BB: SCIAC: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[108 Stitches]

This will help. Regional, plus some mystery meetings.

http://www.d3baseball.com/interactive/faq/ncaaTournament#playoffs

Win your conference or else....

[BigPoppa]

Never leave it in the hands of the committees to decide. Classic example was two years ago when Central #2 Univ of Chicago was bypassed in favor of Central #4 Illinois Wesleyan. NCAA still has yet to explain that one even though Chicago was ahead of IWU in their own final ranking.

WIN YOUR CONFERENCE BID!!!!

[Jack Parkman]

My SCIAC picks for the weekend:

La Verne 3-0 vs Redlands- don't see Redlands having the pitching to beat ULV.
Whittier 3-0 vs Cal Tech- Probably Cal Tech's best and only chance to win a game this year...not happening.
Chapman 3-0 vs Oxy- Chapman's pitching will be way too much for Oxy's bats.  I expect pretty low scoring games all weekend.
Pomona 2-1 vs CMS- Unless Pomona figured some things out in practice this week they will drop one of these games.

OK, La Verne loses game 1 by 1.  I really didn't see this coming but they should win both today.
Whittier thumps Cal Tech.  I just don't see Cal Tech ever winning a SCIAC game.
Oxy gets one from Chapman.  Oxy has 3 hits in the first 9 innings but their pitching was lights out.  Chapman really needs to figure this out today or they are going to put themselves in a huge hole early.
Pomona squeaks by CMS.  I think CMS might be a lot better this year and Pomona really seems to be down.

[Teddy_Ballgame]

Had a chance to watch some of the PP-CMS series.

Thoughts on the Hens: they can still swing it. The loss of Munzer, Gentili, and Moyer in that lineup is big but they have some good freshmen (Tanner Nishioka went 8 for 15 this weekend against his brother's alma mater, including two home runs over Pomona's deep left field fence) and some improved older guys who have and will continue to step up (see: Jackson Badger who is batting .500 in this short season with a home run, and EJ Lopez is 8 for 15 so far with a home run after a sophomore dip). Just below .300 team average and almost 6 runs a game, and some hitters who are much better than their numbers right now would indicate (Bruml, Novom, Brice, Fox)

The problem- which is obvious from the scores of their games- is the pitching and defense. Bruml is their ace and he's been good. But they're still trying to sort out the rest of the rotation while last year's #2 and #3 starters are recovering from injuries (Sophomores Cameron Yen and Simon Rosenbaum). Rob Weller was their closer last year and was supposed to be their #2, and he got hurt last weekend too. There are a couple good freshman arms, and some experienced arms who will ultimately throw better than they have thus far, but it's been rough. They've got 43 walks in 64 innings. If the pitching doesn't get better, they'll be fighting to make the SCIAC tournament.

It should be noted though- the team ERA is a little over 5. Not as bad as 9 runs a game would indicate. Why? Defense. 22 unearned runs so far this year. 22 in 7 games! Team fielding percentage of .930. Again, small sample size and guys like Lopez (who I think is great on D) and Nishioka will not have sub .900 fielding percentages at year's end. But you can't give teams extra outs and free runs and expect to win.

And they've got CLU next weekend. Gulp.

As for CMS, they definitely did not look like a team that is going to go 5-23 in SCIAC again. They benefitted from shaky pitching, but you still have to put the bat on the ball. They had 28 hits in the three games, and a lot of hard hit outs. Their pitching wasn't terribly impressive but not horrible either, and I think they're a team that might steal a few games from the top half of the conference. Oh and the Witte brothers up the middle really impressed me on D and with the sticks.

[CrashDavisD3]

Nobody with a overall record above .500 

http://www.thesciac.org/sports/bsb/2013-14/standings

2014 could be an very interesting year with no clear stand above the pack team so far early in the season.

