BB: MIAC: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[sumander]

Story in the St. Cloud Daily Planet about the scheduling woes of the SJU Baseball team.

[Ryan Coleman]

Gustie, Do you have an update on Andrew Hoffer's arm?

From what I heard in the dugout on the 2nd he had a minor tear to his right brachioradialis in the 3rd inning and still pitched another solid 5. (I could be wrong as to the arm, I tried to confirm he's right-handed and no one seems to know).

[Gustie13]

Ryan, not sure if you're kidding about that medical term or not    Hoffer pitched against Hamline 1 week after the UST game and went  3 innings, giving up 3 runs (1 earned) and 5 hits, taking the loss in Game 1. His fastball did not appear to have the pop it normally does but he's going to continue to pitch. He's schedule to throw against SJU tomorrow.

Updated Standings and notes -
# 6 StO   6-0  Not to take anything away from the Oles, but their 3 sweeps have come against Mac, SMU, and Con. It'll be interesting to see if the schedule changes expose their weakness in pitching depth. Still the best team in the conference, IMO. SJU and HU DHs this week will be good tests for this team.
SJU   4-0  Sweeps against Hamline and SMU. Their Game 1 extra inning victory against Roiger and Foster today impresses me. They're not going to score a ton of runs but it looks like they'll be able pull out the close ones. Currently in the middle of the toughest part of their schedule: Will end up playing 10 MIAC games in 8 days (HU, GAC, StO, UST, Con). Opponents are hitting .355 against Josh Hollenhorst but he has 7 pickoffs in 28 innings!
# 24 UST 7-1  Sweeps against BU, SMU, & Con, split with GAC. Riley Bosch pitched a 1 hit gem against BU on Friday. Have a week to rest up for SJU next Sat.
GAC  4-2  Swept Augs, split with UST and HU. Have Hoffer and Wold throwing against SJUs #2 and #4(?) tomorrow in what could be a big matchup. SJU, Con and SMU coming up this week.
HU  4-4  Getting swept by SJU was a surprise to me, especially with Roiger and Foster pitching. Still, with Mac and BU still this week before 4/21 matchup with StO they have a good chance of being 8-4 going into Saturday.
Aug  3-3 Split with HU, swept SMU, swept by GAC. Lack of pitching depth was apparent in Game 2 vs Gac (19-2 loss, 22 hits for GAC, 5 pitchers used by Aug). Could be even uglier against UST tomorrow with 5th and 6th games in 3 days.
BU  2-4   Splits with Car and Mac are a big blow to playoff chances and .284 team avg has to be dissapointing. Kirby Carr's 5 xtra base hits (2-2b, 1-3b, 2-hr) in 64 at bats is VERY surprising to me. On the flip side, team era of 3.84 is a pleasant surprise. MUST take 3 of 4 this week against Con and HU to expect to make the playoffs.
Mac  1-3  Nice split with BU, and aces will be rested for DH against HU so another split isn't out of the question. If the Scots go 4-2 against HU, SMU, and Car this week a playoff birth may not be that far fetched. Schedule working nicely in their favor (aces pitching against HU and Car).
Car  1-3  Split with BU, swept by HU. DHs against MAC, Augs, and SMU coming up will show what kind of team this is. 2-4 during that stretch is my guess.
Con  0-4  Swept by UST and StO, playing both teams tough in one game (3-2L vs UST, 2-1L vs StO) and getting blown out in the other (8-1L vs UST, 9-2L vs StO). Good to see Chris Klabo's avg creeping up after shoulder injury down south slowed this good hitter down. 8 games in 8 days coming up again BU, GAC, Augs, and SJU. Will need to go 6-2 somehow to have any playoff hopes.
SMU  0-8  Led UST 7-2 before giving up 9runs in the 5th and lost. Better hope they catch MAC's or Con's #3s or #4s when they face off or the first WINLESS season in conf history may be in store.

Player of the Year:
1: Tony Konicek, GAC
2: Andrew Schmiessing, StO
3: Jay Kasner, SJU
On the radar: Chris Terazzas, StO, Carson Jones, StO, Luke Gagnon, StO
Didn't have time to type out everyone's stats but this could be a very interesting race if Konicek's RBI total is kept down by a combination of not having very many opportunities and being walked or pitched around when he does (case in point, Game 2 vs Hamline where he was intentionally walked 4 times with runners on) and Schmiessing and the StO offense continues to roll.

