BB: IIAC: Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Does anyone know if Simpson charges entrance to their games?  Thinking about heading over tonight to get my baseball fix!  Thanks.

I haven't been to any game at Simpson since a football game with the Norse back in 2006.  I don't think they charge for baseball though as I think back to the 1990s.

It seems like most Division III schools that I have seen in recent years on the campus field (St. Thomas, St. Olaf, Luther, Cornell, as examples) do not charge for baseball.  The only times I can remember paying to see Iowa Conference teams in the last few years is at the Metrodome or at the Cedar Rapids stadium for the Iowa Conference tourney.

[doolittledog]

Baseball travel question.  My family was driving back to Iowa a few weeks ago after attending a wedding in the Kansas City area.  At a gas station we saw an NAIA baseball team that had stopped.  They were in 4 vans with the 4th van pulling a trailer with their equipment. 

How does your typical IIAC baseball team travel?

A - bunch of vans with one pulling a trailer with equipment?

B - A bus with the equipment in the bagage compartment underneath?

C - Other?

Which is most economical???

[Floyd in Iowa City]

doolittledog,

Doesn't the distance of travel play into it?  I remember taking the bus (with equipment stored underneath) for trips to Pella, Indianola, Storm Lake, and Oskaloosa (Billy Penn was in the league at the time).  I actually liked the vans, but maybe that was because I associated it with the shorter drives.

Back in the mid-1990s the team took vans for trips to Fayette (Upper Iowa), Dubuque, Waverly, Northfield (Oles), and Cedar Rapids.  I haven't noticed some of the recent travel stuff even though I still make lots of games each year.  I guess going to lots of home games and less road games doesn't help.

I don't ever remember pulling equipment like I see football teams and bands do.

Some NAIA teams have to travel further for league games than most IIAC teams.  St. Ambrose must travel much more for league games than Wartburg or Cornell.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Given the pitching situation going into the weekend, here is my preference of three potential options of the Norse playing the Dutch:

1.  The weather makes the two teams play on Saturday and Sunday.
2.  The teams play as scheduled.
3.  The teams move the doubleheader up to Friday and play one game on Saturday.

#3 was my last choice, but that is what is taking place.  The top two Norse pitchers went on Wednesday, so they are not throwing so far as the Norse are down 3-0 in the 4th in game 1.

Everything is going well for the Dutch this year.  That is so far, anyway.

You have to play with the hand that is dealt, so the Norse Offense needs to get going.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther did come back in game 1, but they lost 5-4 in 11 innings to Central.  They did tie the game in dramatic fashion in the 7th and also had the bases loaded and a 3-0 count to Chris Reynolds, but Reynolds popped up on a 3-1 pitch.  Most Norse fans would take that chance every time if offered to have Reynolds up with a chance to win the game.

It seemed like the Norse had the leadoff hitter on base in the 7th through 11th innings, but never scored after the 7th.  Failed bunt attempts, no hits with guys in scoring position, and IMO too many repeated bunt attempts regardless of personal or previous success.  Put me down as someone who like the bunt game when it makes sense.

Like any close game, Central also had chances to score.  The Norse needed to help out the league race and themselves, but they didn't get it done.

I did not see as much of game 2 on the computer, but it looks like the Norse hardly hit at all in the 1-0 loss.  The wind blowing in was an issue for both offenses, but at the end of the day Luther is 4-7 while Central is 12-2.

[warrior35]

Cornell and Simpson split their DH tonight.  3-0 win for Cornell and an 11-0 win for Simpson.  Excellent pitching performance for Ruehle as he threw a 1 hitter.  Cornell allowed 16 freebies in this game, and with Ruehle's pitching performance they never really had a chance.  But, the first game was a great pitchers duel with both pitchers from Cornell and Simpson throwing CGs.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Congrats to Central for sweeping Luther this week.  13-2 with a 4-game lead in the loss column is a great place to be with 9 games left.

Congrats to B.V. as well for the sweep in Storm Lake.  It looks like Beaver pitching and defense got it done all weekend.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther is now halfway through the conference schedule at 11-15 overall and 4-8 in the league.

They are hitting .278 as a team with only 46 extra base hits.  The leading hitter is at .346 and he starts about 2/3 of the games.

The Norse pitching staff has a team ERA of 6.11 and have given up 58 extra base hits.  Augie Lindmark is 4-1 with a 3.46 ERA and Alec Knop is 2-2 with a 3.69 ERA, but that is about it right now.

Things would feel much different now if they had won the one-run games with the Dutch, but that is why the Norse are 4-8 and the Dutch are 13-2.

