BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

Now, Greg, be fair.  He said they will swing the bats - he didn't say they'd connect!

[jigsaw54]

great research greg

[warrior35]

I'm going to go ahead and give this a shot...

CCIW Seeds for the tourney:
1.) Wheaton
2.) Carthage
3.) IWU
4.) NCC

Results for this weekend:
Wheaton vs. IWU - Wheaton takes 2 of 3 (this will probably come down to how the freshmen pitch for the Thunder, but I think they get one at home and one away, it's a rarity for IWU to get swept at home)
Augustana vs. Elmhurst - Augie sweeps
Carthage vs. NCC - Carthage takes 2 of 3 (Carthage's pitching is really going to need to step it up to do this though! NCC is hitting .381 and averaging almost 13 runs a game in conference, while Carthage has a measly 8.04 ERA in conference)
North Park vs. Millikin - North Park takes 2 of 3 (Millikin seems to get one good start a series from one of their pitchers, the question is which one? and will the defense back them up?)

[Thundersticks]

Agree with your projected order of finish assuming no major injuries around the conference. Wheaton and IW tied at 5 after three and half at Alexian.

[jigsaw54]

IWU beat Wheaton 9-5 tonight

[warrior35]

Anybody at the Wheaton vs. IWU game that can explain what happened in the Top of the 9th?  Sounded like a mess...

Wheaton wasn't able to take advantage of several big chances and apparently got some really bad breaks late in the game.  IWU is tough at home, but we'll see if Wheaton can't bounce back and get a couple.

IWU's pitcher seemed to have a pretty good day, several K's on the day... although he did give up 12 hits, but he managed to get out of the tightest of the jams.

IWU 9 Wheaton 5 final

[DirtyJersey]

Jigsaw, I hate to rain on the NCC parade, however, NCC still has to play the 4 best teams in the cciw, according to preseason polls and common knowledge.

Only one of the five people who have posted their predictions of the final standings here over the past 24 hours has picked Augustana to make the playoffs, so it would seem that Augie's status as one of the four best teams in the CCIW is not "common knowledge" after all. In fact, you didn't pick Augie to finish in the top four, either, which means that you're contradicting yourself.

It's also interesting to note that two of the five prognosticators didn't pick Illinois Wesleyan to finish in the top four, either.

Augustana is still one of the four most talented ballclubs in the cciw. They will swing the bats every time they play, however, they have dug themselves in a hole too deep to climb out of. They are still a very dangerous team.

Augustana is sixth in runs scored, sixth in OBP, sixth in BA, seventh in slugging, and seventh in homers. "They will swing the bats every time they play"? If anything, it's Augie's pitching that is keeping it out of the bottom of the standings. (Augie's also dead last in fielding percentage.)

Last weekend Augie was swept in its own ballpark by a North Park team that you say is not one of the four most talented ballclubs in the CCIW. Only one of those three losses was close, and Augie was outscored by a combined tally of 26-11 in the series. And keep in mind that, as letsplay2 said, NPU has struggled on the mound since CCIW play began.

You say that Augie is one of the four best teams in the league. I say that they should prove it first.

Well done research. In my defense Augustana's pitching is 1st in CCIW play and the 3 teams they have played (IWU, Wheaton and NPU) are 2nd 3rd and 4th in pitching coming into the weekend. Maybe their bats will heat up?

[BigG296]

Diry Jersey....it's clear you are an Augustana homer.  I'm sure everybody appreciates your input but we need to be realistic here....

[jigsaw54]

At the NCC vs Carthage double header ... Umpires over an hour late ... wonder what type of factor this could be

[Mugsy]

Pitchers duel thus far between Wheaton & IWU in game 1.  6 hits combined (3 each) with IWU leading 1-0 in the bottom of the 6th.

[yank52]

watching via live stats
Ill Wes 6  Wheaton 3 final
Carthage took the lead 13 to 8 vs NCC in the 8th
NPU tied Millikin 5 to 5 in 11th but live stat down , what the ?

I saw the predictions earlier but I don't see either Ill Wes being there in the end, for the conference tourney.

[Mugsy]

Wheaton up over IWU 1-0 in the 7th inning of the 3rd game of the series.  IWU wins the first 2 games.

[sherlockholmes]

Wheaton up 8-1 in the 8th (IWU leads series 2-0)
North Park up 4-1 in the 5th (Millikin leads series 1-0)
Augie wins game 1 10-7...no live stats
North Central and Carthage tied 1-1 in the 3rd (North Central leads series 1-0)

[sherlockholmes]

Wheaton salvages the third game of the series behind a strong pitching performance by senior John Little.  Little goes 8 innings allowed only 1 on 5 hits while striking out 3 and walking 2. The Thunder offense took out some frustration on the IWU pitching staff pounding out 20 hits en route to a 12-1 victory.

[ChiSoxMan]

At the NCC vs Carthage double header ... Umpires over an hour late ... wonder what type of factor this could be

That's what happens when their head coach runs a reputable umpires association out of town and decides to go with a buddy to assign games.