Pitcher of the Year:
1: Todd Mathison, StO
2: Riley Bosch, UST
3: TJ Nelson, SJU
On the radar: Andrew Hoffer, GAC, David Wold, GAC, Paul Johnson, StO, Kyle Foster, HU
Mathison gave up his first conference earned runs EVER today. 2 earned runs in 50 1/3 career conf innings. Unbelievable.

[sumander]

Gustie13, Love the updates! Keep 'em coming.

What are the prospects of the Johnnies getting a split at STO on Wednesday?

[Gustie13]

Gustie13, Love the updates! Keep 'em coming.

What are the prospects of the Johnnies getting a split at STO on Wednesday?

Will do. I'm hoping to have time between Wednesday and Saturday to throw together a mid-year report (with the weather delays some teams won't be at 10 conf games yet, but some will be at 12 already, so I'm arbitrarily picking this as the midpoint).

I'd give the Johnnies a fair shot at pulling off the split.
My best guess is that they won't face Mathison or Johnson because both pitched Saturday and StO has Hamline on the 21st so Coach McDonald will probably save those 2 pitchers for HU. Only 1 other pitcher on the StO roster has more than 1 start this year (Andy Dimick) because Mathison and Johnson have started 12 of 19 games for Olaf. Given that, and the fact that SJU will have its ace, TJ Nelson, going, i'd say they have a legit shot at winning one game.
But then again I didn't give AuggieTech a snowballs chance in hell of beating UST on Sunday, in their 5th and 6th games in 3 days, with no pitchers left after facing SMU and GAC, so what do I know 

[Gustie13]

If you'd told me that StO was going to get 8 runs (5 earned) off SJU ace TJ Nelson I'd never have guessed SJU would still pull off the split, but congrats to the johnnies.

Updated standings:
#6 StO:    7-1
#24 UST:  8-2
SJU:          6-2
GAC:         7-3
HU:           6-6
AUG:         5-5
BU:           4-6
CAR:          3-5
SMU:         3-9
MAC:         2-6
CON:         1-7

Any thoughts on whether the top 4 teams currently will be the playoff participants?

[sumander]

I would love to see that but not sure if the J's can hang on. Sounds like STO rocked their ace. Like you said earlier, they are in the toughest stretch of their schedule. We will no a lot more about the Johnnies by next Wednesday!

[Drake Palmer]

Sum - looks you & Gustie13 are having your own conversation over here. I haven't seen another posterr on here other than you 2 in weeks!    Keep up the posts G13.

I'm surprised Mose hasn't stopped by.  I thought baseball was his favorite sport.

[sumander]

Drake, Thanks for stopping by to visit! Just trying to get up to speed on MIAC baseball. As long as we have someone like Gustie13 posting it's easier staying in the loop.

I don't think Mose has recovered from the Tomcats season ending loss in BB. We haven't seen hide nor hair of him since then!

[Gustie13]

Sorry for the length, but I didn't want to miss anything...

