BB: Regionals (West) 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

[Ralph Turner]

I think that we are reaching to give 2 Pool C bids to the west at this time.

PP
Hendrix
ASC Pool A
NWC Pool A
Chapman
one Pool C bid,

West Region
1. Pomona-Pitzer 33-4 25-2
2. Texas-Tyler 34-9 21-8
3. Pacific Lutheran 31-8 29-8
4. Texas-Dallas 27-16 26-12
5. George Fox 32-9 29-6
6. Chapman 24-13 17-11

and the best Pool C bid from the West last week was the Pac Lu/GFU loser.

UTD picked up 2 losses.

[TexasBB]

UTT and MC are battling as we speak for the Pool A slot. UTT has to win twice and they beat MC in the first game 16-2. It was scoreless in the third inning of the decisive game. I think it would be a crime if MC wins and Tyler not getting a Pool C bid for the second year in a row. That would deprive the ASC a 15 team league a second bid again. That presents serious issues IMHO. Ralph has suggested the league be broken into two conferences so that 2 Pool A slots can be assured. But there is more to a confernce than what the baseball teams want so I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Texas BB

[tloc14]

UT Tyler took the voters out of the equation by plating 7 runs with 2 outs in the 9th inning to win 8-5 and take the ASC crown tonight.

Possibilities of any other ASC team recieving an atlarge bid are very slim.

[BigPoppa]

Here is what I see for the West:

1. Pomona-Pitzer
2. UT-Tyler
3/4. George Fox/ Pacific Lutheran
5. Cal Lutheran
6. Chapman

* I see Hendrix getting shipped to the Central region as long as Carthage wins the Pool A bid in the CCIW.

[TexasBB]

I know it is not in the cards but I wanted to put in a plug for Mississippi College. They ended up short due to a great 2 out comback by UTT but finished the season 30-16 and Co-Champs of of the ASC East. They were 4-2 overall in the conference tournament. They also ended up splitting their 6 games overall with UTT during the season. Over the last 3 weeks nobody in the ASC has played better baseball. I sure would like to see them getting a chance to continue to play. Too many early season losses may keep them out but after a slow start this team has really played outstanding baseball.

[LA Mike]

IF what Big Poppa says is correct, the committee will put 5 ranked teams in one regional to take one winner to the finals???  That is one way to keep the West down.....................Just one time-- West Regionals

an LA Mike-Dodger Dog selection:

PP
Tex Tyl
Pac LU
Chapman
Geo Fox
Hendrix

This arrangement gives the 4 conferences in the West Region, team selections, a Pool B and a Pool C team to round out the bracket.
We can now just wait for Thursday for the final Regional Rankings to see how this will REALLY be..........

and from the Bull pen:
Maybe a Pool C to Cal Lu - then they are off to the South or Central Regions
         better OA record, in-regional record and will fare better with the tall
         boys of the south !!!!
MC and Tex Dal both took themselves out of the competition
Millsaps is in the mix but at the bottom of the bowl !!

I need ice on my head.............off to the trainer !!!

[BigPoppa]

Millsaps is in the mix but at the bottom of the bowl !!

Are you kidding? Millsaps is above all but one or two of the West Region teams.

[d3baseballnut]

Millsaps will be one of the top 3-4 Pool C teams

[TexasBB]

Millsaps got blanked in their conference tournament going 0-2 to teams that were not ranked. MC goes 4-2 and comes within one stike of a Pool A bid and they are not even on the radar screen. Supposedly MC played themselves out of a Pool C bid by loosing twice to UTT but somehow by lossing its last 2 games against supposedly weaker opponents Millsaps played its way in? At least MC won 4 games in the conference tournament and made it to the finals before bowing out. Millsaps lost 2 games on its home field.

[LA Mike]

Millsaps is in the mix but at the bottom of the bowl !!

Are you kidding? Millsaps is above all but one or two of the West Region teams.

OOPS-----------
My significant screw up-- my note sheets were mis-interpreted (they are quite illegible actually at this point) and I added losses twice......I will get them back in the mix quickly.  But----- no more Conference Championships; there is no more room on the paper !!!!

[infielddad]

Millsaps beat MC 3 times this year by scores of 20-3, 11-4 and 12-10.
I believe the NCAA Regional selections are based on the body of work over a 40 game season, not the last 4-6 games or 2 games in a tournament.
So, the body of work over 40 games should be the best criteria.  Millsaps deserves to get a Regional berth on that criteria.
Head to head should  speak volumes.  Millsaps deserves the berth based on this criteria.
Head to head 3 times with those scores screams against the position MC has a better claim to a Pool C than MC.
While we can pick something isolated to justify about anything, there isn't any reasonable argument that Millsaps does not deserve a Pool C or that there are more deserving teams.

[TexasBB]

Infielddad,

I actually agree with you. But that often does not happen. Last year UTT had a great record going into the conference tournament but lost two games the second weekend (actually finshed with a tournament record of 3-2) and those two losses kept them out of a Pool C bid despite the fact that they ended up ranked in the top 25 nationally. So it can and does happen. I can almost guarntee you that if UTT went 0-2 in the conference tournament like Millsaps did this year they would be outside looking in. Millsaps had a great season and with its overall body of work it deserves a Pool C bid. However, other teams that go 0-2 have gotten bit before. MC played alot better the last month and 1/2 of the season then they did earlier in the season. They are a better team today than they were in early March but those early losses are killing them. Still they won 30 games, were East Division Co-Champions of the ASC and should be considered.  If they were in another region other than the West they may in fact be in the tournament.

[infielddad]

TexasBB, other than using Millsaps for the point of reference, we are in complete agreement....some of the best  DIII teams will not be selected on Sunday or play next week.
The process itself, but mostly the geography of the West, costs to the NCAA, travel logistics in the West will always make it an issue.
To complicate this even further, just like in 2004, the West Regional is likely once again to have 4 and maybe 5 nationally ranked teams.  Of course only one gets to Wisconsin.
The good result about 2004 is the West Region winner won it all.
The bad part is Jack Parkman continues to pick at Trinity for not getting to Wisconsin. 

[Jack Parkman]

TexasBB, other than using Millsaps for the point of reference, we are in complete agreement....some of the best  DIII teams will not be selected on Sunday or playing next week.
The process itself, but mostly the geography of the West, costs to the NCAA, travel logistics in the West will always make it an issue.
To complicate this even further, just like in 2004, the West Regional is likely once again to have 4 and maybe 5 nationally ranked teams.  Of course only one gets to Wisconsin.
The good result about 2004 is the West Region winner won it all.
The bad part is Jack Parkman continues to pick at Trinity for not getting to Wisconsin. 

Who, me?  I would never do such a thing

[tloc14]

I was about to point out the head to head matchups of Millsaps and MC, but you beat me to it.  Actually, Millsaps was suppose to play in UTT's round robin tourney at the beginning of the season.  They backed out and Concordia was called in to fill the gap.  Would have been a fun first weekend with Millsaps and UTT squaring off against each other.

It is possible that Millsaps recieves a pool C bid to the southern regional...travel kinda dictates that to be a good move.  If anyone in the west recieves a pool C it will likely be a pacific coast team because of the location of the tourney.

I agree that MC evolved this season into a very good team and would be a good addition to any regional tournament, but their early season stumbles washed away their chances of that happening.