BB: IIAC: Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[doolittledog]

Dubuque Telegraph-Herald write-up on the Loras/Dubuque double header and how Loras has a long road to hoe to try to make the conference tourney.

https://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=320211

Dubuque at 8-15 in conference play after going 5-19 last season.  Record might not show it, but Dubuque was much improved over last season. 

[TheSportsFan]

Coe, Wartburg, Buena Vista and Simpson have all clinched a tournament birth.

Both Central and Luther have the tie-break over Loras.  Loras can only get in by sweeping Wartburg and hoping for a sweep either way in the Central/Luther series.

I see this:

BV sweeps Cornell
Coe 2, Simpson 1
Luther 2, Central 1
Wartburg 2, Loras 1

Tournament Seeds:

1) Coe...............(17-7)........9-3.......clinches BYE with at least one win vs. Simpson
2) BVU...............(16-8).......10-5......
3) Wartburg......(16-8)........8-7.......clinches BYE with a sweep of Loras
4) Simpson........(14-9)........5-7.......
5) Luther...........(13-11)......4-8.......
6) Central..........(12-12)......3-9.......

Overall Record vs. other teams in the tournament (to this point) is the second record shown above.

[Kohawk Krazy]

Congrats to the Kohawks on winning their first Iowa Conference title in school history!

[Floyd in Iowa City]

I just got back into town, but I also say congrats to Coe for winning the Iowa Conference!  They have had other good teams in recent years, so the team this year got something done that previous teams had a shot at.  This seems to be Coe's best all-around year in the Iowa Conference (all sports).

Coe had the best offense that I saw Luther play this year.  In a year that many teams saw the offensive numbers fall way back, Coe and B.V. still had nice offensive years.

I was dissapointed that Luther went from 9-4 to finishing 5th in the Iowa Conference (13-11), but at least they had a nice Saturday doubleheader sweep of Central for the few seniors on the team (OF Thompson and SS Beckman were the consistent starting seniors).

Danny Smith (5-4, 3.39 ERA in 61 innings) has been up and down, but he took a big step this year as a sophomore.  Matt Reynolds (3-1, 2.45 ERA in 51 innings) won the 2nd game and really came out of nowhere down the stretch this year.

Augie Lindmark (6-4, 1.62 ERA in 72 innings) is still the stud pitcher on the staff and among the top 2 or 3 in the league.  Chris Reynolds (.407 average, 13 2Bs, 24 RBIs, 41 runs) is the other Norse player who is clearly a 1st team all-IIAC player.

Good luck to everyone this week.  Coe will be the favorite, but 4-5 teams have real reasons to think that they have a shot.

[TheSportsFan]

Should be a great IIAC tournament with the amount of parity this league has had throughout the year.

Note that Loras and Dubuque were each one win away from this being a league with 8 teams winning 20 games!!!  What a huge step this year has been in the right direction for the IIAC.  The CCIW lovers will reinforce that the IIAC needs to show more consistent results in the Regional tournament before they will get the national attention.

Very curious for the Wartburg/Central matchup on Thursday:  Watson vs. Pulliam.  Last time they met, Watson/Wartburg won 5-2.  Watson went all 9 giving up just 5 hits and striking out 11.  Pulliam struggled with the Wartburg lineup going 7 innings, giving up 10 hits, and 7 k's.

[BigPoppa]

I was more off on this conference than any of the other Central Region leagues. This was/is a VERY balanced league this year.

Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC): Buena Vista, Buena Vista, Buena Vista! The Beavers steamrolled through the IIAC last year and earned a #1 seed in the NCAA Central Regional where they ran into the buzz saw named Illinois Wesleyan, losing twice to the eventual national champion. Gone is the big bat of IIAC Player of the Year Brandon Pietrzyk, but seniors Brad Blum (.390, 24 SB) and Mike Hoffman (.383, 51 RBI) look to pick up the slack at the plate. The Beavers are the regional favorite based on their return of three all-IIAC arms. Luke Probasco (8-3, 3.32 ERA), Ryan Wuebker (10-2, 4.14 ERA), and James Stone (4-1, 3.32 ERA) give Buena Vista a chance against nearly anyone in the nation. Chasing the Beavers will be the Knights of Wartburg College who won twelve consecutive IIAC titles through the 2008 season. The Knights return four all-IIAC players with Brad Watson (7-5) and Nate Rost (4-1) leading the way on the bump. Patrick Grau and Drew Yoder need to provide a one-two punch for the offense if they plan to advance past the post-season tourney. The Central Dutch return seven second-team all-conference players so when looking for an upset surprise, you might want to speak "freaky-deaky Dutch". If even half of those players rise to another level, they will be a force to be reckoned with at playoff time. Coe, Loras, Luther and Simpson will battle for the final playoff spots in the IIAC which send its top six teams into the post-season tournament. On the outside looking will be Cornell and Dubuque.

