BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

BigPoppa · May 04, 2006, 04:42:13 PM

NCAA regional polls are out:

Team Regional Record Overall
Central
1. Aurora 21-4 25-8
2. Carthage 20-3 27-7
3. Augustana 25-7 29-8
4. Central 12-3 23-9
5. Wash U 21-2 34-5

It is close to what was expected... no real surprises.

Here is a link to the website with all the regional rankings:

http://ncaasports.com/baseball/mens/polls/diviii

augie_superfan · May 04, 2006, 08:00:11 PM

Well Augie and Carthage both look great right now as long as they both don't play bad this weekend. Aurora and Wash U will be Pool B teams most likely so no worry about them in Pool C. Augie has beat Central which will help if they are both Pool C candidates. Therefore...there is a very good chance that the first team to be looked at for Pool C from the central will be Augie or Carthage.

Mr. Ypsi · May 05, 2006, 07:54:04 PM

I just checked the IWU season record, but was uncertain of the in-region status for several opponents. If they don't win the tourney, they would appear to be on-the-bubble (at best!) - is the consensus that they are AQ or nothing?

Ralph Turner · May 05, 2006, 08:20:26 PM

Quote from: matblake on May 02, 2006, 03:36:55 PM
Even though I don't follow the program that closely, it was great to see Wheaton as a little more competitive this year. If Wheaton were to sweep North Park (definitely something not to count on, the Thunder could get swept themselves) they could finish with their best CCIW record since 1980.
Wheaton has never been a powerhouse in baseball, and has only won one championship in 1951. Hopefully we will continue to see some more good baseball from the Thunder in the future!

Gregory, you can take solace in the fact that Wheaton baseball fans have experienced more futility than North Park football.

augie_superfan · May 06, 2006, 01:20:54 AM

Wheaton beat NPU 5-1 tonight

irish21 · May 06, 2006, 11:04:06 AM

Quote from: Ralph Turner on May 05, 2006, 08:20:26 PM
Quote from: matblake on May 02, 2006, 03:36:55 PM
Even though I don't follow the program that closely, it was great to see Wheaton as a little more competitive this year. If Wheaton were to sweep North Park (definitely something not to count on, the Thunder could get swept themselves) they could finish with their best CCIW record since 1980.
Wheaton has never been a powerhouse in baseball, and has only won one championship in 1951. Hopefully we will continue to see some more good baseball from the Thunder in the future!

Gregory, you can take solace in the fact that Wheaton baseball fans have experienced more futility than North Park football.

Now that was a perfect analogy Ralph!

mwunder · May 06, 2006, 04:26:22 PM

Carthage wins 11-2 in game one this afternoon.

mr_b · May 06, 2006, 10:07:34 PM

North Park sweeps Wheaton 3-2 and 10-5 at Legion Field this afternoon.

BigPoppa · May 07, 2006, 03:01:21 AM

A Carthage win at Millikin on Sunday leaves three teams at 8-13 in the CCIW... all tied for the fourth, and final, playoff spot. NPU would get in the tourney based on sweeping Millikin in week one and taking 2 of 3 from Wheaton this weekend.

I think it would be great if NPU got in. The chances are very good as Carthage should beat Millikin.

fourtimeallcciw · May 07, 2006, 11:13:35 AM

Quote from: BigPoppa on May 07, 2006, 03:01:21 AM
A Carthage win at Millikin on Sunday leaves three teams at 8-13 in the CCIW... all tied for the fourth, and final, playoff spot. NPU would get in the tourney based on sweeping Millikin in week one and taking 2 of 3 from Wheaton this weekend.

I think it would be great if NPU got in. The chances are very good as Carthage should beat Millikin.

I think if NC beats Augie today, they'll finish 8-13 as well. Who would win a 4-team tiebreaker between NP, Millikin, Wheaton, & NC?

BigPoppa · May 07, 2006, 12:35:52 PM

Quote from: fourtimeallcciw on May 07, 2006, 11:13:35 AM
I think if NC beats Augie today, they'll finish 8-13 as well. Who would win a 4-team tiebreaker between NP, Millikin, Wheaton, & NC?

WOW... I did not even notice that NCC beat Augie yesterday. I have no idea of what happens in a four way tie. Anyone???

BigPoppa · May 07, 2006, 12:40:27 PM

FROM THE CCIW WEBSITE:

"Possible Tiebreaker Scenarios
Carthage only needs to win one more game to earn the outright conference championship. If Carthage loses their final three games and Augustana wins their four remaining games, co-champions will be declared between Augustana and Carthage. Carthage has clinched the right to host by virtue of winning two of three games vs. Augustana, the first tiebreaker criteria, should they finished tied.

