BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

NPU swept Elmhurst today, 27-5 and 13-9, after taking yesterday's game, 6-4. The Vikings scored 46 runs and accumulated 60 hits this weekend off of Elmhurst pitching, hitting .472 as a team (the 60 hits included 13 doubles and 6 homers, and none of the homers were of the cheap variety). The Park batted around in three different innings in the opener, which they won in seven innings. I shudder to think of how many more runs the Vikes would've scored if the slaughter rule wasn't in effect. The second game was more entertaining, as the 'jays jumped on NPU starter Jason Meger and held an 8-3 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning. But NPU scored nine unanswered runs over the course of the next four frames, spurred by a pair of Brett Bernal homers -- he had three dingers on the day -- and got a great game out of freshman lefty Alex Vannucci, who came in for Meger in the second inning and held the 'jays down while the North Park bats did the rest. Vannucci is a real find. That kid's gonna be a serious pitcher in this league.

The Bluejays can rake big-time, and I would not take them lightly. They will bludgeon more than one CCIW starter this year. However, their pitching staff is gasoline alley. Their team ERA is now 9.06 and the team WHIP is now 2.157. I think that Elmhurst will be involved in a whole bunch of 13-9 types of games.

North Park looked very solid this weekend.

[Mr. Ypsi]

It feels strange that Carthage has fallen on such hard times.  They were in the conference tourney every single year from 1989 thru 2011, and went to Appleton 6 times, with two thirds and two fourths.

[BigPoppa]

Surprises (to me) this wk. end:

Carthage didn't pick up one win.

Elmhurst didn't pick up one win and doesn't appear to have any pitching (4o runs in today's doubleheader!)

Top 5 teams (in no particular order) appear to be IWU, NPU, Augie, Wheaton, and North Central. I believe there is a real gap from there.

Painfully, this was not a surprise to me.

[BigPoppa]

It feels strange that Carthage has fallen on such hard times.  They were in the conference tourney every single year from 1989 thru 2011, and went to Appleton 6 times, with two thirds and two fourths.

In recent years, tuition has skyrocketed at Carthage which has really limited available pool of recruits. I know there is no way many of the guys I played with (myself included) could afford the Carthage tuition where it stands now. I am positive that no one feels the pain more than Hall-of-Fame Coach Augie Schmidt. Sadly, it appears that much of their struggles in getting to the World Series coincide with the firing of long-time pitching coach/baseball recruiter, Brian Mosher, in 2004/2005(?).

I know there are a lot of frustrated baseball alums right now.

[BigPoppa]

Pitching has long been the staple of the Redmen. After 14 games they own an ERA of 4.50 and teams are hitting .318 against them (which is even more telling as they have not faced an overall tough schedule to this point).

Mix in their .939 fielding percentage and you have the perfect storm for what is happening right now.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Pitching has long been the staple of the Redmen. After 14 games they own an ERA of 4.50 and teams are hitting .318 against them (which is even more telling as they have not faced an overall tough schedule to this point).

Mix in their .939 fielding percentage and you have the perfect storm for what is happening right now.

I'm slightly surprised their fielding percentage is not even lower - they had ELEVEN errors in the three games against the Titans (though several were throwing errors, rather than fielding errors).

I'm delighted (though not surprised) that you are not one of those fair-weather fans who disappears when things go south for their team.  Kudos to you.

At least Carthage is scoring runs - they had 15 against the Titans - that would normally get you at least one win, but not when the pitchers and fielders yield 28!   (Ironically, the team ERA actually went down against the Titans, as 17 of their 28 runs were unearned!)

[BigPoppa]

Pitching has long been the staple of the Redmen. After 14 games they own an ERA of 4.50 and teams are hitting .318 against them (which is even more telling as they have not faced an overall tough schedule to this point).

Mix in their .939 fielding percentage and you have the perfect storm for what is happening right now.

I'm slightly surprised their fielding percentage is not even lower - they had ELEVEN errors in the three games against the Titans (though several were throwing errors, rather than fielding errors).

I'm delighted (though not surprised) that you are not one of those fair-weather fans who disappears when things go south for their team.  Kudos to you.

At least Carthage is scoring runs - they had 15 against the Titans - that would normally get you at least one win, but not when the pitchers and fielders yield 28!   (Ironically, the team ERA actually went down against the Titans, as 17 of their 28 runs were unearned!)

I care too deeply to just walk away...

[Gregory Sager]

Congrats to NPU 1B Joe Belmonte upon winning CCIW Hitter of the Week. He's the third Viking to win the award thus far this season.

I'm broadcaasting the CC@ NPU doubleheader right now, and, man, is it windy here in the Windy City today.

[BigPoppa]

Painful to watch live stats today as a Carthage fan... NPU is blasting them 9-3 in 5th inning of game one of a DH. Redmen pitchers cannot seem to get anyone out.

[BigPoppa]

Painful to watch live stats today as a Carthage fan... NPU is blasting them 9-3 in 5th inning of game one of a DH. Redmen pitchers cannot seem to get anyone out.

Final:
NPU 10
Carthage 6

[Gregory Sager]

NPU only had ten hits, BP. The Vikes were simply economical about it -- only two LOB for the game. However, when the Vikes did get hits, they were hit with authority. Bernal's HR was a good 420 to 430 feet to deep right-center.

Two fantastic lay-it-out plays in the outfield in a tough wind in Game One: LF Tommy Endres for North Park, and CF Brian Huntsinger for Carthage.

Augie beats NCC in Game One, 6-3. No score reported yet from Wheaton @ Elmhurst.

[izzy stradlin]

NPU only had ten hits, BP. The Vikes were simply economical about it -- only two LOB for the game. However, when the Vikes did get hits, they were hit with authority. Bernal's HR was a good 420 to 430 feet to deep right-center.

Two fantastic lay-it-out plays in the outfield in a tough wind in Game One: LF Tommy Endres for North Park, and CF Brian Huntsinger for Carthage.

Augie beats NCC in Game One, 6-3. No score reported yet from Wheaton @ Elmhurst.

Wheaton beat Elmhurst 13-7 in game one and leads 4-2 in game 2.   Trey Martin has gone deep 3 times so far today.

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU takes the first of two in Decatur, 8-4.  Bobby Czarnowski had a stat line of 5-2-3-4, while lead-off man Tim Coonan went 6-3-2-0.  Sean Coonan (I assume, he's Tim's younger brother; same high school) gave up 4 runs in two innings; Dan Truesdale pitched 5 innings of shutout relief for the win, Jon Munyon went two scoreless innings for the save.

Second game is just getting started.

[Gregory Sager]

Tough loss for the Vikings in Game Two, 16-15. The Vikings blew a 5-2 lead early on, as Jason Meger had his second rough outing in three days. Carthage ran up an eight-run lead in the sixth, 15-7, before NPU pulled off its second big comeback already in CCIW play, scoring eight unanswered runs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th to tie up the game at 15 apiece. But bad fielding was the bugaboo for the Vikes in this one -- they committed four errors, the fourth one a costly one that led to the Red Men scoring the winning run in the top of the tenth. The Vikings had the tying run on third and the winning run on first in the bottom of the tenth, but Mike Coduto was called out on a borderline inside pitch.

This one hurt -- not just because of the big comeback that ended up being for naught, but because this gives the other CCIW contenders a game in hand on NPU. The Red Men just aren't very good, and this is a doubleheader that North Park should've swept.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Bottom of the fifth in Decatur: IWU 13, Millikin 2.  I suspect this one is safely over.  The Big Blue have already used 4 pitchers in 5 innings, and have committed 5 errors.