BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[BigPoppa]

Carthage is a mess right now. As I said two weeks ago, their offense will pile up the runs, but their pitching will kill them. The lack of any bullpen consistency is their downfall right now. Every weekend results in a blown lead late in the game.

[mwunder]

Carthage is a mess right now. As I said two weeks ago, their offense will pile up the runs, but their pitching will kill them. The lack of any bullpen consistency is their downfall right now. Every weekend results in a blown lead late in the game.

Augie got out their brooms and took game three in the series.

Current CCIW standings

Augustana   9-1   20-5-1
NoCentral   8-3   18-7
Wheaton   8-5   18-8
North Park   7-6   14-11
Millikin   7-6   12-13
IWU     5-5   12-12
Carthage   4-8   14-13
Carroll   2-8   10-16
Elmhurst   2-10   8-17

[Gregory Sager]

Full slate of doubleheaders today:

Carroll @ North Central, 12 pm & 3 pm
North Park @ Carthage, 3 pm & 6 pm
Wheaton @ Illinois Wesleyan, 3 pm & 6 pm
Augustana @ Millikin, 4 pm & 7 pm

[BigPoppa]

Carthage is a mess right now. As I said two weeks ago, their offense will pile up the runs, but their pitching will kill them. The lack of any bullpen consistency is their downfall right now. Every weekend results in a blown lead late in the game.

Augie got out their brooms and took game three in the series.

Current CCIW standings

Augustana   9-1   20-5-1
NoCentral   8-3   18-7
Wheaton   8-5   18-8
North Park   7-6   14-11
Millikin   7-6   12-13
IWU     5-5   12-12
Carthage   4-8   14-13
Carroll   2-8   10-16
Elmhurst   2-10   8-17

I cannot believe how far Carthage has fallen in the past few years.

[mr_b]

North Park takes game one in Kenosha, 6-2.  Michael Pritts scattered nine singles over 8+ innings, by far his best outing of the season.  Justin Woolbright paced the Viking attack with three RBIs, including a key 2-run single in the 7th.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I went out to dinner with my wife and missed most of the first game in B'town.  IWU topped Wheaton 11-8.

Game two so far looks very promising for the green team, as the Titans scored 4 runs in the first on five singles and a walk, while Quinn Gudaitis struck out the first four Wheaties he faced, then walked one, then got a double play.  Middle of the second: IWU 4, WC 0.

[mr_b]

North Park sweeps the doubleheader in Kenosha (and the season series), shutting out the Red Men, 9-0 in the nightcap.  This has to be the most dominant game I've seen by a Viking hurler since a couple of one-hit gems by Mike Giovenco.  Ethan Sund closed out game one by retiring all three batters he faced, then as the starter in game two, he set down the first 14 batters before Johnny Belskis lined a two-out double down the left field line.  That would be the only Carthage hit of the contest (especially noteworthy for a club that came in with a team BA of .362), and they garnered only two more runners: a walk to Kyle Engstrom and a ninth-inning error.  For their part, Viking batters collected 15 safeties including six doubles; Ranko Stevanovic led the way with a 4-for-5 game.  Sund worked a total of nine scoreless innings to extend his scoreless streak to 30 innings.  Matt Pizur came in to work a scoreless ninth for the Vikings, who move to 16-11 overall and 9-6 in CCIW action.

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU gets the sweep, with an 11-2 win in the nightcap.  The Titans have returned to the tourney hunt.

[Gregory Sager]

Boy, I wish I knew what the CCIW record for consecutive scoreless innings was. I've got to imagine that Ethan Sund has either broken it or is getting close to it ... but, unfortunately, it's not listed on the league website. The D3 record is 47 innings, set by Joey Serfass of Eastern Connecticut State back in 2003.

It's great to not only see Michael Pritts get back on track and start to resemble his 2018 self, but to see Matt Pizur come back from a sore elbow that's sidelined him for a month and strike out two Red Men in his inning of mopup work for Sund.

[thunder38]

Boy, I wish I knew what the CCIW record for consecutive scoreless innings was. I've got to imagine that Ethan Sund has either broken it or is getting close to it ... but, unfortunately, it's not listed on the league website. The D3 record is 47 innings, set by Joey Serfass of Eastern Connecticut State back in 2003.

It's great to not only see Michael Pritts get back on track and start to resemble his 2018 self, but to see Matt Pizur come back from a sore elbow that's sidelined him for a month and strike out two Red Men in his inning of mopup work for Sund.

Remembering from a couple years back but Trey Martin had 29 scoreless innings in a row and that was the seventh-longest streak in Division III history.

[Gregory Sager]

I vaguely remember that. Thanks, thunder38.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Millikin wins the first to two, 4-3.  IWU earned all three of their runs; Millikin got two of theirs off IWU's 3 errors.  Seems to me it oughta be called a tie!

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton did the rest of the conference a favor by sweeping Augustana today in Carol Stream. Michael McCraith, who is making a strong run at CCIW Pitcher of the Year, first shut out the Doggies on two hits in a complete-gamer, 1-0, and the hosts then took the nightcap, 4-3. North Central swept Carthage at Zimmerman, 10-4 and 5-4, so in the space of an afternoon Augustana's lead in the standings completely vanished. NCC is now on top at 12-3, with Augie a half-game behind at 11-3, and North Park (which is idle this weekend) a very distant third at 9-6.

Cellar-dwellers Carroll and Elmhurst split their doubleheader up in Waukesha.

[Mr. Ypsi]

In the second game. IWU was down 3-1 in the ninth.  Two doubles made it a 1-run game.  A walk made it first and second with still no outs.  The Titans never scored.  Alas, I think they deserved the loss.  This is not a very good team.

[AndOne]

North Central took both ends of today's doubleheader in Naperville, besting the Redmen 5-4 in the opener, and 10-4 in the nightcap.

Perhaps the most exciting moment in the 2nd game came when the entire Carthage team suddenly vacated their dugout while, seconds later, the Naperville Fire Dept. roared into the parking lot directly behind the stadium. Initial speculation as to the cause of the disturbance centered on a laughable theory propagated by the NCC radio broadcasters suggesting the Carthage coach may have mishandled some type of incendiary device. However, further investigation subsequently seemed to reveal that a propane heater had malfunctioned. As the malfunctioning unit was quickly deemed not to present any further danger, the interruption was short lived, and game action resumed after only a short delay.