Augustana has clinched a tournament berth. They can share the conference championship title if they win their four remaining games and Carthage loses its remaining three CCIW games with both teams finishing 16-5.

Illinois Wesleyan has also clinched a tournament berth. Worst case for them is losing their three remaining games to finish 11-10. Millikin could finish 12-9 (if they win last four games) or 11-10 (if they win three of last four games) to earn the No. 3 seed. Millikin beat Illinois Wesleyan two out of three times during the regular season, thus, earning the tiebreaker over Illinois Wesleyan should they finish tied.

Millikin needs to win their last four games (to finish 12-9) or three of its last four games (to finish 11-10) and Illinois Wesleyan must lose their remaining three games to earn the #3 tournament seed. Otherwise, Millikin will likely earn the No. 4 tournament seed. If they go 2-2 to finish 10-11, they could tie with Wheaton for the final spot assuming Wheaton sweeps North Park. Using the tiebreaker, Wheaton would get the final seed by virtue of their winning two of three games against Millikin.

Wheaton could finish 10-11 if they sweep North Park this week. If Millikin loses all three of its remaining games, Wheaton's 10-11 finish would give them the final tournament berth over Millikin's 8-13.

Millikin goes 0-for-4 and North Park takes 2-of-3 from Wheaton, giving each team a 9-12 record. North Park gets into the tournament based on their 3-0 record against Millikin.

If Wheaton wins 2-of-3 this weekend and Millikin wins 1-of-4 over the next week, each team finishes 9-12 and Wheaton has the tiebreaker with a 2-1 record. Or, if Wheaton wins 2-of-3 and Millikin goes 0-for-4, Wheaton would be 9-12 and Millikin would be 8-13, sending Wheaton."

** The one problem they never mention is the NCC factor... your guess is as good as mine on this one. I still think NPU would go.

mr_b · May 07, 2006, 01:49:17 PM

Quote from: BigPoppa on May 07, 2006, 12:40:27 PM
The one problem they never mention is the NCC factor... your guess is as good as mine on this one. I still think NPU would go.

North Park holds the tiebreaker against Millikin (having gone 3-0 against the Big Blue) as well as Wheaton and North Central (having taken 2 of 3 against both). The fourth and final berth hinges on the outcome of the Carthage-Millikin game on Sunday. If Carthage prevails, North Park will make the tournament for the first time since 1999.

tjcummingsfan · May 07, 2006, 02:02:56 PM

Wow I'm amazed North Park went to the tourney that recently. The 4 years I was there the team was awful, I can't even imagine watching a team as good as this year's.

mr_b · May 07, 2006, 02:32:01 PM

North Park's 1999 squad featured the best top-to-bottom offensive attack since the 1996 season. The team batting average was .304, scored 268 runs, and hit 78 doubles and 33 home runs. Curtis Tate was the leading hitter (.425, 4 HR, 34 BI), but there were some other pretty fearsome sticks in the lineup as well: Cory Clark (.385-7-28), Dan Hernandez (.351-2-39 and 14 SB), Chad Peterson (9 HR, 32 RBI), and Brandon Wiley (.322-6-29 + 10 SB at leadoff), to name a few. The pitching staff had a true rotation of four guys they could run out there against anyone: Andrew Postek went 7-2 with an ERA of 2.53 -- no small feat pitching at Hedstrand Field; Tim Dykes (4-6, 4.34) was a tough competitor on the mound and a leader in the dugout; Joe Miller (2-2, 3.66) and Shelly Cohen (3-5, 5.37) were the other two top starters. The main weakness of the team was fielding (.927).

The 1999 Vikings started off with 3 big wins in Texas, scoring 26 runs in their first two games. They ended up 10-8 in the CCIW and lost their first round games to Carthage and Wesleyan. Perhaps the most memorable game of that season was against the University of Chicago on a day when the wind was howling out to right. The Maroons scored 4 runs in each of the first 3 innings to go up 12-0. North Park started to hit the ball -- I think Cory Clark had three home runs and lost out on a fourth when the ump couldn't see the ball sail over the right-field net, so he called it foul. The Vikings led 21-18 going into the top of the eighth, and Andrew Postek was brought in to finish out the game on the mound. The Vikes put up 10 runs in the bottom of the ninth to win it 31-18, and Postek got credited with a save.