[upandin]

Pappa you were not that far off.  I think most people agreed with your predictions, even the IIAC coaches.  Coe just crashed the party and was the surprise team you thought Central may be. 

Coe was picked to win the IIAC in 2010 and that just didn't pan out.  In 2011 everyone knew Coe had some solid players led by Nick Stien, Player of the year in my opinion.  The surprise was on the mound, with only one returning starter from 2010, they posted a 3.05 team ERA in conference play.  They went 12-3 vs the teams in the tournament. Very solid team in all phases. 

BV was not quite the offensive power they were in 2010 but still a very solid lineup.  They have been playing without one of those top arms (Wuebker) for most of the season.  One would think, he could have given them a 2 game swing to be neck in neck with Coe.  They were 10-5 vs teams in the tournament.  In the end being swept buy Coe was the difference. 

Wartburg opened the IIAC also being swept by Coe. Judging by the numbers, they rebounded quite well, leading the conference in both ERA and Batting Average to finish the regular season.  Watson was the Ace most of the IIAC thought he would be.  Pitcher of the year in my opinion.  They were 8-7 vs teams in the tournament.

Central has a stud on the mound in Pullium.  He is one of the best in the league, but they just didn't win games against the top teams.  They were 4 – 11 vs. the teams in the tournament.  Two of those wins were surprisingly vs conference champ Coe.  Maybe that is a sign of what is to come.  In the end you have to win series to be a contender. 

Luther was another surprise team.  Reynolds and Lindmark are in the running for player and pitcher of the year.  They were 6-9 vs teams in the tournament.

Simpson has a ton of upper classmen and some solid pitching.  I think they were probably underrated from the start.  Being swept by Coe last weekend dropped them from 2nd to 4th.  They were 5-10 vs teams in the tournament.

Loras and Dubuque just played down another level from the rest of the pack.  They were not bad teams, just stuck in a tuff conference battle. 

Cornell was just bad.   

Should be a great tournament, with some great matchups. 

[TheSportsFan]

My "Ballot" for IIAC Honors

Player of the Year

1A. Nick Stein - COE
1B. Chris Reynolds -LUTHER

This is without a doubt a two-man race.  I searched to add a 3 and possibly a 4 or 5 to  this list, but could not make a serious case for anybody else.  (Maybe the dangerous Kevin Kloewer from BVU, but he only hit .325 with a sub-.400 OBP).

Depending on what type of an approach is taken, you come up with one of these two guys as POTY.

Stein was the anchor to a solid lineup, and conference champion, Coe.  He led the league in Slugging, OBP, Runs, and RBI.  Hitting 3rd in that lineup is a great spot to be to put up very nice numbers.  He generally plays very good in Centerfield and is known for his solid range and plus arm.  Nobody would flinch if they saw Stein pull this award in.

Reynolds is also an intriguing option.  He absolutely carried a team that generally was below average offensively.  Reynolds led the league in hitting (.444) while no other Norse player broke .300 in conference play.  He also led the league in hits, and doubles.  His .518 OBP is second to only Stein.  Defensively, Reynolds was solid, posting a .983 Fld. percentage with only 4 errors in 24 games at second base.  This is a guy clearly capable of hitting 3rd in a lineup, but the Norse seemed to need Reynolds in the leadoff spot.  It's hard to punish the guy for his low numbers of RBI considering he often hit with nobody on base, and drew numerous intentional walks when first base was open.  If this was an MVP award there would be no doubt that he was the most valuable to his team.

I would not argue with either of the above options.  Like my good friend Charles Barkley once said, "Anything else would be uncivilized."

Pitcher of the Year

1. Brad Watson - WARTBURG
2. Augie Lindmark - LUTHER
Worth Mentioning: Wade Morris - COE, Kendall Paluch - LORAS, Joel Pulliam - CENTRAL

Brad Watson is the flashy favorite for this award.  His numbers are impressive, 4th in ERA (1.78), 2nd in Opp. Avg. (.189), 1st in strikeout (56).  Watson was 6-3 in 9 appearances.  He was the anchor for a pitching staff that desperately depended on him as he was frequently thrown out on short rest.