BUT Cal Lu has only played 2 games but next 6 games will tell where they are at

So far a few things

Chapman has the best Team ERA at 2.76 and Opponents BA .197

Cal Lu has only played 2 games and Team BA .385 SLG% .500

Occidental leads with .959 Fielding % and 6 runners caught stealing

Whittier leads with 59 runs and 78 hits but 3 games were against Cal Tech(wvhich really need to start playing club baseball and not DIII)

5 teams have 3 wins
4 teams have 4 or more losses

[Jack Parkman]

Nobody with a overall record above .500 

http://www.thesciac.org/sports/bsb/2013-14/standings

2014 could be an very interesting year with no clear stand above the pack team so far early in the season.

BUT Cal Lu has only played 2 games but next 6 games will tell where they are at

So far a few things

Chapman has the best Team ERA at 2.76 and Opponents BA .197

Cal Lu has only played 2 games and Team BA .385 SLG% .500

Occidental leads with .959 Fielding % and 6 runners caught stealing

Whittier leads with 59 runs and 78 hits but 3 games were against Cal Tech(wvhich really need to start playing club baseball and not DIII)

5 teams have 3 wins
4 teams have 4 or more losses

I think the SCIAC comes down to 3 teams this year.  CLU, Chapman and La Verne.  Not much sample size from CLU yet but Chapman has shown some pretty stout pitching but they need to get their bats going real fast.  La Verne seems to be up and down but they will be right there at the end.

Pomona and Oxy should probably battle for the 4th spot but I am not sold on Oxy at all.  They have got to improve their hitting if they want to have any type of success.  Oxy has scored 16 runs in 6 games and has only stolen 2 bags so far, which is not normal for them.  Their pitching has kept them in games but that will only take them so far with no hitting.  Heck, even Cal Tech has a higher slugging % so far.  Plenty of ballgames left.

I think Teddy might be right that CMS could win some games this year.  They hung with Pomona the entire series and that either means Pomona is down or CMS is pretty good (I would say CMS is much improved).

The Chapman/La Verne series and the CLU/Pomona series are going to be a big part of this season and I expect good games all around.

[CrashDavisD3]

Nobody with a overall record above .500 

http://www.thesciac.org/sports/bsb/2013-14/standings

2014 could be an very interesting year with no clear stand above the pack team so far early in the season.

BUT Cal Lu has only played 2 games but next 6 games will tell where they are at

So far a few things

Chapman has the best Team ERA at 2.76 and Opponents BA .197

Cal Lu has only played 2 games and Team BA .385 SLG% .500

Occidental leads with .959 Fielding % and 6 runners caught stealing

Whittier leads with 59 runs and 78 hits but 3 games were against Cal Tech(wvhich really need to start playing club baseball and not DIII)

5 teams have 3 wins
4 teams have 4 or more losses

I think the SCIAC comes down to 3 teams this year.  CLU, Chapman and La Verne.  Not much sample size from CLU yet but Chapman has shown some pretty stout pitching but they need to get their bats going real fast.  La Verne seems to be up and down but they will be right there at the end.

Pomona and Oxy should probably battle for the 4th spot but I am not sold on Oxy at all.  They have got to improve their hitting if they want to have any type of success.  Oxy has scored 16 runs in 6 games and has only stolen 2 bags so far, which is not normal for them.  Their pitching has kept them in games but that will only take them so far with no hitting.  Heck, even Cal Tech has a higher slugging % so far.  Plenty of ballgames left.

I think Teddy might be right that CMS could win some games this year.  They hung with Pomona the entire series and that either means Pomona is down or CMS is pretty good (I would say CMS is much improved).

The Chapman/La Verne series and the CLU/Pomona series are going to be a big part of this season and I expect good games all around.

Chapman so far in 2014 has good pitching. Osaki leading the way with 0.82 ERA and Smith with a 1.04 ERA.

As stated before Hitting plus Defense will tell how well Chapman does in 2014. Back in 2012 Chapman had a Team ERA of 3.05 but could only manage a .500 overall record due to lack of hitting and poor defense. The next 2 weeks could have Chapman rise to the top or fall to the bottom with key series with La Verne and Cal Lu.

I really feel the loss was a bad loss to Occidental with poor hitting/defense. I really believe Occidental will fall to the bottom of the SCIAC this year above Cal Tech.

