BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton outlasts NCC in the marathon, winning 5-4 in twelve innings.

Elmhurst beat Millikin in seven via slaughter rule, 11-1.

NPU now up on IWU, 1-0, in the third inning of the nightcap.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU 5, IWU 0, fourth inning

CC 1, AC 0, second inning

WC 2, NCC 0, second inning

EC 4, MU 0, third inning

[Gregory Sager]

NPU 6, IWU 0, sixth inning

CC 1, AC 1, fourth inning

WC 4, NCC 1, second inning

EC 6, MU 0, fourth inning

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 8, Illinois Wesleyan 0

WP: Conway (2-1)
LP: Romano (2-2)

T.D. Conway, Alex Vannucci, and Johnny Larson combined to throw a two-hit shutout and give NPU the series. It was particularly gratifying and impressive to see Conway throw so well after missing two months due to a minor injury. (His use on the mound this season, and in this game in particular, has been very conservative; after all, he's the franchise as far as NPU football is concerned, and the coaches of both sports and the NPU training staff are trying not to put too much wear-and-tear on his arm.) In six innings of work he gave up only a single and a walk, striking out four Titans hitters along the way. His ERA is now down to 1.33 for the season.

Taking two out of three in Bloomington was huge. Now it's on to Wheaton next weekend.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie wins the second game over Carthage, 7-4. Sauer over Arenson.

That puts Augustana a half-game behind North Park, with the Red Men due to host the Rock Islanders in the series finale tomorrow at noon at Schmidt Field.

[Gregory Sager]

Elmhurst crushes Millikin in game two, 13-4.

North Central came back from a 4-1 deficit to beat Wheaton, 7-5, and earn a doubleheader split while taking two out of three in that series. The Cards were the first team in the league to get to Trey Martin; they touched him up for six runs (five earned) in 6.1 innings of work.

[Gregory Sager]

In spite of being shut out in the middle game of the series, NPU still did well at the plate as a team, batting .342/.421/.340 for the three-game set, numbers not too far off from what the Vikings had previously accomplished this season in CCIW play.

But the real story of this series was North Park's pitching. Soldano/Peterson/Herrick, Silverthorne, and Conway/Vannucci/Larson gave up only three runs all weekend, posting an ERA of 1.00 and a microscopic WHIP of 0.778. Illinois Wesleyan's batting line for the weekend was .161/.241/.223.

This was the best sequence of pitching that the Park has had all season. The optimal time for your pitching to get hot is at the end of the year, especially when first place is on the line and you're in the other team's ballpark.

It's Bobby Czarnowski's Player of the Year award to lose at this point.

He's first in BA (.458), RBIs (23), HRs (5) = Triple Crown, and total bases (42).  He's also second in runs scored (17), and tied for second in hits (22).

Czarnowski went 2-11 with no extra-base hits and a single RBI this weekend against NCC pitching.

Czarnowski went 0-10 against NPU pitching this weekend, with no RBI. He might still win Player of the Year, but as far as it being his to lose is concerned, the Czar has abdicated.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Yeah, I'll await the updated conference stats to see if Czarnowwski still leads in ANY category.

Two weeks ago he looked like a lock; now I'm unsure whether he is even still the leading candidate.  Until I see the stats, not sure who the competition is.

I'll also be interested in seeing whether or not Trey Martin is still a sure thing; Jeff Johnson has fallen off the radar, but I think Singh had a good outing.

[Gregory Sager]

Czarnowski's nowhere near the leaderboard in batting average anymore. He still enjoys a one-homer lead over Brett Bernal (NPU), Dan Sabin (NPU), Trey Martin (WC), Dave Wolak (EC), and Ryan Collins (EC), but Wolak and Collins get another shot at Millikin pitching tomorrow afternoon. Czarnowski's RBI lead is down to one over Tommy Endres (NPU) and three over Grant Stewart (AC). Endres and Sam Klein (NCC) have passed him in total bases, and Stewart has tied him. As far as runs scored is concerned, he's now trailing Zak Worsley (NPU) by six, and Mike Coduto (NPU), Stewart, and Jacob Van Duyne (AC) by one apiece. And in the hits category, he's behind at least 14 players by my count, including one of his own teammates (Jon Frericks).

Grant Stewart might be the biggest competition for Czarnowski at the moment. The problem with the North Park guys is that so many of them are enjoying big seasons in offensive categories that they might all cancel each other out.

Singh had a respectable, but not eye-popping, line in the middle game of the series against Wheaton: 9.1 innings, 8 hits allowed, 4 runs (all earned), 2 walks, 1 strikeout.

