BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CCIWFAN6]

I'd be surprised if IWU was swept by NCC this weekend. I am not sur ethat NCC would sit players either as they are fighting for a Pool C if they stumble in CCIW tourney play next week.

BigPoppa, you would know better than I, but NCC has put together a pretty good resume for a Pool C bid, even if they win just 1 game this weekend and go 2 and out in the CCIW tourney.  In that situation, they would be 30-10 and a CCIW regular season championship. Included in their 30 wins, sweeps of Wheaton (22-15) and Augustana (22-15), 2/3 against Carthage (25-12) and North Park (25-12), 2 wins over Franklin College (23-12), and another win over Luther (23-14).

At 29-6, it would not surprise me to see NCC take over the #1 spot in the regional rankings when they are released today. 

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage sweeps Lakeland today 20-1 and 23-0. Hopefully some of those bats show up this weekend. I am most impressed with the Carthage pitching which has struggled as of late.

YIKES!  43-1!

Since Carthage seems to be less than their usual powerhouse self this year, how BAD is Lakeland?!

Lakeland is now 21-17, and the 12-8 conference record of the Muskies is good for sixth place in the twelve-team NAthCon. All in all, it's not the kind of record you'd expect of a team that got swept by a cumulative 43-1 score.

Here's hoping that Carthage has peaked for the week.

[BigPoppa]

My guess is that Lakeland has solid #1-2 pitchers that they use on the weekends and Carthage faced their #4 and #5 guys (who would probably not make the Carthage roster) and lit them up a bit. Still, for Lakeland to get shutdown that bad in a DH shows that Carthage may be back on track:)

[Gregory Sager]

I'd be surprised if IWU was swept by NCC this weekend. I am not sur ethat NCC would sit players either as they are fighting for a Pool C if they stumble in CCIW tourney play next week.

BigPoppa, you would know better than I, but NCC has put together a pretty good resume for a Pool C bid, even if they win just 1 game this weekend and go 2 and out in the CCIW tourney.  In that situation, they would be 30-10 and a CCIW regular season championship. Included in their 30 wins, sweeps of Wheaton (22-15) and Augustana (22-15), 2/3 against Carthage (25-12) and North Park (25-12), 2 wins over Franklin College (23-12), and another win over Luther (23-14).

At 29-6, it would not surprise me to see NCC take over the #1 spot in the regional rankings when they are released today. 

Without seeing a comprehensive breakdown of Pool C criteria rankings (the basketball boards have numbers-crunchers who do a great job of this, but there doesn't seem to be any baseball guys who are doing something similar over on the Pool C board), it's hard to know just where North Central stands at the moment in terms of the national Pool C outlook. But I tend to think that Big Poppa is right; this is a weak region, and nobody in it has any guarantees as far as Pool C berths are concerned. I would expect NCC's coach to keep playing his starters even if his Cards win Game One against IWU and thereby clinch the CCIW title, because losses could hurt NCC's Pool C case.

[OshDude]

I'd be surprised if IWU was swept by NCC this weekend. I am not sur ethat NCC would sit players either as they are fighting for a Pool C if they stumble in CCIW tourney play next week.

BigPoppa, you would know better than I, but NCC has put together a pretty good resume for a Pool C bid, even if they win just 1 game this weekend and go 2 and out in the CCIW tourney.  In that situation, they would be 30-10 and a CCIW regular season championship. Included in their 30 wins, sweeps of Wheaton (22-15) and Augustana (22-15), 2/3 against Carthage (25-12) and North Park (25-12), 2 wins over Franklin College (23-12), and another win over Luther (23-14).

At 29-6, it would not surprise me to see NCC take over the #1 spot in the regional rankings when they are released today.  

Without seeing a comprehensive breakdown of Pool C criteria rankings (the basketball boards have numbers-crunchers who do a great job of this, but there doesn't seem to be any baseball guys who are doing something similar over on the Pool C board), it's hard to know just where North Central stands at the moment in terms of the national Pool C outlook. But I tend to think that Big Poppa is right; this is a weak region, and nobody in it has any guarantees as far as Pool C berths are concerned. I would expect NCC's coach to keep playing his starters even if his Cards win Game One against IWU and thereby clinch the CCIW title, because losses could hurt NCC's Pool C case.

No need to crunch numbers on the boards. It's all accessible from the front page of D3baseball.com. Regional rankings, in-region records, OWP, OOWP, SOS ... it's all a few mouse clicks away.

[Viking Blue]

Do any Carthage posters have any info on Trace Ruffie?  I had the pleasure of coaching him at Hersey, and was very bummed to hear that he was probably out for the year after Tommy John surgery.

However, after looking at Carthage's stats, I see that he has a couple of appearances and saves.  Is he back?  And if so, how does his velocity look?  (A lot of guys tend to come back throwing even harder after Tommy John).

[BigPoppa]

Do any Carthage posters have any info on Trace Ruffie?  I had the pleasure of coaching him at Hersey, and was very bummed to hear that he was probably out for the year after Tommy John surgery.

