WU is into midterms this week and that may have factored into the decision on whether to try and play on Monday.

I know this board has a lot of love for Linfield, but after seeing them 4 times this year, I don't share that perspective.  Its defense is up and down, and outside of 2 or 3 hitters, the offense has sputtered. And the pitching was average.

This should be the year another team claims the conference title.  Don't know who it will be, but it should be a really fun post-season tournament.

I agree that Linfield did not play well in the UPS series at Tacoma, but remember this is a relatively young team with quite a few sophomores and freshman making major contributions.  They started off conference play with series against PLU and UPS, two of the tougher teams.  As the AZ results indicate, they do have quite a bit of ability on the team.

UPS is 2-2 on the season against Linfield, with one of the losses out of conference.  Also, UPS just lost the midweek out of conference game to PLU, and has four more games against PLU remaining.  When the dust settles for the conference tournament, I suspect Linfield will be in the midst of the hunt.  As you say, it should make for an interesting tournament. 

[NWBaseballFan10]

Welcome Wildcat17 and WestisBest. It's nice to have a fresh set of eyes and some new perspectives on NWC play.

The gap between NWC teams at the top has shrunk after the series' openers this afternoon. UPS falls to Whitworth's Scheibe and trail 10-2 in the 5th in the 2nd game. PLU falls to Whitman in Game 1, but lead 6-1 late in Game 2. Linfield's Haddeland goes CG against Pacific for a Cat victory in Game 1, but the teams are knotted up at 3 in Game 2. Willamette should sweep this afternoon barring a collapse in Game 2, which they lead 5-0 late.

I'm having deja vu of 2012 when Whitworth claimed the conference title with 5 losses, but this year the conference champ is likely to have 6 or 7. So much for a 2nd NWC team cracking the playoffs with a Pool C bid....I guess I'm just going to stick with my previous prediction that Linfield comes away with the Pool A after the NWC tourney But realistically, the Pool A from the NWC is completely wide-open this year.

[NWBaseballFan10]

Today's Complete Recap:

Whitworth sweeps UPS
Linfield sweeps Pacific
PLU and Whitman split
Willamette sweeps L&C
Fox is 0-3 on the road against Chapman

1 1/2 GB is the difference between the top teams (Willamette and UPS) and the 6th place team (Linfield) in the standings. This last month before the conference tourney is going to be a wild one.

[wildcat11]

Game 3 once again.....

Gotta get it done down the stretch.  Go 'Cats!

[Westside]

Linfield's offense is just so inconsistent... two extra base hits in a three games series against a team with a 5+ ERA...