BB: UMAC: Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

[OshDude]

The video feed on the pitch was inconclusive. Joe said the plate umpire "completed his perfect game," if I recall correctly. The BLC second baseman felt otherwise obviously. Intense CSS UMAC game in mid April? I like it. What a game ...

[BaseballFan]

I must have been listening to a different game, because I'm pretty sure I heard them praising the umpires calls. Having been to Wade Stadium before there is no better seat to judge the zone (corner to corner) than the roof of the grandstand directly above the plate! Height on the pitch is tough but they were pretty clear that the corners were being missed but not by much. Not quite following the logic of using Dorris in that game. Shows very little faith in the rest of that staff to use your #2 to close. Bethany needs 2 of 3 and that move will not help. It sounded like the Hallahan kid was great, but in a 9 inning game you can't expect him to go complete. I think they had said on the air that they estimated him at around 140 pitches with gas left in the tank. Right move to get him out for health reasons. Be interested to see how the pitching match-ups shake out tomorrow, though I'm pretty sure Dorris will get a start.

Like I said before by throwing your #1 in a 9 inning game is a mistake for the reason that happened last night. If it was a 7inning game Hallahan would of received the win. However since it was a 9 inning game he had to be pulled and they brought in their #2 who couldnt get it done. Now CSS is sitting there with their top 3 and Bethany burned their 1 and part of 2.

I didnt see the pitch or the video feed but from seeing Dorris pitch before he doesnt have the greatest control despite good stuff and CSS hitters are very disciplined so I think that had a lot to do with it and not being squeezed

[paulisdeadman]

Dorris didn't throw very many pitches so I would be surprised if he didn't throw today.  Plus they still have hendley (sp?)   

[BaseballFan]

Dorris didn't throw very many pitches so I would be surprised if he didn't throw today.  Plus they still have hendley (sp?)   

Yea he should probably go in game two, but he did probably throw 20 pitches or so yesterday still makes a difference.

CSS wins game one 7-2 behind a nice outing from Steve Gerten

[BaseballFan]

CSS finishes with a 3 game sweep over bethany with a 4-3 win

[Ralph Turner]

CSS finishes with a 3 game sweep over bethany with a 4-3 win

IMHO, this throws BLC onto the bubble for the 4th spot.

CSS and Chapman look to be the class of Pool B.

Ithaca is starting to pick up in-region wins, a few of which should be over in-region ranked opponents.

[schmolph]

I would not say Gerten had a nice outing when you walk 7,including 4 in a row at one point,hit 2 and throw a wp. You can't do this and win very often. Lewis looked good again as did Vogelgesang and of course Nystrom.Gerten did hit very well however, Saints played very well and Bethany is also a very good team just not as good as the Saints this particular weekend.

[BaseballFan]

I would not say Gerten had a nice outing when you walk 7,including 4 in a row at one point,hit 2 and throw a wp. You can't do this and win very often. Lewis looked good again as did Vogelgesang and of course Nystrom.Gerten did hit very well however, Saints played very well and Bethany is also a very good team just not as good as the Saints this particular weekend.

True missed all the walks, just saw the runs and 2 hits allowed. I didnt look in depth my mistake. But I would still take 6 innings and only 2 earned runs allowed from a starting pitcher.

[biggio34]

Listened to Friday night on the radio and attended Saturday's games at Wade...  This is now a very exciting rivalry.  All three games were well played by both teams.  I might venture to guess it's the first 3 game series in the history of UMAC competition where only 5 errors were made.  Other thoughts...

1.  CSS pitching was not dominate, but it is very capable.  I didn't get to see the freshman on Friday, but that is his second strong outing of the year (St. Thomas was the other) where he faired well against a good offensive team.  Neither Gerten or Lewis were sharp (too many walks), but they are both competitors and both could dominate any team in the region when they are on.

2.  Cody Hallahan is a top pitcher in the region.  Schuld, Murrey, Hallahan, I'd take any of the three in any order.  I wish I could have watched him throw but after talking to some of the people that did, I know several CSS fans went away impressed.  Sounded like the Scholastica hitters were able to take him deep in the count and drive his pitch count up, but he was able to finish them off time and again. 

3.  CSS is a slightly stronger offensive team, and have a bit more depth in the bullpen.  This gives them an edge in a 3 games series, but a much slighter edge in a one game situation where everything is on the line.

4.  Umpiring did not decide either game on Saturday, and from the sounds of it, it didn't decide the game on Friday either.  You are always going to have close calls and disputed calls in a close game, but I have a hard time believing that for every call that goes against you, that there were not just as many that went your way.  Regardless of the umpiring, there are always moments in a game where the players decide the outcome, its just that everyone remembers that questionable call that "lost" the game.  Whatever.

5.  I can't wait to watch these teams square off again in the conference tourney.

Changing topics... Is Presentation good?  They are 11-1 and in 2nd place in the umac but have not played Bethany or CSS.  I noticed that most of their 11 losses have been in close games.

