BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[NCF]

Is Wheaton playing at home this Saturday? I will be there for a track meet, but between events it would be nice to catch part of a game if they are playing. Thanks to anyone who can answer-yes, I'll admit it-I'm too lazy to look it up myself.

Yes.  They host Millikin starting at Noon.

Thanks! Now, hopefully the rain holds off.

[NCF]

Congrats to Cardinal pitcher Connor Brown on being named CCIW pitcher of the week.

[D3Vike11]

Today's games:

North Park (7-1) @ Carthage (2-6) : The Vikings look to sweep the season series versus Carthage for the 1st time under Luke
                                                  Johnson.
Augustana (3-5) @ North C. (6-2)  : The Cardinals look to stay hot as they play host to Augustana, who come off of a much
                                                  needed series win over Carthage.
Millikin (3-5) @ Ill. Wesleyan (5-3): The Big Blue are coming off a surprising weekend sweep of Elmhurst, but now face the
                                                 Titans who need a conference win to get back on track.
Elmhurst (4-4) @ Wheaton (2-6)   : After taking one away from North Park in their home-opener, Wheaton looks to climb
                                                 back into the standings with a needed win over the Blue Jays.

[BigPoppa]

Today's games:

North Park (7-1) @ Carthage (2-6) : The Vikings look to sweep the season series versus Carthage for the 1st time under Luke
                                                  Johnson.
Augustana (3-5) @ North C. (6-2)  : The Cardinals look to stay hot as they play host to Augustana, who come off of a much
                                                  needed series win over Carthage.
Millikin (3-5) @ Ill. Wesleyan (5-3): The Big Blue are coming off a surprising weekend sweep of Elmhurst, but now face the
                                                 Titans who need a conference win to get back on track.
Elmhurst (4-4) @ Wheaton (2-6)   : After taking one away from North Park in their home-opener, Wheaton looks to climb
                                                 back into the standings with a needed win over the Blue Jays.

I'll take:
Carthage over NPU
North Central over Augie
IWU over Millikin
Wheaton over elmhurst

[D3Vike11]

Today's games:

North Park (7-1) @ Carthage (2-6) : The Vikings look to sweep the season series versus Carthage for the 1st time under Luke
                                                  Johnson.
Augustana (3-5) @ North C. (6-2)  : The Cardinals look to stay hot as they play host to Augustana, who come off of a much
                                                  needed series win over Carthage.
Millikin (3-5) @ Ill. Wesleyan (5-3): The Big Blue are coming off a surprising weekend sweep of Elmhurst, but now face the
                                                 Titans who need a conference win to get back on track.
Elmhurst (4-4) @ Wheaton (2-6)   : After taking one away from North Park in their home-opener, Wheaton looks to climb
                                                 back into the standings with a needed win over the Blue Jays.

I'll take:
Carthage over NPU
North Central over Augie
IWU over Millikin
Wheaton over elmhurst

NPU over Carthage
Augie over North Central
IWU over Millikin
Wheaton over Elmhurst

[BigPoppa]

Today's games:

North Park (7-1) @ Carthage (2-6) : The Vikings look to sweep the season series versus Carthage for the 1st time under Luke
                                                  Johnson.
Augustana (3-5) @ North C. (6-2)  : The Cardinals look to stay hot as they play host to Augustana, who come off of a much
                                                  needed series win over Carthage.
Millikin (3-5) @ Ill. Wesleyan (5-3): The Big Blue are coming off a surprising weekend sweep of Elmhurst, but now face the
                                                 Titans who need a conference win to get back on track.
Elmhurst (4-4) @ Wheaton (2-6)   : After taking one away from North Park in their home-opener, Wheaton looks to climb
                                                 back into the standings with a needed win over the Blue Jays.

