BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[ILLhoops1]

CCIWFAN.

I have heard from people close to the program that they feel that the Titans will be very good this season.
With 6 senior pitchers, they will have alot of experience. It sounds like they might be starting 3 Freshman
players. I think they have 4-5 returning All-Conference players. Some people say that Brett Moore or Craig
Ladd could be in the running for CCIW player of the year.

[DirtyJersey]

DirtyJersey,
You seem to have some good insight into IWU.  Anyone that could surprise us either on the mound or in the box this year?

The Titans always seem to have a pitcher step up out of nowhere, from Lapinksi to Dobosz to Aronson to Kulavic.  Who will be this years player?

CCIWFAN,

That is an interesting question. Kulavic will be back to his old form as long as he has no health issues. However, I believe Jason Pankau will bust into the CCIW spotlight this season on the bump for the Titans. I am not familiar with any of the newcomers who are expected to be in the IWU lineup starting this weekend.  Offensively, I believe the Titans may be a lot like this year's White Sox...without a lot of pop beside Ladd, McIntosh, and Moore and not  relying on the homerun (something the Weenies have relied on a lot in the past 8 seasons) .


I expect Wheaton and Carthage to be the best hitting teams all season long.

[BigG296]

Sounds like we have a couple of Titan insiders on here now.  It's always great to have in depth insight from each team from people who are very close and familiar with their respective programs

[CCIWFAN6]

Pretty exciting weekend is coming up.  While a couple of the teams have already started their seasons, many will begin this weekend as Elmhurst, Wheaton, Carthage, IWU, and North Central will all start up.  I can't remember a season in which there was so much uncertainty going into it. I will say that over the last few weeks the one reoccurring theme I have seen is a continued backing of the Wheaton Thunder.

This team can definitely score runs. As a team they hit .326 last year and opponents had a 7.41 ERA against them.  The one thing I notice, however, is that this team really struggled outside of conference play.  They went 13-7 in conference and 10-12 outside of conference.  This leads me to believe they do not have a lot of depth on the mound.  I then worry that if this team doesn't win the automatic bid from the CCIW, will they have the quality of wins outside the conference to merit and at large bid.  Time will tell, however, does anyone know if they're pitching staff has improved with any big additions, because I am not sure a 6.5 team ERA will get it done in this conference.

[BigPoppa]

I expect Wheaton and Carthage to be the best hitting teams all season long.

Me too, but it ALWAYS comes down to pitching. That alone could keep IWU hanging around until the end.

[BigPoppa]

Big win for Augie yesterday as they knocked off #23 Beloit 6-5 in 10 innings. This moves the Vikings to 5-0 on the season and I can truly see them getting some national recognition next week if this type of play continues.

[ILLhoops1]

IWU opens this weekend against Depaw in Greencastle Indiana. Rumor has it that if the weather is bad, they may move it to St Louis. This might include a game with Wash U.

[BearBaseball]

Any word on the chances of the STL situation? I haven't heard anything about that.

[ILLhoops1]

Looks like the weather wont be too bad in Indiana. Possibility of light rain on Saturday. I know Coach Martel is anxious to get started.

[DirtyJersey]

I expect Wheaton and Carthage to be the best hitting teams all season long.

Me too, but it ALWAYS comes down to pitching. That alone could keep IWU hanging around until the end.

Agreed. Pitching is the reason Carthage has been going deeper into postseason play than any other team in the CCIW for several years now. Granted they had horses not depth.

[Titan Q]

From the IWU website...

http://www.iwusports.com/news/2010/3/3/BB_0303101054.aspx?path=baseball


Covers who is in the mix at each position.

[RichK]

Agustana finishes their spring trip 7-0 and end it beating Rose Hulman 12-9 this morning.

[BigPoppa]

Agustana finishes their spring trip 7-0 and end it beating Rose Hulman 12-9 this morning.

WOW. Rose-Hulman is a solid team. Augie is way better than advertised. Great news for the Central Region... Bad news for the CCIW.

[REDMENFAN]

Carthage preview from Kenosha News today:

http://www.kenoshanews.com/sports/no_easin__into_the_season_7482475.html

[BigPoppa]

Opening day for the Redmen tomorrow! I can almost here Augie screaming already! Gonna be fun to watch this season.