BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[BigPoppa]

I think NPU comes back north with no more than three total losses, but I can see them not losing at all down south and rolling into town with something close to an 10-2, 11-2, 12-2 record? Not sure how many they are playing on the trip.

We have three more games on the spring break: Principia, Monmouth, and Bethel.

I think they cruise the first two and face a tougher than expected Bethel squad who has already knocked off Whitewater and swept CCIW opponent North Central.

[CCIWFAN6]

IWU (nine) and Mississippi College (10) combined to use 19 pitchers in their nine-inning game today. That ties two D-III records:
Most relief pitchers used, one team
Most relief pitchers used, both teams

IWU and Blackburn played a similar game in 2008, when the teams also combined to use 17 relievers.

Coach Martel frequently uses this philosophy of throwing 9 different pitchers for an inning a piece in non-conference games.  He feels it allows him to get younger players an opportunity/experience and also see who can go out and impress him. 

I don't ever remember him using this strategy so early in the year, but then again, after a conversation with him before the season started in which he was very optimistic about the quality of depth (although inexperienced as some of it was) in the pitching staff, I am not that surprised.

[D3Vike11]

What happened to Jason Pankau? Last time I saw him he was pitching for the Vee Pak Hawks...

[Gregory Sager]

First time poster here. Have been reading throughout my time playing in the CCIW, and am excited to start commenting with you guys. I'll keep my identity secret for the time being 

BigPoppa I definitely can see North Park being the team to beat in the CCIW. Although pitching they are struggling to find a 3rd and 4th starting pitcher (Garcia got the first nod, but has been coming out of the pen after just 1 start, and McGrady is still recovering from his elbow injury), they are going to be a tough team to play down the stretch.

Luke Johnson is going for his 7th straight season with an improving record from the season before, which means they need to win at least 31 games this year! Can't wait for conference play to start!

I think that Travis Boyer will settle in as the third starter for NPU. He finished the year strong in 2011. He probably just needs to get two or three starts in before he's consistently zeroing in on the plate.

I'm a little concerned about the Vikings' glovework. They've made 19 errors and given up ten unearned runs in their first nine games. However, this is a team whose position players are almost all new to the lineup this season. The fielding problems may take care of themselves as the season goes along and the team gets more experience. I am encouraged about the 15 double plays thus far; looks like Sousanes and Coduto might turn out to be a good combo up the middle, even though they're both playing new positions this year.

I'm psyched to see their home opener a week from today.

[D3Vike11]

First time poster here. Have been reading throughout my time playing in the CCIW, and am excited to start commenting with you guys. I'll keep my identity secret for the time being 

BigPoppa I definitely can see North Park being the team to beat in the CCIW. Although pitching they are struggling to find a 3rd and 4th starting pitcher (Garcia got the first nod, but has been coming out of the pen after just 1 start, and McGrady is still recovering from his elbow injury), they are going to be a tough team to play down the stretch.

Luke Johnson is going for his 7th straight season with an improving record from the season before, which means they need to win at least 31 games this year! Can't wait for conference play to start!

I think that Travis Boyer will settle in as the third starter for NPU. He finished the year strong in 2011. He probably just needs to get two or three starts in before he's consistently zeroing in on the plate.

I'm a little concerned about the Vikings' glovework. They've made 19 errors and given up ten unearned runs in their first nine games. However, this is a team whose position players are almost all new to the lineup this season. The fielding problems may take care of themselves as the season goes along and the team gets more experience. I am encouraged about the 15 double plays thus far; looks like Sousanes and Coduto might turn out to be a good combo up the middle, even though they're both playing new positions this year.

I'm psyched to see their home opener a week from today.

Boyer has 11 walks in 7 innings and has brought his command struggles from last year with him to Florida. I think that if North Park is going to be successful in the 3rd games of series they either need to keep sticking it, or have someone step up.

[D3Vike11]

First time poster here. Have been reading throughout my time playing in the CCIW, and am excited to start commenting with you guys. I'll keep my identity secret for the time being 

BigPoppa I definitely can see North Park being the team to beat in the CCIW. Although pitching they are struggling to find a 3rd and 4th starting pitcher (Garcia got the first nod, but has been coming out of the pen after just 1 start, and McGrady is still recovering from his elbow injury), they are going to be a tough team to play down the stretch.

Luke Johnson is going for his 7th straight season with an improving record from the season before, which means they need to win at least 31 games this year! Can't wait for conference play to start!

I think that Travis Boyer will settle in as the third starter for NPU. He finished the year strong in 2011. He probably just needs to get two or three starts in before he's consistently zeroing in on the plate.

