BB: IIAC: Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[BigPoppa]

Looking over all the stats.. Schmitt is a four year starter for Wartburg putting up some good numbers!

My guess is that Schmitt is his son.

[baseballfans4ever]

Looking over all the stats.. Schmitt is a four year starter for Wartburg putting up some good numbers!

My guess is that Schmitt is his son.

Ha.. not quite.. just an alumn.. Just missing playing the game.  I wasn't talented enough to play college baseball!

[BigPoppa]

Welcome aboard. Are you a Wartburg fan or another school? Always nice to have more eyes and opinions on here.

[Swing4theFences]

I'm also very impressed with Johnson's numbers. Kid has 5 homers already and they haven't even entered conference play! Central is also playing good ball putting up some big offensive stats.
Preseason favorite Coe will take on defending champs Loras this weekend. Should be a good series!

[upandin]

Congrats to Schmitt no no's don't come around often.  Anyone remember other no no's from IIAC pithers  that have happen in recent years?  Schmitt is tuff.....but from what I can see and have been told he is a jeckle and hyde.  He can be real good some days and real bad others.  IIAC teams just hope he shows up bad on their weekend, if he is pitching well he is not going to loose often. I saw that Coe played Cornell last night, (Coe won 13-2) what is that about?  Was this a schedule change? Or do IIAC schools play non conference games against each other?

Welcome to conference play!!!! We are going to find some things out in week one. 

Coe at Loras............Coe picked to win IIAC VS Loras the defending champ.....Last year Coe won 3 of 4 including knocking Loras out of conference tournament.  We will see if Coe is deserving of the votes. Looks like it might be a pitching duel.

Dubuque at Cornell........Who will finish last this year???.....Cornell swept them last year...UD finished last...They have a real rivalry going here...Based on playing at Cornell it might just come down to all the bad hops.

Luther at Simpson.......great match up!!...Simpson has Johnson and Ethell swinging it right now. And Im sure Luther is not happy about their poor showing in the preseason voting.....Luther swept Simpson last year.

Wartburg at Central.......Central is 9-4 off to a good start at the plate but are they ready to sit at the big boy table?...well high hopes has Wartburg coming to town to kick it off....Wartburg has played some tuff teams early and always brings it to conference play.  Central took 2 of 3 last year can they do it again?

Great matchups should be fun to see what happens.

And o by the way.....BV is taking on Augustana (CCIW) , Monmouth (MWC) ,  Illinois College (MWC) ,  and  MacMurray (SLIAC).  Some central region play.  Hopefully they represent the IIAC and come back 4-0.

[doolittledog]

Dubuque at Cornell........Who will finish last this year???.....Cornell swept them last year...UD finished last...They have a real rivalry going here...Based on playing at Cornell it might just come down to all the bad hops.

Hey, is there still going to be some Cornell alums tailgating and eating some dogs and drinking some brew for this game on friday?  I have an inspection scheduled for just a bit north of there.  I might be able to procrastinate my drive home and make it to that game if there will some people around. 

[CaliRamRL6]

upandin, we played Coe a few times for non-conference games when I went to Cornell. I think it was just two teams trying to get a game in. The campuses are only 20-25 minutes from each other so it's pretty easy to do that.

doolittledog, there will be some of us there on Saturday. I'm not sure who will be going to the Friday game.

[doolittledog]

upandin, we played Coe a few times for non-conference games when I went to Cornell. I think it was just two teams trying to get a game in. The campuses are only 20-25 minutes from each other so it's pretty easy to do that.

doolittledog, there will be some of us there on Saturday. I'm not sure who will be going to the Friday game.

Saturday is a no go for me.  Something about celebrating my 10th anniversary with my wife.  She doesn't think spending it in Mt. Vernon watching baseball will do

[doolittledog]

Nice write-up for Schmitt and his no hitter in the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald today.

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=277388

[youcantseemestill]

Predictions for the weekend.......

Wartburg @ Central - this is the most intriguing match-up for me of the first weekend.  Central has been killing the ball offensively.  Wartburg is strong on the mound.  This will be a real litmus test for the fast start of Central and their guys off to a blazing start like Furlong and Lackey.  Wartburg can make a statement with their youth if they can take this series on the road.  I say Central takes two of three because they are home.

Coe @ Loras - these games will be battles.  Coe and Loras have played some very spirited games the last couple of years with ejections, confrontations, and dramatic finishes.  Loras has some revenge to exact on the Kohawks, who took 3 of 4 last year and ended the Duhawks season.  Coe's top three are off to a really nice start and should have the edge on the mound.  Both Loras and Coe got nice midweek non-conference tune-ups and this might end up being the most well played series of the weekend.  I think Coe takes two of the three with experience advantage offensively.

Luther @ Simpson - I am concerned with Luther's starting pitching and their pitching depth in general.  I need to see Schott hit in conference before I will think his start is for real.  He really swang the bat well in the preseason.  Simpson has been a surprise to me with their offense.  Their pitching held their own down south and will give them a nice lift if it continues.  I feel like Luther will struggle, especially until they settle their rotation.  Simpson take 2 of 3.

Dubuque @ Cornell - honestly, this will probably be a tough series to watch.  Both teams are down and probably clearly on the bottom of the conference.  I like the young Midwest-based roster for the Spartans and I think that Cornell is REALLY going to miss Casey Korn's leadership.  Dubuque surprises and takes the series 2-1.

[youcantseemestill]

Good weekend of games!  Some surprises.........observations from me, knee-jerk reactions.........

1.  Cody Raisch was apparently not good against Loras.  That is a lot of hits and runs for the big guy in one game.  Interesting that the Duhawks could only manage 6 hits in the double header Saturday. 

2.  I've heard that there was more than one instance of unruly behavior from several Loras participants.  I don't know anything for sure, just word of mouth.  I wasn't there.  Any insight?