However, after looking at Carthage's stats, I see that he has a couple of appearances and saves.  Is he back?  And if so, how does his velocity look?  (A lot of guys tend to come back throwing even harder after Tommy John).

I saw him throw a bit earlier in the year and he is not exactly what he used to be. He is not as hard of a thrower he once was, but that may have changed over that last month. Still, having him back on the mound has been a huge plus for Carthage.

[BigPoppa]

Looking around this morning, I found that Carthage has won 21 straight games against North Park. I'd expect that streak to come to an end this weekend (but I would love to be wrong on this one).

Luke Johnson has done a great job since taking over at NPU and brought back some good baseball to the NPU campus after taking command of a 1-39 team prior to his arrival.

[Gregory Sager]

I'd be surprised if IWU was swept by NCC this weekend. I am not sur ethat NCC would sit players either as they are fighting for a Pool C if they stumble in CCIW tourney play next week.

BigPoppa, you would know better than I, but NCC has put together a pretty good resume for a Pool C bid, even if they win just 1 game this weekend and go 2 and out in the CCIW tourney.  In that situation, they would be 30-10 and a CCIW regular season championship. Included in their 30 wins, sweeps of Wheaton (22-15) and Augustana (22-15), 2/3 against Carthage (25-12) and North Park (25-12), 2 wins over Franklin College (23-12), and another win over Luther (23-14).

At 29-6, it would not surprise me to see NCC take over the #1 spot in the regional rankings when they are released today.  

Without seeing a comprehensive breakdown of Pool C criteria rankings (the basketball boards have numbers-crunchers who do a great job of this, but there doesn't seem to be any baseball guys who are doing something similar over on the Pool C board), it's hard to know just where North Central stands at the moment in terms of the national Pool C outlook. But I tend to think that Big Poppa is right; this is a weak region, and nobody in it has any guarantees as far as Pool C berths are concerned. I would expect NCC's coach to keep playing his starters even if his Cards win Game One against IWU and thereby clinch the CCIW title, because losses could hurt NCC's Pool C case.

No need to crunch numbers on the boards. It's all accessible from the front page of D3baseball.com. Regional rankings, in-region records, OWP, OOWP, SOS ... it's all a few mouse clicks away.

Yes, I know. But what I'm talking about is the sort of comprehensive analysis that blends the various criteria (in-region records, SOS, etc.) together, which the late Patrick Abegg and now KnightSlappy have done for men's basketball.

Looking around this morning, I found that Carthage has won 21 straight games against North Park. I'd expect that streak to come to an end this weekend (but I would love to be wrong on this one).

Luke Johnson has done a great job since taking over at NPU and brought back some good baseball to the NPU campus after taking command of a 1-39 team prior to his arrival.

He has, indeed ... and, based upon what NPU has coming back, my guess is that the Vikings will be pretty formidable next year as well.

[Gregory Sager]

Congratulations to the following CCIW players who have been named to the Academic All-District team for College Division (D2, D3, NAIA) District Five:

First team
Ryan Javech, C, North Park (4.00, Business & Economics)
Vince Mathe, IF, Elmhurst (3.97, Finance)

Second team
Brian Kolb, IF, Wheaton (3.34, Business & Economics)

Third team
Mike Giovenco, P, North Park (3.54, Accounting)

Javech and Mathe are now on the ballot for the Academic All-American team.

[jigsaw54]

Is this NPU Carthage game still on for Friday? Trying to look at live stats but there not up.  Anybody have any news.

[mr_b]

Is this NPU Carthage game still on for Friday? Trying to look at live stats but there not up.  Anybody have any news.

Just posted on the Carthage website: North Park defeated Carthage 14-2, in a game halted after the 8th inning.  I'll have to check the archives to see the last time North Park beat Carthage by the ten-run rule.

[Viking Blue]

Is this NPU Carthage game still on for Friday? Trying to look at live stats but there not up.  Anybody have any news.

Just posted on the Carthage website: North Park defeated Carthage 14-2, in a game halted after the 8th inning.  I'll have to check the archives to see the last time North Park beat Carthage by the ten-run rule.

It may be inconsequential to some, but for those of us North Park baseball alums....YES!  Ten-running Carthage in Kenosha is saweeet.  Keep that good mojo rollin'.

[Viking Blue]

Might be a little too cold for Carthage to take BP with their shirts off at North Park this year, too. (Yes, they did at one time.  Classy indeed...)

[mr_b]

Just posted on the Carthage website: North Park defeated Carthage 14-2, in a game halted after the 8th inning.  I'll have to check the archives to see the last time North Park beat Carthage by the ten-run rule.

It may be inconsequential to some, but for those of us North Park baseball alums....YES!  Ten-running Carthage in Kenosha is saweeet.  Keep that good mojo rollin'.

I somehow knew you'd enjoy seeing that result!  Still a lot of work to do on Sunday...