Augie Lindmark was a nice surprise this year.  Half way through the year it appeared that he was the front-runner until his last three appearances through him off pace.  His best statistic was that he was undefeated until a relief appearance against Wartburg (and some bad Norse defensive play) cost him the tough luck loss.  He followed this with a 2-1 loss to Simpson and left down just 3-2 vs. Central.  He finished at 5-3.  Lindmark covered all important statistics, finishing in the top 4 in the IIAC.  1.35 ERA (2nd), .212 Opp. Avg. (4th), 60 IP (2nd), 36 K (4th) and 5 wins (4th).  What hurts him most is his lack of flare as his 36 K's in 60 innings won't impress the voters.  Again, if this was an MVP category, this Norse player could likely nab the award.

Coach of the Year: A much deserving Steve Cook....Coe outscored opponents 161-88 over the 24-game IIAC season.  They were not swept all year, and only lost two series (Loras and Central).  Sweeping Buena Vista and Wartburg have got to be the two biggest highlights of the year.  Coe won 12 of their 18 conf. victories by at least 4 runs.  It's important to note that they accomplished all of this while being the most depleted pitching staff in the league after losing Lewis and C. Raisch last year.....nuff said.

[TheSportsFan]

I have had a lot of people ask me how much of an impact the new bats have had....here is a quick number analysis.  I understand that different personnel comes through every year, but these numbers still prove something.

These numbers are over the five year stretch that the IIAC has done  the 3-game series format (24 games).

Year.......Average.....2B.......3B.......HR......SAC BUNT

2011.......(.272).......286......42.......65.........170

2010.......(.309).......403......38......140.........120

2009.......(.315).......373......39......125........116

2008.......(.292).......303......27.......76.........144

2007.......(.287).......311......37.......71.........161

This year we saw the lowest total of doubles and home runs, the lowest batting average, and the most sacrifice bunts.  It has been clear that teams are going to play a little bit more small ball this year in hopes of scratching runs across, while not being able to rely on the long ball.

[doolittledog]

I grew up watching Whitey ball in St. Louis...aka small ball...consider me a fan of this developement in the game. 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Great post about the overall league offensive numbers!

Luther bounced back this morning to beat Central, 14-4.  The Norse got off to another bad start as they were down 3-0 in the 1st inning, but unlike yesterday got it together enough to get this game stopped after 7 innings.

Reynolds has thrown 7 innings while Martin and Lindmark threw 5 or less yesterday.  I wonder how Augie's arm feels as he has slowly been sliding as of late.

Luther gets B.V around 4:00 and the winner plays Simpson right after that.  They are going to need Smith and perhaps Byom to throw well today.

Congrats to Coe and Wartburg for taking care of business so far.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Congrats to B.V. for ending the Norse season.  I was hoping that the Norse pitching and defense would keep teams down in this tourney, but it didn't happen.

Congrats to Simpson for ending the B.V. season.

This morning I thought Simpson was about to end the Wartburg season, but the weather and the Knights put that thought on hold at least.

I am hoping Coe wins this thing since they had the best regular season, but they are sitting pretty waiting for whoever comes out of the Knight-Storm game.

Congrats to Luther for winning the Men's All-Sports Championship today!   Wartburg had won the trophy for something like 13 years, so it is about time for someone else to claim it.  I thought Coe might come in 2nd and Wartburg 3rd, but Coe finished near the bottom in track this weekend.

Wartburg won the Women's All-Sports Championship by beating out Luther (thanks to that dominant Wartburg track program), but the Knights and Norse then will share the overall All-Sports Championship.  The overall championship is not very old, so I think this is the first year that Wartburg hasn't won it by themselves.

Good luck in regionals to whoever wins the IIAC tourney tomorrow.

[Kohawk Krazy]

Congrats to the Kohawks on winning their first Iowa Conference Tournament Championship!  Have to believe they'll be the #1 seed in the Central Region.

[TheSportsFan]

Could easily be seeded 2 or 3......could be below Carthage......plus there will likely be teams shipped in from farther east to be the top team in the Central......i.e. Heidelberg or Adrian

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Congrats to the Kohawks on winning their first Iowa Conference Tournament Championship!  Have to believe they'll be the #1 seed in the Central Region.

Congrats to Coe on putting together such a solid regular season and good postseason to this point.  Good luck in regionals!

Luther Softball won their NCAA Regional today by going 4-0 and taking St. Thomas down twice in the last two days.  Hopefully they will be joined by either Coe or Central at the Softball National Championships, but I don't know where things stand in Pella.

Someday I want to see Luther Baseball get to the NCAA Division III Championships.  They haven't won a regional since they won the Division II NCAA Regional in 1965.

This year I guess I will be happy to settle for Coe getting there!