3.  Watson is really good!  Now, I think that Central might have been exposed by some great performances, but Brad Watson carved a team up that was hitting the crap out of the ball up to this weekend.

4.  Simpson is the best team in the conference, and have been for a while, at executing a pitching game plan.  No one throws more strikes, more consistently, than the Storm pitchers.  They do not overpower anyone with their arms, but throw three pitches for strikes all the time.  That was a very nice sweep this weekend.

5.  Luther is in trouble.  I know they started slow last year too, but I have major concerns with their pitching and their depth.  I think they will still compete every time out, but I don't see how that staff can make a run at another championship.

6.  I like the youth movement by Wartburg and Dubuque. 

[upandin]

4.  Simpson is the best team in the conference, and have been for a while, at executing a pitching game plan.  No one throws more strikes, more consistently, than the Storm pitchers.  They do not overpower anyone with their arms, but throw three pitches for strikes all the time.  That was a very nice sweep this weekend.

[/quote]
I agree Simpson does a great job of throwing strikes you can look at stats and see that.  They are consistently one of the conferences best at not allowing walks and wild pitches.  If simply throwing strikes was the name of the game, they would be one of the conference best.  Problem is they are also one of the conference worst in Batting average against, K's, runs allowed, Hits and EB hits allowed, . If that is the "game plan"  they are trying to execute?     Maybe they need a new one. 

Even with that any sweep in the IIAC is a good sweep.

This weekend Luther out hit Simpson but couldn't get the big hit. They also made some costly errors.  Bad start for the Norse.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

I did not go to the Norse series with Simpson, but starting 0-3 in the league is always going to raise questions no matter what kind of team you return.  I was very concerned/angry last year when Wartburg swept Luther last year early to drop the Norse to 3-3, but the Norse got it going last year to tie for the IIAC title.

The pitching issue does seem bigger to me now than when we were talking about this in the preseason.  Hyland did not throw against Carleton in the Dome when I saw that preseason doubleheader, and given that the Norse had some time off before the trip to Florida there had to be an injury or some other reason why he did not pitch.  That is a real concern.

Hyland was the #3 last year, but he was a very good #3 who went 7-0 with a 3.56 ERA.  Any team would miss the loss of studs Kohls and Todd, but a healthy and mechanically clean Hyland should be one of the better pitchers in the league again this year.  It is different when you are the ace and everyone is hoping you lead the way, but he is capable if healthy.  So far he is 1-1 with an 4.85 ERA, so he can raise his level.

Flaig and Riddle looked solid against Carleton, but those are the only games that I saw in person so far this year.  Flaig had a very good freshman year, but has not been more than solid at any point since then.  Riddle has decent stuff or even above average stuff as far as velocity, but he impresses me more as a hitter who can run the bases.

There is a kid from Edina, MN who looks like he has some talent when I saw him throwing a bullpen session (Danny Smith, 1-1 with a 3.56 ERA) but I would agree on the point that the Norse pitching staff is not as young (talented) or deep as I would have hoped to this point.  I would have thought recruiting a couple stud pitchers would have been easier this year after Kohls and Todd graduated just like it was when Jaeger and Paulsrud graduated in 2005.

The hitting lineup may not be as good as 2004 or 2007, but it should be good enough to be like the 2009 version.  I also want to see Schott produce in league games like he has done in preseason games as he was hitting around .500 with some pop.  In my mind the lineup should be 7-8 deep in legit bats.  Topping and Weber can also provide the pop that Schott has shown so far this year, but perhaps there won't be a slugger like the Simpson kid so far this year or what Schroeder or Jaeger have done for Norse teams in the past.

The pitching is a concern, but I didn't feel that bad about things until Saturday.  This team has won 2 league titles in the past 3 years, so hopefully they can rebound this week.  They are going to have to score more than 9 runs to win a 3-game set.

[youcantseemestill]

4.  Simpson is the best team in the conference, and have been for a while, at executing a pitching game plan.  No one throws more strikes, more consistently, than the Storm pitchers.  They do not overpower anyone with their arms, but throw three pitches for strikes all the time.  That was a very nice sweep this weekend.

I agree Simpson does a great job of throwing strikes you can look at stats and see that.  They are consistently one of the conferences best at not allowing walks and wild pitches.  If simply throwing strikes was the name of the game, they would be one of the conference best.  Problem is they are also one of the conference worst in Batting average against, K's, runs allowed, Hits and EB hits allowed, . If that is the "game plan"  they are trying to execute?     Maybe they need a new one. 

Even with that any sweep in the IIAC is a good sweep.

This weekend Luther out hit Simpson but couldn't get the big hit. They also made some costly errors.  Bad start for the Norse.
[/quote]

What Simpson does, and it makes sense with your points, is throw strike and force teams to get three hits to get a run.  You have to be able to string multiple hit innings together to score on them.  With their offense, the can give up single runs at a time and not allow a ton of big innings.   

Maybe you should go look at the conference archives at team pitching before you throw out some of the stuff that you did.

[upandin]

I did look at the archives and I saw Simpson finish 9th in hits allowed 3 out of last 5 years. One of the worst teams in total extra base hits 4 of the last 5 years. In the bottom ½ of the league in strike outs 4 of the last 5 years.  In the bottom ½ of league in ERA 3 out of 5 years.  And in the bottom 3 in the league in Opp BA 3 of last 5 years.   In 2008 and 2006 they were ok but not the top team in any stat outside of BB's.  Like I said if the "game plan" is to not walk people they do a great job of that.  Really what you are saying is that the teams in the league that actually have solid pitching every year (Wartburg, Coe, Luther) have poor coaches that don't have a game plan or don't execute them well.  From my point of view they must be doing something right?