MID YEAR REPORT

Standings: Conf Record (Coaches Poll Finish, Gustie13 Proj Finish, BigPoppa Proj Finish). Remaining opponents conf win %
1:StO:   7-1 (2, 1, 2) .557
Suffered first conf loss in last dh vs SJU with weakness in rotation behind Mathison and Johnson having been possibly exposed. Johnson and Mathison have started 12 of 21 games and certainly are great, but come MIAC playoff or Regional time they won't be able to pitch every game and StO will have to outslug its opponents when they're not pitching. Offensively, team average of .367 (.392 in conf!) and 8.19 runs/game are impressive, as is their team fielding percentage of .969. 5 regulars are hitting over .400. Mathison's career MIAC era of .50 (2 er in 50 innings) is sick. Still my pick to win the conf, but have a tougher road ahead.
2:UST:   8-2 (1, 2, 1) .545
Unbelievable pitching depth, with a good #1 in Riley Bosch and Leslie, Olsen, Bullie, and Robinson to follow. The pitching staff leads the conf in era at 2.77. However, an offense averaging only 5 runs/game in conference could be their downfall. Will have to play mistake free baseball and manufacture runs to win. Jr Chris Bullis is biggest offensive threat (.410, 4hr, 25 rbi). Pitching depth will let them challenge StO in conf tourney if they can get past Mathison and Johnson.
3:SJU:    6-2 (7, 6, 3) .415
Biggest surprise team in my mind. Returned a lot of starters from an 8-12 team last year. Good team era (4.22) but offense has 2nd worst ba in conf (.277). BA in conf is considerably higher (.319) but still only averaging 5 runs/game. 1b Jay Kasner has almost 1/3 of teams RBIs (25 vs 90). TJ Nelson was in the Pitcher of the Year discussion before ugly start vs Olaf (3 2/3 inn, 8r, 5er, 12h). Still a one dimensional hitting team in my mind (dead pull). Have one of the easiest 2nd half schedules. They'd really have to crumble to miss the playoffs.
4:GAC:   7-3 (3, 4, 4) .413
Easiest schedule remaining, playing teams currently 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th (plus StO). Inexperience staff has stepped, performing very well (3.55 era, 2.5-1 k-bb ratio). Andrew Hoffer can dominate but is prone to control problems. Offense clearly leans on reigning Conf MVP and All American Tony Konicek (.448, 13xbh, 24rbi) who just recently took over the all time GAC RBI lead and became 1 of 8 MIAC players with 200 career hits (link to list minus Konicek's 201  http://www.stthomas.edu/tommies/shared/shownews.cfm?ArticleID=3565 ). Will need to continue to get production from 1b Pat Siering (10rbi in conf) and lf Eric Bigham (conf player of the week) when teams intentionally walk Konicek (6IBB in 10 conf games). C Shea Roehrkasse has thrown out 7 of 11 potential base stealers in conf.
5:HU:     6-6 (4, 3, 9) .486
Biggest disappointment, along with BU, in my mind. I thought their pitching would dominate more, but Roiger hasn't been able to follow up his 8-1 soph season (3-2,  3.34era) and no pitcher has stepped up behind Roiger and Foster (6-3, 2.98era). Even though SS Andrew Bennett is hitting .366 with 4hr in conf he still only has 7rbi and is fielding just .909. I really thought he'd have a breakout year. Team BA is middle of the pack but 4 runs/game in the conference is pretty bad. Play UST and StO next and I think they'll have to go 3-1 in those games to have a prayer of making the playoffs.
6:Aug:   5-5 (8, 7, 11) .476
Not a bad start for a team that lost 4 pitchers that started 35 of 39 games last year. Scrappy team, middle of the pack in hitting, fielding, and pitching. I was very surprised with their win vs UST this week. SJU-transfer Jason Kickhafer has been a welcome addition (3-3, 2.34era, .219opp ba). Trying to keep Sr. Andy Nelson off base been tough for opponents (15bb, 13hbp) and has stolen 14 of 16 bases when he does reach. A sweep against SJU when they face off next week is a must if they want to make the playoffs.
7:BU:     4-6 (6, 5, 5) .583
The Carr brothers have NOT lived up to expectations. For a guy that should have been the Conf MVP in 2005 (.444, 11hr, 4 3b, 45rbi, 12 of 13sb) and has 25 career hr Kirby has definitely underperformed this year (.403, 8xbh). Coming into the season only 55 hits shy of 200 I would have almost guaranteed he'd get there. Now that milestone is in doubt as he needs 24 in his team's final 14 games. Younger brother Brandon's power numbers have gone up (14xbh already this year vs 13 last year) but ba (.468 vs .356) and sb (18 of 22 vs 2 of 5) have suffered. Middle of the pack is not where I expected this lineup to be. Only bright spots are that their team era is also in the middle of the conf and 4 of their final 5 dhs are against teams above them in the standings. 
8:Car:    3-5 (10, 9, 10) .564
No real power threats to speak of offensively, but .299 team ba is nice and they can steal bases (45-51). 6.40 team era and .920 fielding percentage are dreadful and their numbers are even more exaggerated in conference (.333 team ba but 9.67 team era and .912 field %). P Ethan Guevin is a diamond in the rough (4-2, 1.70era, 42k in 37inn, .236opp ba). I'd hate to be the team fighting for a playoff that overlooks these guys and gets stuck with an L after facing Guevin.
9:SMU    3-9 (11, 11, 6) .475
I really thought this team would flirt with being the first winless conference team ever, but split with Car fixed that and sweep of Mac was a surprise. Sr. Nick Winecke will finish his career with the most at bats and errors of anyone at SMU. Not to be outdone by Car, SMU's pitching staff is valiantly trying to have the worst conf era (8.78).
10:Mac   2-6 (9, 8, 7) .556
Pitchers Ted Kimble (4-2, 3.51era) and James Murrey (4-2 2.30 era) keep them in games, but they have the worst offense in the conference (in conf stats: .253ba, 2.75 runs/game). Fielding stats are a bit on an enigma: Full season - .928 field %, In Conf - .962!
11:Con   1-7 (5, 10, 8) .431
After seeing this team in person, I feel confident they will not finish in the cellar of the conference. They've played 3 probably playoff teams (StO, UST, & GAC) and nearly beat each of them in one game, coming up a run short in each case. A majority of remaining games are at home (8 home vs 4 away) and against teams in the bottom half of the conference, so an 9-11 year is about where I see them ending up. Injury to Chris Klabo hurt the offense, as the team has languished in conference (.254ba, 3.5 runs/game).

