BB: IIAC: Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[BVer10]

As someone wrote earlier, Dekker threw really well yesterday on only 4 days rest.  They pulled him after 5 2/3 when he was starting to visibly get tired after 100 pitches but was still in the 87 range and was 90-91 through the 3rd.  Brought in Dupic who closed the game down solidly while the beavers added 1 in the top of the 7th for insurance.

Bats were there yesterday, but allowing Simpson back in that 10-0 game was very disappointing.  Simpson hit the ball hard all day, but the second game was when they finally started to fall in.  Also, didn't help that the BV youth bullpen were struggling to throw strikes after their starter (Probasco) took them a solid 3 innings on his second start since breaking his glove hand wrist the night before practice started earlier this year.  Definitely a youth loss, but they are still learning things and are on the edge of getting hot.

[Kohawk Krazy]

Coe picked up two big wins over BV today...11-4 and 5-1...

Kohawks looking like a solid contender for a top spot in the IIAC Tourney...

[youcantseemestill]

As someone wrote earlier, Dekker threw really well yesterday on only 4 days rest.

Hey Bver10, 4 days rest is full rest!   

[BVer10]

As someone wrote earlier, Dekker threw really well yesterday on only 4 days rest.

Hey Bver10, 4 days rest is full rest!   

Yes, I realize that usually.  But he had only been pitching every 6 or 7 days, I don't know if that was the plan or just how the schedule fell into play.   8) 

Heard they had some tough ones against Coe today.  Sounds like Coe hit the ball really hard, and the young beavers defense struggled as well.  Still aren't sure who they with throw against U of D on Wednesday, they have the Wartburg series coming up this weekend, so I know the BV coaches have some decisions to make about who will throw where.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther added a doubleheader against #11 UW-Whitewater for today since the weather and Dome time limits had been messing with the Norse schedule so far.

Nothing like adding a ranked opponent right before playing Simpson tomorrow and Central this weekend!  This should be a fun week if the weather cooperates.

Congrats to Wartburg and Coe for having strong weekends.  Wartburg has put themselves in very good shape by taking out the Norse and then reversing the outcomes against Central from a year ago.

[BVer10]

Looks as if the beavers played another good game yesterday taking the 9 inning game 7-4 over U of D making that series 2-1 in favor of the beavers.  Looks as if their bats are still hot putting up 14 hits with 5 doubles, a triple, and a home run, while stealing 3 bags.  Also appears as if coach Eddie decided to throw Dekker yesterday instead of against Wartburg on Friday.  Don't really totally understand that, other than to make sure that they took the series, and maybe he doesn't want them to see him till the tournament, but that's why hes the coach and I'm not  .  Heard from a cousin that goes to U of D that his friend saw one of the 2 guns that were taking velocities on him that he was 92 in the second inning and 88 still in the 7th.  He went 7 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs (neither earned), 3 walks, 1 hit batter, with 7 ks.  Dupic came in behind him and put the Spartans away going 2 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs (both earned), 2 walks, and 2 ks.  Hopefully the beavers will keep their bats hot going into Waverly this weekend!

How did everyone else in the conference fair? 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

I have seen that Hiatt isn't on the same pace as last year.  Do you think that he has come back to earth a little this season, or is he just struggling right now?

He has had some big hits and drove in a decent amount of runs so far (11 in 8 games), so I am not too worried yet about him falling back from last season.  Hiatt had great numbers last season before his numbers fell back in the regional (fell to .366 at season's end), so I could see his batting average being around .340 to .375 again this year.  If he hits around that with some pop and good run production it should be a good year for him.  Offensively I found myself paying the most attention when he, Waddle, or Schott were hitting this week.  All three of them hit some balls hard even if it wasn't always for a hit.

Luther is losing 2-1 to Wartburg in the 8th.  Too bad I couldn't make it today.  Go Norse!

The team is still struggling at times, but Hiatt is now hitting .355 with 1 HR, 6 2Bs, and 26 RBIs in 26 games.  He and Jake Waddle have been the clear anchors for that lineup.  Jake is hitting .432 with 1 HR, 9 2Bs, 3 3Bs, and 22 RBIs in 26 games.

Ben Schott (.352 with 16 RBIs) and Alex Ross (.355 with 11 RBIs) have also had nice seasons so far, but the Norse lineup has not been as deep nor have they hit for as much power as last year.