I'm a little concerned about the Vikings' glovework. They've made 19 errors and given up ten unearned runs in their first nine games. However, this is a team whose position players are almost all new to the lineup this season. The fielding problems may take care of themselves as the season goes along and the team gets more experience. I am encouraged about the 15 double plays thus far; looks like Sousanes and Coduto might turn out to be a good combo up the middle, even though they're both playing new positions this year.

I'm psyched to see their home opener a week from today.

Boyer has 11 walks in 7 innings and has brought his command struggles from last year with him to Florida. I think that if North Park is going to be successful in the 3rd games of series they either need to keep sticking it, or have someone step up.

But you are right, if Boyer can settle in, NP will have one of the toughest starting pitching in the CCIW.

[BigPoppa]

NPU's Steve Kuligkowski has been impressive to this point. 3-1 with a 1.73 ERA and 36Ks in 26 IP. He appears to be a legit #1 for the Vikings that can match up with just about anyone. NPU's #2 and #3 starters (at least accoring to the number of starts so far) could be the thorn in NPU's side as they sit with ERAs in the 6-7 range right now.

[jester13]

Why was the North Park vs Monmouth game cancelled today?

[Gregory Sager]

NPU's Steve Kuligkowski has been impressive to this point. 3-1 with a 1.73 ERA and 36Ks in 26 IP.

... and an outstanding WHIP of exactly 1.000.

He appears to be a legit #1 for the Vikings that can match up with just about anyone. NPU's #2 and #3 starters (at least accoring to the number of starts so far) could be the thorn in NPU's side as they sit with ERAs in the 6-7 range right now.

Yep, Soldano and Boyer need to step it up. Fortunately, NPU has a nice run of non-conference home games before the CCIW season starts.

I wonder if we'll see Paul Garcia get any more starts in the non-con interval, just in case Soldano or Boyer doesn't get things straightened out.

Why was the North Park vs Monmouth game cancelled today?

Dunno. I guess that Dr. B will let us know, next time he's here on the site, since he's down in Florida with the Vikings.

[D3Vike11]

Why was the North Park vs Monmouth game cancelled today?

Yesterday's game against Monmouth was canceled because Monmouth had half of their team out with the flu. North Park played St. Lawrence University this morning and are currently playing Bethel University to round out their Spring trip in Ft. Meyer's.

[mwunder]

Carthage opens the season with a 14-1 win over Dakota Wesleyan.  They're an NAIA school with 22 games under their belts, but don't seem to be that good based on their 7-11 record (last 3 games aren't up to date on their website).

[Gregory Sager]

Why was the North Park vs Monmouth game cancelled today?

Yesterday's game against Monmouth was canceled because Monmouth had half of their team out with the flu. North Park played St. Lawrence University this morning and are currently playing Bethel University to round out their Spring trip in Ft. Meyer's.

Not St. Lawrence University, as in the school in northern New York, but plain ol' Lawrence University, the school in northern Wisconsin. The NPU website shows that the Park took down Lawrence, 4-0, this morning. Although there is no score posted either on the NPU baseball page or Dr. B's page for the noon game against Bethel, the Bethel website shows that North Park won that game as well by an identical 4-0 score.

[D3Vike11]

Why was the North Park vs Monmouth game cancelled today?

Yesterday's game against Monmouth was canceled because Monmouth had half of their team out with the flu. North Park played St. Lawrence University this morning and are currently playing Bethel University to round out their Spring trip in Ft. Meyer's.

Not St. Lawrence University, as in the school in northern New York, but plain ol' Lawrence University, the school in northern Wisconsin. The NPU website shows that the Park took down Lawrence, 4-0, this morning. Although there is no score posted either on the NPU baseball page or Dr. B's page for the noon game against Bethel, the Bethel website shows that North Park won that game as well by an identical 4-0 score.

Yes, thank you Greg!  North Park downed Lawrence University 9-2 in the first game and then beat a very good Bethel team 4-0. It was nice to see Nick Soldano step up and pitch a good game today against Bethel. The Vikings come away 10-2 and will face off against former pitching coach Steve Hardman, now head coach at Dominican University.

[mwunder]

Seems maybe a bit over-the-top for a season opener, but here's a quote from Augie regarding today's game...


"The real story, said Schmidt, "not even Rohe, was how good we played, defensively.  I haven't seen a Carthage team play defense like this in a long time, and a lot of that was freshman shortstop Drew Bailey (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley).  He played about as good a shortstop today as I've seen in my coaching career.  He put on a show, and he may become the best defensive shortstop we've ever had.  He had the other team talking.  Bailey playing short has also allowed us to move Kyle Pusateri to third, and he made every play today.  Our pitcher are going to love this.  We haven't been the best defensive team around, by any means, the past few years.  Every team is different, and maybe defense will be this team's calling card."

[NCF]

North Central opened their spring break tour with a 4-3 victory over North Carolina Wesleyan.