Player of the Year:
Andrew Schmiessing, StO.
I'm not saying I think this is who the coaches will get it to and the end of the year, but at the midway point, I think he's the POY. I just think he's a little ahead of Konicek in most categories (BA: .468 v .448, H: 36 v 30, Xbh: 16 v 13, Runs: 27 v 19, OBP: .533 v .512). It's a two horse race at this point and it'll be interesting to see how the 2nd half goes for both and if other factors like the strength of the lineup around Schmiessing, and the fact that Konicek is a Sr and Schmieesing a Jr play a part in the coaches' final decision.

Pitcher of the Year:
Todd Mathison, StO
VERY similar overall stats to Riley Bosch at this point (Record: 6-0 v 5-1, ERA: 1.70 v .99, INN: 42 1/3 v 45 1/3, K: 31 v 31, BB: 11 v 13) but I give it to Mathison because he's given up very Xbh (4 v 11), has 4 CGs to Bosch's 1, and the 2 earned runs he's given up this year are the only 2 he's allowed in his career. Coaches may be swayed by the fact that Bosch is a Sr and Mathison only a So, however. HU's Kyle Foster isn't out of it yet, but Bosch and Mathison would have to falter for him to overtake them.


*Side note*  I think you have to mention Konicek's name as one of, if not the, greatest hitter in conference history. If you look at the list of hitters with 200 career hits first note that the top 3 (which Konicek will surely reach) played professionally and then notice the number of games each hitter played in, comparing that to Konicek at this point in his career (201 hits, 132 games).

[sumander]

G-13, Great report, Thank you. The Carr brothers are from my neck of the woods. I watched them through out their high school careers. both were real solid ball players! I did see a highlights of both Carr's getting dingers against the Cobbs in the recent DH.

At some point in time one would have to think the Johnnies lack of offense is going to catch up with them!

[Gustie13]

Sum -  Neither the johnnies nor the tommies have a very good offense to be honest.

Saturday notes:
Mathison hurt and leaves game after 2/3 inn. Anyone know what happened?
SJU and UST split
Konicek hits a triple on an attempted IBB and lifts GAC over SMU in extras
*the playoffs are virtally set with StO, UST, SJU, and GAC. Its basically seeding from here on*

[BaseballFan]

Any more news on Mathison. Its never good to see a good player go down.

St. Scholastica beat Gustavus 13-1 and 7-0. Looks like Gustavus did not pitch any of their top pitchers but probably did not matter since they only scored one run in two games.

Saints put the first game away early by scoring 8 runs in the bottom of the first.

Two big wins for St. Scholastica probably needed both of them to help their effort for a bid

[miacball]

Right now, who are your midseason all-conf. notable players?

[texillini]

St Olaf swept Bethel 11-6 and 7-4.  Two HR's by Schmeising and 5 hits by Terrazas (1 HR) led the victories.  Mathison was fully dressed but didn't play.  If Mathison can come back at full strength, his injury could be a silver lining for the Oles as it's forcing some of the other pitchers to step it up.