Luther is 3-5 this year in low scoring games decided by 1 run.  That sounds like a team that is not making enough plays to win, but it also sounds like a team that needs to score more runs so that the games aren't close.

The schedule this week is Presentation College and Cornell.  After the Central series it would be good to get some wins and get the offense going.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Baseball travel question.  My family was driving back to Iowa a few weeks ago after attending a wedding in the Kansas City area.  At a gas station we saw an NAIA baseball team that had stopped.  They were in 4 vans with the 4th van pulling a trailer with their equipment. 

How does your typical IIAC baseball team travel?

A - bunch of vans with one pulling a trailer with equipment?

B - A bus with the equipment in the bagage compartment underneath?

C - Other?

Which is most economical???

Luther was in a college bus for the doubleheader today in Jordan, MN.  The equipment compartment was underneath.

Presentation College from South Dakota had a smaller college bus and was pulling an equipment trailer.

Luther won 7-2 and 19-6.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther swept Cornell today, 4-1 and 14-0.  Augie Lindmark did not look as sharp as the B.V. game a couple of weeks ago, but he went the distance in game 1 and is now 6-1 this season.

The Norse play the series final at 11:00 on Saturday.

They are now 15-15 overall and 6-8 in the league.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

In a fun weekend, the Norse swept Cornell today with a 5-4 game.  The Norse are now among four teams with 8 losses as Central still has only 3 losses (15-3).

I still like Cornell as a school and now almost former IIAC member, but was happy to see the Norse finish IIAC play with them with a sweep.  The Rams coaching staff seems to have them still playing better than a year ago. 

I don't miss the Norse playing Billy Penn that much, but I hope the Norse and Rams can get together more than the Norse and Upper Iowa have since the Peacocks have left the league.

Congrats to Simpson today for sweeping B.V.  Big wins for the Storm and postseason.

Luther vs. Wartburg on Tuesday, which hopefully will also be fun.   It is rivalry Tuesday also for others though as Coe and Cornell play as well as Loras and Dubuque.  I feel like Luther and Wartburg play quite often in weekday games, and I just haven't been to as many of those games in person.

Go Norse!

[Floyd in Iowa City]

The Norse Baseball team has now won 7 in a row as they swept a doubleheader from Wartburg today, 5-3 and 4-3!   Luther pitched well from what I was able to see, and they made the Knights pay for some mistakes in game 2.

There are now five teams that have 8 losses in positions 2-6 in the conference race!  It will be quite the battle for 2nd.

Congrats to B.V. for sweeping Central and remaining one of the five teams with 8 losses.  Central now has a lead of 3 games as they are 15-5, but they only have 4 games left.  Three of the games left for the Dutch are against Cornell.

Congrats as well for Luther Softball as they wrapped up at least a co-championship today by sweeping Wartburg.  They are now 13-1 in the league and 32-4 overall, while Wartburg is 0-14 in the league.  Norse Softball has won 10 in a row and held the opponents without a run for 40 straight innings.

On a sad note, the Luther Softball pitching coach is in the hospital after having a version of a heart attack and hitting her head just before the Norse were to get on a bus Sunday.  Here is to hoping she has a complete and speedy recovery.

[wartknight]

Hopefully the Knights can rebound, finish strong & end up in 2nd place. Definitely a down year for the Knights. In the last 10 yrs only one time have they posted double digit losses in conference play. Hopefully that stat will still be true including the 2012 season. On a bright note in looking at their roster, they will not lose anyone to graduation & the team overall is very young: 9 frosh 11 sophs 12 jrs. If the talent (potential) is there, I am confident it will be developed & the Warts will be back on top in the near future!!

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Good weekend for the Norse as they swept the three games from Dubuque to move to 12-8 in the league!  They pitched well in two of the games and pulled game 2 out late as they came back from a 4-0 hole to win in 8 innings.  I was very happy for the seniors that they won the home weekend to finish 11-1 in Decorah this year.  Many of the seniors had nice weekends to help the cause.

Congrats to Central for winning the Iowa Conference regular season!  18-5 is a very good league record for the Dutch and they will win the league by 3-5 games.

Congrats as well to Wartburg for sweeping Simpson this weekend.  I thought that would be a 2-1 series by either side, but the Knights got it done against a good opponent.

Coe, Wartburg, and Luther are all tied for 2nd as of now at 12-8.  The Norse play Wartburg in one game at Waverly and then finish the regular season with a series at Coe. 

B.V. still has a chance for 2nd as well as they are 11-9.  They play Central in the middle of the week and then play Wartburg.

Luther and B.V. are on the road for the last four games.

[putmeincoach]

with the last weekend and a few mid-week games finishing in the next few days - what are predictions on tournament seedings?