The Norse once again split a doubleheader yesterday (won 4-2 behind Kohls, lost 4-3 behind Nelson) against Loras to fall to 6-8 in the league.  What was an early season trend has become the general line for the season, as Luther is now 0-8 in games decided by one run.

When the game is decided by one run: 0-8
Two runs or less: 2-10
Three or more runs: 10-4
Extra inning games: 0-3

They have had some clutch hits to tie games up late, but I can't remember anything clutch to take the lead.  There have been way too many games in which the Norse had many more hits and baserunners than the opponent but lost a close game.

At this point, they are what they are no matter what they did last year or what the preseason expectations were.  They are a .500-type team that needs to do well down the stretch to solidify a spot in the conference tourney.

Congrats to Wartburg for moving closer towards winning another conference title.  Simpson and Coe have done good jobs of erasing last season and moving back into the upper part of the Iowa Conference standings.  It doesn't appear to be much of a fluke either as those three teams are the top three in team batting average and runs per game and among the top four in team ERA.

[youcantseemestill]

Hiatt has really come around to close out this season.  I did hear that he was injured (possibly seriously) in game Sunday against Dubuque.  Floyd, can you confirm or deny this?  I hope to hear that he is fine........that would be a huge loss to a Luther team that is showing signs of being much better. 

Huge sweep for the Kohawks this weekend and a devestating sweep for the Dutch.  Coe has the only chance to catch the Knights, but could fall all the way to 4th under another senario.  Nice to see the top two teams matched up for the final series. 

There is going to be a heck of a battle for those last couple of spots.  Should be a fun week.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

I wasn't able to make it to the series this weekend, so I am in the dark about an injury situation.  He did go 3-4 in the last game with a 2B, a 3B, and 5 RBIs.  That brings him to .371 on the season with 8 2Bs, a 3B, a HR, and 32 RBIs in 29 games.  I also hope that he is all right and ready for the the games with Loras and Cornell this week.

With the 13-2 and 12-0 wins over Dubuque this weekend to go with the 7-6 loss to the Spartans, the Norse (14-15 overall and 8-9 in the IIAC) are now:

0-9 when the game is decided by one run or less
12-4 when the game is decided by 3 runs or more
4-9 when the game is in Decorah
0-3 in extra innings

The Norse are hitting .310 while the opposition is hitting .253.  They have outscored the opposition 164-114. 

Jake Waddle is still hitting well at .434 with 10 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 2 HRs, and 27 RBIs.
Adam Kohls is now 4-1 on the mound with a 2.28 ERA.
Joe Nelson got the complete game win yesterday to move to 3-2, but much like Hiatt I am concerned about how healthy Nathan Todd is right now.  Todd is 1-3 with a 4.35 ERA after going 8-3 with a 2.40 ERA in 2007.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Hiatt has really come around to close out this season.  I did hear that he was injured (possibly seriously) in game Sunday against Dubuque.  Floyd, can you confirm or deny this?  I hope to hear that he is fine........that would be a huge loss to a Luther team that is showing signs of being much better. 

Jeff played tonight and went 1-4 in a 4-3 win over Loras.  The Norse finally won a game by one run!!

Nathan Todd moved to 2-3 on the year as he gave up 2 runs in 8 and 1/3 innings.  Loras got all 3 of their runs in the 8th and 9th as Kohls came in to get the save.

Kohls and Nelson will probably starting on the mound this weekend against Cornell, but I am not sure who the 3rd starter will be.  Pichelmann?  Hyland?  Kohls?  Flaig (who hasn't pitched recently)?

Luther is now 9-9 in the IIAC.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Looks like it was a tough one at times in Storm Lake.  Dekker walks 8 in the B.V. loss and Simpson has 5 errors even though they won. 

Simpson had to lose the game for Luther to have any shot of catching them in the standings.  Congrats to the Storm on a solid regular season heading into the tourney.

Congrats to Wartburg as well for winning another IIAC baseball title after they beat Dubuque tonight.

