BB: SCIAC: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Jack Parkman]

Looks like Hedman dropped another bomb but it wasn't enough.  Rough 8th inning for the Sagehens!  This makes things a lot more interesting in the SCIAC race.  I don't think Pomona can afford another loss, especially with La Verne next weekend.  Should be an exciting finish to the SCIAC race.

[pomonaalum]

The continuation of the tied 12-12 game between CLU and ULV could come into play, big time, as well. 

Best Pomona can go into the final series is 15-3.  Best ULV can go in is 14-4.  Under those circumstances, ULV winning of 2 of 3 would make them the champ, as ULV would own the head-to-head tiebreak.

There are a number of scenarios where Redlands, already sitting at 14-4, could get in as well.  If Redlands, with 3 games left with CMS, finished at 17-4, they own the tiebreak with ULV but not PP.  Things could get even more interesting if PP or ULV lose any more games this weekend...

[Jack Parkman]

pomonaalum-  You said it.  If either of the teams playing were to lose any more games this weekend it will hurt them big time.  The one thing I do see as a possibility is a 3-way tie.  Wouldn't that be interesting!  I am not going to even try and figure out what they would do if that were to happen.  Anyone have ideas on how they would/could settle a 3-way tie?

[pomonaalum]

looks like CLU plalyed spoiler, and swept PP in the twin-bill today, sweeping the series.  Pretty surprising.  PP drops to 13-5 in conference.   From the scores, the 'Hens pitching abandoned them.  Redlands is 14-4, and is 12-4 pending the completion of the final game of their series with CMS.   PP needs to sweep ULV next weekend and hope that Redlands drops 1 to CMS, a pretty tough order.  There's always the possibility of a Pool C bid, but losing 5 of 6 is not a good way to go into the final weekend of the season.

[Jack Parkman]

Wow, that is not something many people thought would happen.  Congrats to Cal Lutheran, but what happened to Pomona?  Sounds like they might have been looking ahead to La Verne next weekend.

[Browneagle64]

Wow, that is not something many people thought would happen.  Congrats to Cal Lutheran, but what happened to Pomona?  Sounds like they might have been looking ahead to La Verne next weekend.

Like i mentioned before, these teams will do anything they can to beat up on any one as the season gets closer to the end. That's the beauty of sports. Anything can happen on any given day. And yes, beach lover, i can assure you now that the Hens will lose against a good Leo team , who by the way, played the SCIAC co-champs much closer then anyother team in the nation. It should be a great SCIAC game to watch. I'll be at that game next week after i handle some business on the U.L.V campus.

(btw, apparently as i am reading this post out here in  I.E. at the site of the Coachchella festival..looks like my Dodgers are pounding Mr. Hirsch's team 10 to 2 in the 2nd inning.
I think i just might make a long drive to vegas tonight and see how my luck goes there.  ) Hope all of you have a great weekend.

[beachlover]

I'll readily admit that my previous post was much too premature, especially considering the games that were played this weekend between P/P and CLU.   And hats off to Cal Lu with a sweep, including two at P/P's home field today.   

What a final week for the SCIAC.  Three teams battling for the championship and CMS in a huge spoiler role.   And, if I'm understanding the tourney projections from the "national topics" board, looks like the SCIAC will probably only get one post season invite.

Wow.

[baseballroxmysox]

It looks like La Verne takes both games of CMS - here are the games highlights from their website:

"Leopards Rally To Earn Sweep Over CMS (04-26-2008)

The University of La Verne baseball team earned a sweep over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps by defeating the Stags 13-12 and 18-6 in come-from-behind fashion Saturday at Ben Hines Field.

The two wins along with ULV's 9-3 road triumph over CMS on Friday gave the Leopards a three-game weekend sweep to stay in the hunt for a conference championship.

Things didn't look promising in Saturday's opener as the Stags scored five times in the top of the first inning, tallied four more in the third and eventually led 11-3 in the fourth.

Down eight runs, the Leopards struck back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth and four runs in the sixth to tie the contest at 12-12 heading into the final three innings. A pair of two-run singles from Scott Marcus and Jon-Michael Hattabaugh highlighted the Leopard fourth while a three-run triple from Trevor Boucher was the big blow in the sixth inning.

La Verne completed the comeback in the bottom of the ninth when Ryan Jordan doubled home Jason Munoz, who scored from first base to give the Leopards its first and only lead of the game.

The duo of Allen Komori and Jimmy Wilfong held CMS scoreless over the final 4 2/3 innings with Wilfong picking up the win.

In the second game, the Stags again grabbed an early advantage, holding leads of 2-0 and 5-2 before the Leopard offense seized control in the latter stages.