[SoCalSoxFan]

I think the SCIAC comes down to 3 teams this year.  CLU, Chapman and La Verne.  Not much sample size from CLU yet but Chapman has shown some pretty stout pitching but they need to get their bats going real fast.  La Verne seems to be up and down but they will be right there at the end.

Pomona and Oxy should probably battle for the 4th spot but I am not sold on Oxy at all.  They have got to improve their hitting if they want to have any type of success.  Oxy has scored 16 runs in 6 games and has only stolen 2 bags so far, which is not normal for them.  Their pitching has kept them in games but that will only take them so far with no hitting.  Heck, even Cal Tech has a higher slugging % so far.  Plenty of ballgames left.

I think Teddy might be right that CMS could win some games this year.  They hung with Pomona the entire series and that either means Pomona is down or CMS is pretty good (I would say CMS is much improved).

The Chapman/La Verne series and the CLU/Pomona series are going to be a big part of this season and I expect good games all around.

Crash:   I agree, The Chapman / LaVerne series should be a good indicator of who will compete for SCIAC.

I expected more from Pomona vs CMS. 
We'll see how they do against CLU.

Given that Brumi and Miles had good outings last weekend for Pomona, we'll see if the hitting CLU showed against Emory will continue or whether they'll cool off.
I'm expecting Brumi vs Petersen on Friday will be a good matchup to watch.

[Jack Parkman]

My weekend SCIAC predictions

Oxy goes 0-3 this weekend against George Fox and none of the games are all that close.  I thought Oxy was headed in the right direction after last year but I think I was wrong.

Redlands 3-0 against Cal Tech.

Cal Lu goes 2-1 vs Pomona but if they beat Bruml today I could see them sweeping.

Claremont sweeps Whittier but the Poets could steal 1 game.  I don't think Whittier will win 10 games this year.

The series of the week is Chapman and La Verne.  I think Chapman's pitching carries them to a 2-1 series win. 

[dahlby]

Chapman exploded for 9 runs in the 9th inning to beat ULV 13-4.
Box score and inning by inning at   www.chapmanathletics.com

Double hitter Saturday at Hart Park in Orange.

[108 Stitches]

CLU outslugs PP 19 -15

I guess the story is Petersen and Brumi each give up 10 runs!

Gulp... actually 7 and 5  earned but still.

Early games are supposed to be the reverse. Gota love baseball.

[SoCalSoxFan]

CLU outslugs PP 19 -15

I guess the story is Petersen and Brumi each give up 10 runs!

Gulp... actually 7 and 5  earned but still.

Early games are supposed to be the reverse. Gota love baseball.

3 games in for CLU;  I guess hitting and scoring won't be an issue for them this year.
21+ hits.

Big surprise is giving up CLU 15 runs and 10BB!

[CrashDavisD3]

Pitching continues to be strong for Chapman
http://www.thesciac.org/sports/bsb/2013-14/teams?sort=era&r=0&pos=p

Defense is not too bad either for the Panthers
http://www.thesciac.org/sports/bsb/2013-14/teams?sort=fpct&r=0&pos=f

Today the hitting came thru with 14 runs.

[Colorado]

Nice to see McGee throw 3 hitless innings for Chapman. The velo was there and his slider showed a real bite. Scooby is still shaking off the rust of a 14-month lay off but his stuff looks good. I think the plan is to start giving him some starts real soon. This is a guy with low-mid 90's stuff who won both starts during Chapman's 2011 playoff run including a complete game win at Appleton. The other guy coming back to the lineup was Greg Dillon (concussion) in his first game of the season. Dillon hit .340 last year and got 1 hit but it was a big one: A gapper that drove in 2 in the 9th to widen Chapman's lead to 7-4. Chapman's lineup looks longer now. I'm guessing that today's  DH will show that La Verne  just had a bad day yesterday. They got 2 hits, committed 3 errors and looked out of sorts. Even then, the game was still in doubt until Chapman broke through in the 9th.

[108 Stitches]

Chapman will be very tough to beat come May, particularly as their pitching develops. As long as they stay healthy of course.