BB: IIAC: Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[youcantseemestill]

Hey good natured ribbing goes both ways here   

I wanted to clear up one of my comments about Martijn........he didn't really implode on the mound, just lost a little bit of composure after the homer.  He had Velvick down 1-2 and the kid hammered a pitch that was prolly up out of the zone a little.  Mike Johnson was working REAL hard to try and keep his head up, but he never really got his rhythm back.   

I really like Mike Johnson.  Kid is tough and it seems to me that he is the unquestioned leader of that squad.  Although, I do think that Coe's 1st baseman, Pat Richmond, will end up being 1st Team All-Conference at first base.   

[Floyd in Iowa City]

I don't think that they will be looking past Coe (and neither am I, look at one of my previous post).  I was just curious as to who BV would be throwing against Wartburg.  But then again, a response like this from a Kohawk shouldnt surprise anybody, I mean you guys are like the red-headed step child of the IIAC that is always trying to fight for some respect.

......and a response like this shouldn't surprise anyone either.  Nothing like a Wartburg alumnus to bring some extra class to a discussion thread that has been entirely positive up to this point.

I guess I didnt realize that a little good humored ribbing was off limits.  I understand that everyone who is not a Wartburg alum will try to come at us that are for whatever petty reason they can find.  One of those cases of hating on those that have been and continue to sit atop the IIAC in almost every athletic event.

That said, great analysis of the game.  I wish I could have made the trip over to CR.  Wartburg has its work cut out for them now, but this is not a new position for them to be in, although I wish they could have went into the weekend series with BV with a little more momentum.  I guess we will just have to wait and see how all of this plays out.

Regarding your comments about Martijn, I do not know him personally but I have seen him play a few times and spoke with those close to the program about him.  He is in need of some maturing and mental toughness so to hear that he imploded on the mound does not come as a surprise.

I know Wartburg has been the clear all-sport champion for many years, but in the last few years they haven't exactly owned the league in men's or women's cross country, football, men's soccer, women's soccer, women's tennis, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's golf, and men's tennis.  Have I missed anything?  There are a couple of sports like softball or women's cross country where they have won the title, but so have other teams.

Wartburg has had a great athletic department since the 1990s, and currently have historic runs going with great baseball, wrestling, and track programs.  They are very good in other sports like football and cross country, but other programs have had better tradition and as much or better recent success.

As far as Martijn, he has thrown some big games in his career in Waverly.  It seems strange to hear that about a senior who has played as much as he has at Wartburg and at JUCO.

[wartburgalum]

Don't get me wrong, I like the Martjin kid, I think he is a solid player.  But, from what I have seen and heard about him, he tends to get in his head at times.  If he is able to work through some of those issues he should be fine the rest of the way out.

I didnt want to take this thread on a journey down Wartburg vs. the rest of the IIAC.  Wartburg is a great school with a great all-around athletic department.  I think that you would have a tough time saying they are not the best all-around athletic school in the IIAC (if not the state being that we keep losing our D-I baseball programs).  Lets just agree to let this one reside in the area of Religion, politics, abortion, the economy and war and realize that we probably wont be able to resolve this on a discussion board. HAHA.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

I'd be curious to hear from any fans that were at the games, but in addition to Coe-Wartburg it sounds like B.V.-Luther had quite the games in Storm Lake.  The Beavers won game 1 in extra innings and looked like they were going to sneak out a win in game 2 until Jake Waddle hit a 2-run bomb in the 7th to help the Norse win 2-1.

It was like old times as Waddle broke out of his slump to hit the bomb with 2 outs in the 7th.  Adam Kohls had perhaps his best game of the year on paper as he limited the strong Beaver lineup to 5 hits and 1 run in his complete game performance.  He is now 5-3 on the season and fanned 8 Beavers.

Both teams were played so close that both teams have to be asking what if.  The Norse had a long ride home to think about it.

Luther is trailing in the mix of 4 teams that are at the top of the standings (21-10 on the season, 9-6 in the Iowa Conference), but salvaging the split at least gives them a shot to stay in this thing going into the weekend against Coe.