CMS homered four times in the game and opened with back-to-back blasts from Travis Nishioka and Andrew Blomberg to stake the visitors to a 2-0 lead. Blomberg later hit a three-run shot in the fifth to put the Stags up 5-2.

The Leopards countered with five runs in the sixth inning to take the lead for good as Jordan, Mehl and Kalankiewicz tallied RBI singles to tie the game at 5-5. Marcus drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and was followed by Hattabaugh who hit an RBI double to give the Leos a 7-5 advantage.

CMS cut the lead to 7-6 but would get no closer as the Leopards batted around in the bottom of the eighth with 11 runs on 6 hits. A double from Boucher drove in two runs to stake ULV to an 11-6 lead. With the game in hand, Marcus would blast a three-run homer estimated at 430 feet, giving him his 13th on the season to close the scoring. Marcus finished with a game-high 5 RBI.

Grant Wheatley worked five innings in relief to earn his second win of the season.

La Verne closes the regular season with a crucial three-game set with Pomona-Pitzer. The Leopards entertain the Sagehens Friday at Ben Hines with the final two games slated for Saturday in Claremont".

Boy -  the SCIAC be a nail bitter next weekend  

[pomonaalum]

Tough weekend for the 'Hens.  Looks like they had bases loaded and none out in the bottom of the 9th in game 1, trailing 7-6, after scoring two already in the inning to get within one.  But a line-out and a DP ended the game.  'Hens were up big early in game and lost...

[Jack Parkman]

I just looked at the box scores for the Pomona-Cal Lutheran series and it is very interesting to see a pitching staff that has been really good all year got knocked around the park all weekend.  I think Cal Lutheran had close to 50 hits in the 3 games and scored 37 runs.  Not what Pomona had in mind.

WHat is the situation with tie-breakers and all that.  I am sure many of you know more about how it all works and who beat who earlier this season.  I think someone mentioned it earlier but look how important the La Verne/Cal Lutheran suspended game just might become

[SoCalBaseball998]

WOW this is definitely getting spicy. I am so0o0o0o0o0o excited for this coming weekend. Great to see competitive baseball in the Southern California region.
Hats off to all of the teams playing hard and bustin balls.

Good Lord only knows what is to happen next.

[Browneagle64]

Indeed it will be a great weekend for all SCIAC teams that are in the hunt for the SCIAC crown. Just like last year, just when everyone was expecting for one team to claim the crown 4 weeks prior to the season ending, we all witnessed a great outcome from the hens. However, in this case, the best prepared team (i.e. the team who's pitching staff comes out of the bullpen throwing sound/ controlled pitches and has their bats working in their favor to produce runs) will walk away with a victory.

Therefore, i'm going to have to go with La Vern walking away with a strong sweep over the hens. (and yes, i know it will not be any easy sweep over the SCIAC co-champs, as the hens will be coming out of the gate swinging and doing their best to stay alive in the SCIAC hunt for the crown. It should be fun. )     

[Browneagle64]

Just for your information, Cal Tech's baseball team played La Sierra in a very close game (final score was La Sierra 8, beaves 7) yesterday.

Congrats to the Poets on their sweep over my Tigers this week. I hope that the men in orange and black end on a positive note instead of on a losing streak.

[pomonaalum]

From what I can tell, these are the possible scenarios.

For Redlands to win it all:
Redlands sweeps CMS
Redlands wins 2 of 3, PP Wins 2 of 3
Redlands wins 2 of 3, ULV Wins 2 of 3
Redlands wins 1 of 3, ULV Wins 2 of 3 from PP, but loses to CLU

For ULV to win it all:
ULV sweeps PP and beats CLU, Redlands wins <3 against CMS
ULV sweeps PP but loses to CLU, Redlands wins <2 against CMS
ULV takes 2 of 3 from PP and beats CLU, Redlands wins <2 against CMS

For PP to win it all:
PP Sweeps ULV, Redlands win <3 against CMS
PP Wins 2 of 3 against ULV, Redlands wins <2 against CMS

That's what I can figure out...I don't think the tiebreaker scenarios should be that complicated, because all teams will have head-to-head records against each other.  For the record:

PP owns the tiebreak against Redlands
Redlands owns the tiebreak against ULV
PP and ULV to be determined

[Browneagle64]

Thanks for the break down P.A.,

Should be an interesting weekend for all the SCIAC teams that are in the hunt for the now elusive SCIAC crown.

By the way, here's a cool piece (or should i say Q & A for you old folks) on U.L.V senior Scott Marcus who has helped paved the way for the Leo's to have another successful campaign in 08'. His leadship and desire to end on a high note will indeed help his teammates understand that a SCIAC crown in La Verne is possible. http://www.ulv.edu/athletics/teams/feature.phtml?story_id=67&u_id=5