I'll take:
Carthage over NPU
North Central over Augie
IWU over Millikin
Wheaton over elmhurst

NPU over Carthage
Augie over North Central
IWU over Millikin
Wheaton over Elmhurst

I'd expect nothing less from you:)

[D3Vike11]

Today's games:

North Park (7-1) @ Carthage (2-6) : The Vikings look to sweep the season series versus Carthage for the 1st time under Luke
                                                  Johnson.
Augustana (3-5) @ North C. (6-2)  : The Cardinals look to stay hot as they play host to Augustana, who come off of a much
                                                  needed series win over Carthage.
Millikin (3-5) @ Ill. Wesleyan (5-3): The Big Blue are coming off a surprising weekend sweep of Elmhurst, but now face the
                                                 Titans who need a conference win to get back on track.
Elmhurst (4-4) @ Wheaton (2-6)   : After taking one away from North Park in their home-opener, Wheaton looks to climb
                                                 back into the standings with a needed win over the Blue Jays.

I'll take:
Carthage over NPU
North Central over Augie
IWU over Millikin
Wheaton over elmhurst

NPU over Carthage
Augie over North Central
IWU over Millikin
Wheaton over Elmhurst

I'd expect nothing less from you:)

It's going to be a good game. I will be driving up there shortly. I would expect NP to throw Boyer again who shut down the Red Men in his last outing. Carthage is desperate to climb back in the race and this is a MUST WIN for them.

[warrior35]

It's going to be a good game. I will be driving up there shortly. I would expect NP to throw Boyer again who shut down the Red Men in his last outing. Carthage is desperate to climb back in the race and this is a MUST WIN for them.

I think there are a lot of teams that have a must win situation today or darn close to it... losses for Wheaton and Carthage will REALLY hurt their CCIW Tourney hopes.  And, if Augie or Millikin loses they'll be in a tough hole too.  If any of these teams want to climb out their hole it's gonna get a heck of a lot tougher if they lose today.  I still do a double take at Carthage's record every time I see it... I just can't believe it.

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage drilled NPU, 7-0, as Eric Rohe went the distance and scattered four hits. The Red Men clearly played like a team whose back is against the wall; NPU played like ... well, I'll let D3Vike11 describe it, since he was there, but if the live stats are any indication the Vikings played their ugliest game of the year. They committed four errors and were picked off three times.

Given that NPU was pitching its #4 (Travis Boyer) while Carthage sent its ace to the bump, I would've figured that Big Poppa had a better chance of an accurate prediction than D3Vike11. But that's no excuse for the poor game that the Park played today.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie downed host North Central, 5-3, so NPU stays in first place going into this weekend's play.

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton beat Elmhurst, 9-5. Illinois Wesleyan is crushing Millikin in the fifth, 13-1. Looks like after today it'll be:

North Park	7-2	21-5
North Central	6-3	15-7
Illinois Wesleyan	6-3	17-7
Augustana	4-5	16-8
Elmhurst	4-5	12-10
Wheaton	3-6	13-12
Carthage	3-6	8-11
Millikin	3-6	7-17

Tomorrow, Carthage hosts CUW and Elmhurst visits Benedictine. This weekend, the matchups are:

NPU @ AC (3x)
IWU @ CC (3x)
EC @ NCC (2x), NCC @ EC (1x)
MU @ WC (3x)

[D3Vike11]

Just got back from the North Park/Carthage game. I was surprised to see Carthage go with Rohe, but it makes sense the more you think about it. They really needed that win. The downside is they go into their weekend series against Wesleyan without their ace being able to throw. Every game for Carthage here on out is a must win. 

North Park got outplayed in almost every aspect of the game. Carthage threw strikes, played better defense, and got guys on base. It looked as if the Vikings came out playing "Not To Lose" and let Carthage dictate the pace of the game. The Vikings are still in the driver's seat thanks to Augustana, whom they play this weekend.

**It was also unfortunate to see/hear the Carthage fans acting so classless. As a former player, I had gotten used to it and drowned it out. Being in the stands, I finally was able to hear just exactly how much class they lacked.

[NCF]

Hopefully North Central can bounce back this week-end.

[warrior35]

Hopefully North Central can bounce back this week-end.

Elmhurst seems to be reeling after getting swept by Millikin and getting out to slow start against Wheaton.  I think Elmhurst will come out strong against NCC, because if they lose this they're probably on a downward slide the rest of the year with series against Carthage, IWU, and NPU left.  But, I think based on recent history if NCC can get a big lead early Elmhurst probably lacks the mental ability to overcome it.

[NCF]

Not taking an early lead yesterday most likely hurt NC. With th probability of scattered t-storms this week-end I wonder if they'll get that DH in.