If the games this weekend are at all like last night, it should be interesting to be at Storm Lake or at Decorah.  Which pitching staffs will be able to bounce back and throw well this weekend?

[SLP-O-8]

BV was able to sit back on Todds very good curveballs and drive them hard into the outfield.  They out hit luther 15-5 and honestly should have won by a couple runs in the regular time.  They had base loaded one inning with no outs and a ball was hit hard down the third baseline and luther was able to step on third and easily get the runner out at the plate.  They drove the ball deep multiple times and luther ran down some balls that were extra bases.  Any other day in Storm Lake with the wind blowing to left rather than right field and BV could have had a few home runs on warning track shots.  Game 2 was a good pitching battle.  Kohl pitched a great game as said limiting BV to just 5 hits.  George pitched an excellent game as well not giving up any runs through 6 innings. Dupic gave up the 2 run bomb to Waddle with 2 outs in the 7th.  Im not sure the reason for taking george out but i think he could have stayed in the game. 

BV pitched 3 freshman and a sophomore in this series.  Hopefully they can play really well this weekend and take the series from wartburg because its crunch time.  You got to love the top 4 teams battling it out against each other in the last 2 weeks.  Should be fun.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Thanks SLP-O-8!

[wartburgalum]

Anybody got any insight as to who will be on the mound for BV this weekend against Wartburg?

[SLP-O-8]

I would say friday would probably be wuebker to start the game.  Saturday game one i think will be pietzyk.  Game 3 im not really sure about but could be probasco.  These are just my predictions.  Friday and Saturday should be some great baseball in Storm lake. 

[youcantseemestill]

I heard there was a brawl between U of Dubuque and Clark last night.  Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[SLP-O-8]

Live stats should be available through the athletic section of bvu.edu for all games this weekend with wartburg.  DH moved to tonight at 5 with one 9 inning tomorrow at 1 pm

[wartburgalum]

Wartburg takes 2 of 3 from the Beavers, moving them into 2nd place in the IIAC behind Loras.  Where the hell did Loras come from?  They must really have things turning around down there.  Looking at the schedule, Wartburg definitely has a tougher road with 1 left against Coe and a series with Central (who always plays Wartburg tough) while Loras has Dubuque and Cornell left.

[BigPoppa]

What a great IIAC race!! Four teams with a shot to take home the #1 seed. WOW! It is going to be a fantastic finish.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

BigPoppa,

It is actually Five teams that are currently within a game of 1st place.  I agree that Loras is not only the leader right now by a slight margin, but they have the best path to the title.  As we have seen almost all season though, things can change quickly.  Congrats to the Duhawks on putting themselves in position to win this.

It would seem that whoever wants to win the league better win at least 2/3 of the league games.  With the slightest difference in winning percentage potentially choosing the champion, the Norse need to win all 4 this week to finish 15-7. 

I went to the last two games of the Coe-Luther series after seeing parts of the Friday game on the website.  Even though Luther lost in extra innings on Friday and had a good shot to win the game late, Coe outplayed the Norse for the most part.  Saturday was just the opposite as Coe made late runs after the Norse had been leading for the most part.  Kohls and Todd did not finish as strong as they started the games, but it was fun to see them both win as they wind down their senior years.  Kohls is now 6-3 while Todd is 5-3.

Waddle has been showing signs of life lately at the plate and might be a factor in this last week of games.  It would be great to see him and Schott hitting well at the same time as the rest of the lineup.  Luther has had a good offensive year overall this year, but they have not hit enough in some of these conference games.  Time to put it all back together this week!

I hope these teams realize how much fun this is that they get a chance to win the conference title if they can finish the season strong.  I hope the pitchers can find a little more in the tank.

[baseballfans4life]

 Looks like Wartburg Baseball waited too long to put on the heat

[wartburgalum]

Still a lot of baseball left to play.  Granted, Loras has a much easier road but for a team that has not been sitting at the top and looking down it may be too much, Crazier things have happened.  Lets see how it all plays out.