[BVer10]

Wasn't pretty here in SL today for sure.  Made it to the game and Dekker looked better than what it sounds by the box score until the 4th inning where something seem to get lost after striking out 2 and hitting one.  Definitely not characteristic of him to walk 8 like that.  Overheard one of the parents in the stands say that his forearm has really been bothering him since right before Wartburg, hopefully its nothing serious.  The relievers came in and did a great job shutting the storm down.  Home plate ump definitely was not making calls that should have been made, and seemed to get heckled pretty well.

I just wish BV would hit as well with runners on as they do with bases empty.  It appears that they press with runners on and take bad cuts in drive them in situations.  It's seriously time to step it up if the young Beavers are going to make the conference tournament.  They need at least 2 from Loras it appears.  We'll see how the rain holds out.

Congrats to the Storm.

Over and out from the City Beautiful

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Wartburg did not let clinching the IIAC title interfere with winning games.  Pretty impressive that they were able to sweep Coe after already clinching against Dubuque.

I wasn't surprised, but I was a little disappointed that Luther did not throw Nathan Todd against Cornell in the 9-7 loss yesterday.  I know the conference tourney is the bigger thing at this point (in terms of getting pitchers ready), but I still care whether the Norse would have finished 3rd or 4th based on the outcome of the game against the Rams.  Starting pitchers Hyland and Flaig must be considered question marks going into the IIAC tourney as Hyland gave up 8 runs yesterday.

Here is my version of the Norse rotation for this week:
#1            Adam Kohls - 5-1, 2.29 ERA in 59 innings (43 hits allowed, 54 Ks)
#2            Nate Todd - 2-3, 3.89 ERA in 39 innings
#3            Joe Nelson - 4-2, 3.38 ERA in 45 innings (33 hits allowed, 35 Ks)
#4/Relief  Paul Pichelmann - 2-2, 2.83 ERA in 35 innings

Kohls, Jeff Hiatt, and Jake Waddle would be my choices for all-IIAC.  Kohls and Waddle were 1st team selections last year and have performed very well again this year (Waddle finished at .425 with 13 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 2 HRs, 31 runs, and 28 RBIs in 33 games).

Hiatt was a 2nd team selection last year, but has upped his batting average this year as he is hitting .392 with 10 2Bs, 1 3B, 1 HR, and 33 RBIs in 33 games.

Nate Todd was a 2nd team pitcher last year, but his numbers aren't as good this year.

[youcantseemestill]

Saw the Coe v Wartburg series this weekend.  Heartbreaking/embarassing losses for Coe and imressive wins for the Knights.  Saeugling took a liner off the hand and then gave up a three run homer in the second innning of game one and didn't come back out.  Done for the day actually.  A solo shot by Smith made it 6-3 Coe after 5 and a half.  Wartburg answers with 4 in the bottom and hold on to win 7-6.

Game two saw Coe explode offensively early on.  Scored 7 in the 3rd 2 more in the 4th and it was 9-0.  Wartburg then puts up and 11 spot in the bottom of the 4th with no help from errors.  The Knights pounded out 16 hits in game two.  Coe had opportunities in both games to win, but didn't pitch well enough to win. 

Sucks for BV to put up 27 and not get in.  Really nice season for Pietryzk (sp??)

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther loses to Coe this morning and is the first team to be knocked out of the Iowa Conference tourney.  There were some strange things this season, but I would think most associated with the program see 17-18 and 11-10 in the IIAC as a tough year based on last year and preseason expectations.

They lost a bunch of close games and were entertaining at times, but at the end of the day they had an average season as the record shows.

Congrats to senior SS Jeff Hiatt on having a very good career in a Norse uniform.  There were two other seniors P Joe Nelson and OF Alex Ross that also need to be replaced, but Jeff was clearly one of the anchors of the position players.  Joe and Alex had productive careers.

Going into next season, Luther needs to have 3-5 pitchers that really are dependable when it is there turn.  Kohls, Todd, and Pichelmann are all great candidates again if they are healthy, but Hyland, Flaig, and someone else need to step up as well.

The position lineup had good numbers overall, but the HRs were down this year as well as the clutch hits that took the lead late in games.  Hopefully they can average over 6 runs a game next year with more power.  Ben Schott had a good year this year, but can he be more consistent next year with a little more power as a junior?

Hopefully the weather cooperates next year so I can see more than 8 games in person.

Good luck to whoever gets to be in the NCAA tourney.  Hopefully the IIAC team or teams in regionals are peaking at the right time.