And congrats to Martin Luther for getting off the loss train with a nice three game sweep of Northland over the weekend.  Its the first wins for their new head coach.

[BaseballFan]

Changing topics... Is Presentation good?  They are 11-1 and in 2nd place in the umac but have not played Bethany or CSS.  I noticed that most of their 11 losses have been in close games.

And congrats to Martin Luther for getting off the loss train with a nice three game sweep of Northland over the weekend.  Its the first wins for their new head coach.

Unfortunately Presentation is not that good by just looking at their schedule, but maybe in person they are better. They are actually 10-2 in the conference. 27-76 is the record of the bottom 5 in the UMAC. They are 3-10 in their lackluster non-conference schedule. They started their season 0-8 so they have rebounded well but i foresee them ending their regular season with 6 straight losses.

side note after looking at their stats it looks like they hit the ball decently (probably inflated due to schedule), their ERA is not good at all.

[BaseballFan]

Well maybe Presentation is better than I expected as they took one from CSS in extra innings in walk/error filled game from both teams. CSS rebounded and took game two. Bethany may not even place second in the UMAC at this rate

[biggio34]

CSS wrapped up the conference last night with a sweet of Crown College.  This weekends games will determine the 4th team to make the UMAC tourney as both Northwestern and Morris still have a shot.  Bethany and Presentation will battle for the 2 and 3 seeds although they are already set to play each other in the first round of the conference tourney so I'm not sure either will show off their pitching this weekend.  Bethany is still playing for a possible pool B though so they need a sweep.

Here is the preseason coaches poll...
2010 UMAC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Bethany Lutheran College - 48 Points (6 First Place Votes)
2. College of St. Scholastica - 44 Points (2)
3. Northwestern College - 34 Points
4. Presentation College - 30 Points
5. Northland College - 24 Points
6. Martin Luther College - 22 Points
7. University of Minnesota-Morris - 15 Points
8. Crown College - 7 points

I don't know why I posted this other than I found it really interesting at the beginning of the year that a team that had won all 13 conference titles was dethrowned in the voting before anyone has ever come close to hanging with them.  You can say all you want about the games that CSS drops here and there in the UMAC, but I was still shocked that they were not picked to win the conference this year.  With that said I think the conference tournament should be very exciting as Bethany has certainly proven to be a strong contender and Presentation appears to be a pretty good team as well. 

Does anyone think that Bethany still has a shot at a Pool B with a clean sweep of the UMAC tournament?  Is there any way CSS doesnt make a regional?

[JohnnyU]

Team                          RPI    Win %   OWP   OOWP   SOS
77 St. Scholastica        0.592   0.862   0.542   0.489   0.524
334 Bethany Lutheran   0.510   0.750   0.423   0.505   0.45

(RPI is .75*SOS+.25*Win%)

I don't think this is fair at all but I'd say...
1) CSS is in regardless of the UMAC tourney
2) BLC will have a slim to none shot even if they go undefeated in the tourney

This is because...
1) Playing a team doesn't increase OWP, apparently, so the potential games against CSS don't change the SOSs. BLC will still be held back by that ugly SOS, which they can't really control. They've played some pretty good teams outside of their conference. But overall SOS seems to be way too important.
2) CSS has already beaten BLC 3 times, giving CSS the head-to-head advantage regardless of the playoffs.
3) BLC currently owns a 1-3 record against regionally ranked teams (could be 2-4 if St. Olaf sneaks in over Edgewood next week)

Completely unfair. Ithaca's in better shape than BLC because they got their butt kicked in California instead of NY or PA. BLC is in a bad position because they've beaten who's in their conference.

[biggio34]

Team                          RPI    Win %   OWP   OOWP   SOS
77 St. Scholastica        0.592   0.862   0.542   0.489   0.524
334 Bethany Lutheran   0.510   0.750   0.423   0.505   0.45

(RPI is .75*SOS+.25*Win%)

I don't think this is fair at all but I'd say...
1) CSS is in regardless of the UMAC tourney
2) BLC will have a slim to none shot even if they go undefeated in the tourney

This is because...
1) Playing a team doesn't increase OWP, apparently, so the potential games against CSS don't change the SOSs. BLC will still be held back by that ugly SOS, which they can't really control. They've played some pretty good teams outside of their conference. But overall SOS seems to be way too important.
2) CSS has already beaten BLC 3 times, giving CSS the head-to-head advantage regardless of the playoffs.
3) BLC currently owns a 1-3 record against regionally ranked teams (could be 2-4 if St. Olaf sneaks in over Edgewood next week)

Completely unfair. Ithaca's in better shape than BLC because they got their butt kicked in California instead of NY or PA. BLC is in a bad position because they've beaten who's in their conference.

Agreed, Bethany is a regional worthy team and it sucks that their conference games are hindering their potential to get in.  Nice breakdown Johnny, thanks!

[Pat Coleman]

1) Playing a team doesn't increase OWP, apparently, so the potential games against CSS don't change the SOSs.

Not true. The CSS vs. BLC games don't count in CSS record for BLC, but all of CSS' other regional wins and losses do.