BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

Rumors of NPU's demise may have been exaggerated.  Jeff Johnson yielded only two hit in the first six, but the Vikings got six (a double followed by 5 singles) in the seventh, and suddenly it is 8-5 entering the bottom of the seventh.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Certainly not the laugher it looked like it would be after six, but IWU prevails 8-5.

Greg, Big Poppa and Chantastic apparently are indeed toxic!

[BigPoppa]

CENTRAL   

1.   Webster   31-4   34-5
2.   Buena Vista   33-7   33-7
3.   Augustana   27-10   27-10
4.   Washington U.   26-14   26-15
5.   Wartburg   25-15   25-15
6.   Illinois Wesleyan   21-14   21-16

THE NCAA is letting NPU that they are only in if they win the CCIW Pool A bid.

[Collegebballfan]

Longtime Central region power Aurora appears to be looking for a new Head Coach.

[Cubbieboy]

Is that the first year for the Head coach at Aurora?  Is Coach leaving or asked to leave?

[Mr. Ypsi]

To presumably the great surprise of Chantastic and Big Poppa, NPU is the first team eliminated from the tourney.  NCC wins 7-3.

In a few minutes, Augie and IWU do battle, with the loser playing NCC at 7 this evening.

[Mr. Ypsi]

The Titans knock Chris Sauer out of the game in the bottom of the fifth; Darwin Townsend in to relieve.  Titans are up 4-1, with a runner on second and one out.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Townsend got the first batter, but gave up a two-run tater to Juskiewicz; at the end of five, IWU 6, Augie 1.

If the Titans can hang on, they are very much in the driver's seat.  Either NCC or Augie would send the other packing this evening, while the winner would have to beat IWU twice tomorrow.  Of course, if Augie makes a comeback, the same is true for them.

[Mr. Ypsi]

The west-Vikings got one back in the top of the sixth.  It look like John Munyon had dodged the bullet when Grant Stewart (who had reached third with only one out) was thrown out at the plate, but Jacques Camalick followed with a run scoring double: now 6-2.  The Titans have score in the last four innings; let's see if they can continue the streak.

[Mr. Ypsi]

The streak was broken: IWU went down 1,2,3 in the bottom of the sixth, despite having the 2nd,3rd,and 4th hitters up.  Augie got one run close in the top of the seventh, with Fifer driving in Van Duyne for an unearned run.  Munyon left after 6.2 innings.

[Mr. Ypsi]

In the bottom of the seventh, IWU plates four (knocking out Townsend in the process), and is now up 10-3.

IF the Titans can do it again in the eighth, does anyone know if they use the mercy rule in the tourney?  (I know they don't in Appleton, since IWU was up on Cortland by either 17-2 or 17-3 after the Red Dragons batted in the 7th, yet the game went the full way.  Is this just a CCIW rule, or a d3 [or overall NCAA] rule, which gets waived under certain circumstances?)

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU wins, 12-4.  What a stat line for 2B Jarrod Juskiewicz: 4 4 4 4 with two HRs!  And he is only a freshman - CCIW, be afraid; be very afraid! .

For now, on to Augie vs. NCC.  Tomorrow, IWU will play one (or two) for the tourney title.  Since Augie is probably the only conference team with any hope of a Pool C, I hope they win this evening.  And the CCIW part of me says I hope they win the first tomorrow, then lose the second; though the IWU part of me says smash 'em in the first!

[Gregory Sager]

IWU wins, 12-4.  What a stat line for 2B Jarrod Juskiewicz: 4 4 4 4 with two HRs!  And he is only a freshman - CCIW, be afraid; be very afraid! .

Juskiewicz was batting .269 with a homer and 15 RBI coming into this weekend, Chuck. In CCIW play, he hit at about the league median in batting average and slugging percentage. But if you want to crown him the next Chase Utley, then by all means, go ahead.

[Gregory Sager]

That was a very disappointing end to the season for North Park. Aside from a pretty good trip to Bloomington two weekends ago, which turned out to be fool's gold, the Vikings really didn't look good at all over the latter portion of the season. The two one-run losses to Wheaton last weekend were an indication that things weren't really right, and that some of the issues that had plagued the Vikings in the beginning of the season -- a lack of timely hitting and an absence of effective depth in the bullpen -- were rearing their ugly heads again. Not having Nick Soldano available this weekend was bad news, but NPU didn't bow out in two games simply because the Vikings didn't have their ace. Neither of the Alexes, Silverthorne and Vannucci, pitched well this weekend, and those two guys were going to be counted upon in the CCIW tourney whether Soldano pitched or not.

The bad news is that the Vikings are going to have some serious holes to fill, both in the rotation (as graduate students Soldano and Silverthorne have used up their eligibility) and in the middle of the infield (as four-year-starter SS Eric Sousanes and three-year-starter 2B Mike Coduto graduate). The good news is that NPU doesn't really lose any front-line talent beyond that -- a couple of marginal bullpen guys, some backup infielders, etc. In other words, although the holes are serious, there aren't that many of them.

Luke Johnson's proven in the past that he can go out and get recruits who can hit the ground running in terms of playing at a high level. I'm looking forward to seeing what he's able to put together for next season.

Meanwhile, congratulations and a hearty thank-you from this Vikings fan to all ten departing seniors.

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU wins, 12-4.  What a stat line for 2B Jarrod Juskiewicz: 4 4 4 4 with two HRs!  And he is only a freshman - CCIW, be afraid; be very afraid! .

Juskiewicz was batting .269 with a homer and 15 RBI coming into this weekend, Chuck. In CCIW play, he hit at about the league median in batting average and slugging percentage. But if you want to crown him the next Chase Utley, then by all means, go ahead.

Yeah, I knew his season stats.  But if he can do this against Augie as a freshman, just think of the potential.