BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Mr. Ypsi · May 15, 2010, 07:03:38 PM

Bottom of the third, and NPU does for their fourth pitcher! Now 7-0, with one out and two men on.

droppinbombs47 · May 15, 2010, 07:05:32 PM

Ypsi make that 8 - 0 with 1 out looks like the with the light situation in Naperville the CCIW is praying for a 10 run rule

Mr. Ypsi · May 15, 2010, 07:13:34 PM

I may have jinxed Kulavic - NPU opens the fourth with 4 straight singles (only one run so far).

Mr. Ypsi · May 15, 2010, 07:21:36 PM

Gotta love those 'two-for-the-price-of-one' plays (as the late, great Ernie Harwell often said - after yet a fifth single, Kulavic gets a DP to end the uprising. 8-2 IWU.

Mr. Ypsi · May 15, 2010, 07:31:04 PM

The Vikes may have finally found their pitcher - Soldano has gotten 5 outs without giving up a run.

Still 8-2 as we enter the fifth.

Mr. Ypsi · May 15, 2010, 07:37:03 PM

Kulavic (at least for now) back in command - a 1,2,3 top of the fifth.

Does anyone know the conference tourney rule - since the game will now go beyond the fifth, if is ended by darkness is it a game, or do they resume tomorrow?

Mr. Ypsi · May 15, 2010, 08:16:34 PM

After seven, IWU 9-4.

Soldano was finally the solution for NPU - 4.2 innings, 1 (unearned) run. For the Titans' sake, I hope they either found him too late, or he is running out of gas.

Mr. Ypsi · May 15, 2010, 08:23:15 PM

Both teams went 1,2,3 in the 8th. Last chance for the Vikes, and Kulavic is looking very 2008 so far!

Mr. Ypsi · May 15, 2010, 08:32:48 PM

Kulavic finally ran out of gas. 2 runs in, men at the corners, but two outs; Kevin Sullivan replaces him.

Now 9-6, so tying run at the plate.

Mr. Ypsi · May 15, 2010, 08:39:01 PM

It's over - IWU 9, NPU 7.

With memories of the Carthage game fresh in mind, that got much too scary in the ninth! A single brought in run number 7, so the winning run came to bat. Fortunately, a fly-out ended it.

I have no clue who IWU has left to pitch against Carthage tomorrow.

Mr. Ypsi · May 15, 2010, 08:40:29 PM

Congratulations to NPU on a great season!

I'm hoping for a C for you, but it looks gloomy.

Titan Q · May 15, 2010, 10:02:03 PM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on May 15, 2010, 08:39:01 PM
I have no clue who IWU has left to pitch against Carthage tomorrow.

My best guess is that Paul Kabbes (1-4, 4.50) will get the start in Game 1 tomorrow...

http://www.iwusports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1171&path=baseball

I won't be surprised if they roll the dice and try Jason Pankau (8-2, 2.86) at some point tomorrow. He just pitched 8 innings Friday vs NCC, but this is "win or go home" time.

The Titans are not in good pitching shape tomorrow at all. They'll need to have the bats going and hope some pitchers step up.

Mr. Ypsi · May 16, 2010, 12:07:09 AM

NPU certainly found someone out of the bullpen - Soldano (after that horrendous start that saw the Vikes down 8-0) went 5.2 innings with only one (unearned) run. Hopefully, someone (who knows who it may be) can be the Titan Soldano tomorrow.

I'm not very optimistic, but I'm not throwing in the towel just yet.

Viking Blue · May 16, 2010, 09:02:52 AM

Congratulations to North Park on a heck of a year. It brought back great memories being able to get out there and watch yesterday's game vs. Wesleyan (even if the result wasn't what I was looking for). As a high school coach myself, it's nearly impossible for me to ever get out and watch a college game, so the 5:00 start was exactly what I needed.

Say this for D3 sports, and the CCIW specifically: it's such a breath of fresh air to see these non-scholarship athletes, their coaches, and their fan bases, giving all they have in a tournament like this. It truly shows the amount of desire some of these kids have, and the love they have for the game. Baseball proves, more than any other sport, to truly be a team game in a tournament like this. Unlike football or basketball, a team can't simply ride one stud throughout the entire tournament. A team effort (especially on the pitching side of things) is a must in order to advance.

I really felt for Jake Hollinsaid yesterday as he was unable to get out of the first inning in his start against IWU. It was clear he had some sort of physical ailment, and was pitching in his 3rd straight tournament game. As a senior, he had to know that this might be his last time on a college mound, yet he didn't shy away from taking the ball.

Another plus: I loved to see the attitude on North Park's bench throughout the game. It appeared as though, until the very last pitch was thrown, that every single guy wearing NP blue was all about their TEAM. We constantly hear about the selfishness of today's athletes, yet here are kids who are basically PAYING to play, many of whom have not seen the field once this year, and they are supporting their teammates 100%.

I know this rambled a bit, but it was just so refreshing to see. Kudos to the Vikings on bringing respect back to our program, and here's hoping we can find a way to sneak into a regional bid!

CCIWFAN6 · May 16, 2010, 09:24:27 AM

The Titans do have a couple of good arms left. I do not know if it is 18 innings worth, but talented arms nonetheless. Kabbes is a big righty who throws hard and has a good breaking ball. He was IWU's closer to start the year, but over the last couple of conference series, Martel has used him as the third starter. If IWU was able to pull off a win in the first game, I would assume Joe Sweeney would get the nod in game two. He has started 4 games this year, thrown in 10. He also has a good arm, but has constantly fallen victim to the big inning. Good luck to both teams.