[mr_b]

Going into the final week of CCIW action, here are the standings:

Team	Record	Next opponent
Augustana	12-6	Millikin
North Park	12-6	Wheaton
North Central	11-7	Carthage
IL Wesleyan	11-7	Elmhurst
Wheaton	9-9	North Park
Elmhurst	9-9	IL Wesleyan
Carthage	7-11	North Central
Millikin	1-17	Augustana

Only two teams, Millikin and Carthage, have been mathematically eliminated.  Here are the tie-breakers among the six teams that are still in the running for a conference tournament bid:

Augustana: holds the TB over North Park, Wheaton, North Central, and Elmhurst
North Park: holds the TB over North Central, IL Wesleyan, and Elmhurst
North Central: holds the TB over IL Wesleyan and Wheaton
IL Wesleyan: holds the TB over Augustana and Wheaton
Wheaton: holds the TB over Elmhurst
Elmhurst: holds the TB over North Central

By my calculations (feel free to double-check!!), to qualify for the tournament, here is what needs to happen for each team:

Elmhurst would need to sweep IL Wesleyan and hope that either North Park takes two of three from Wheaton or Carthage takes two from North Central
Wheaton would need to sweep North Park and hope that either North Central or IL Wesleyan gets swept
IL Wesleyan would need to win one against Elmhurst
North Central would need to win one against Carthage and hope that Elmhurst loses one against IL Wesleyan
North Park would need to win one against Wheaton or hope that either Carthage or Elmhurst takes two of three.
Augustana has clinched a berth, since the worst they could finish is 12-9 -- tied with Wheaton and Elmhurst if both these teams would sweep, and Augie holds the TB over both.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I strongly suspect the tourney will be in Rock Island (well, the field is actually in Moline ).  It is hard to imagine that they will not sweep Millikin, and they hold the tie-break over NPU, the only team that could match 15-6.

BTW, how can IWU hold the tie-break on Elmhurst when they haven't played yet?

[mr_b]

I strongly suspect the tourney will be in Rock Island (well, the field is actually in Moline ).  It is hard to imagine that they will not sweep Millikin, and they hold the tie-break over NPU, the only team that could match 15-6.

BTW, how can IWU hold the tie-break on Elmhurst when they haven't played yet?

That was a typo -- it should have been Wheaton. I also added more hypotheticals for North Park.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I strongly suspect the tourney will be in Rock Island (well, the field is actually in Moline ).  It is hard to imagine that they will not sweep Millikin, and they hold the tie-break over NPU, the only team that could match 15-6.

BTW, how can IWU hold the tie-break on Elmhurst when they haven't played yet?

That was a typo -- it should have been Wheaton. I also added more hypotheticals for North Park.

Yeah, I figured you meant over some other team, but I couldn't remember which and hadn't yet checked.

[Gregory Sager]

I strongly suspect the tourney will be in Rock Island (well, the field is actually in Moline ).  It is hard to imagine that they will not sweep Millikin, and they hold the tie-break over NPU, the only team that could match 15-6.

When I look at how dreadful Millikin's resume is, I'm half-convinced that I could step onto the Lawrence Avenue bus, dragoon the first nine people that I see, and thereby form a team that could beat the Big Blue. But baseball is baseball. You never know. As much of an airtight cinch as Augie appears to be for a sweep this coming weekend in the QC, I will still be following the games online in the cockeyed-optimistic hope that somehow, someway, Jimmy Millikin can pull a rabbit out of a hat and find a way to take a game from the Doggies.

Meanwhile, the Park's got plenty of things to worry about itself. Wheaton still has a razor-thin shot at the CCIW tourney, so you know that the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance isn't going to just roll over for Luke Johnson & Co. The good thing is that NPU's pitching seems to be gelling at the right time.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I strongly suspect the tourney will be in Rock Island (well, the field is actually in Moline ).  It is hard to imagine that they will not sweep Millikin, and they hold the tie-break over NPU, the only team that could match 15-6.

When I look at how dreadful Millikin's resume is, I'm half-convinced that I could step onto the Lawrence Avenue bus, dragoon the first nine people that I see, and thereby form a team that could beat the Big Blue. But baseball is baseball. You never know. As much of an airtight cinch as Augie appears to be for a sweep this coming weekend in the QC, I will still be following the games online in the cockeyed-optimistic hope that somehow, someway, Jimmy Millikin can pull a rabbit out of a hat and find a way to take a game from the Doggies.

Meanwhile, the Park's got plenty of things to worry about itself. Wheaton still has a razor-thin shot at the CCIW tourney, so you know that the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance isn't going to just roll over for Luke Johnson & Co. The good thing is that NPU's pitching seems to be gelling at the right time.

I, too, will hold out (probably futilely) hope that Millikin can win a game, IWU can get the sweep, NCC does NOT get a sweep, and (sorry ) that Wheaton takes two from your Vikings.  Then IWU and Augie tie for the title, and IWU has the tie break!  That's a lot of dominoes to all fall the right way, but the tourney COULD still be in Bloomington.

Since that is such an unlikely scenario, I console myself that the Titans did not play at home (in fact, were the fourth seed) the year they won the Walnut-and-Bronze.