BB: Top Teams in West Region

[Spence]

Each team will play approx. 6ea 7 inning games during the season. That is 18 innings less over a approx 350 inning. (5% less), means nothing in terms of getting ready. We all sometimes forget that they are Student Athletes. The players I talked to love the extra day Sunday to get caught up academically. Really is a non issue.

18 innings is a doubleheader worth of innings.

It's also 18 innings worth of late game situations, relief pitching, defensive replacements, pinch hits...things that can win or lose a ballgame in the postseason.

I don't think getting home 45 minutes later on Saturday is going to put much of a dent into study time. Beer time, maybe.

[tigerfan_2001]

These are for conference games only, all others are 9. Rules are established by the conference. 7 innings first game, 9 the second. They play 9 on Friday night. Typical schedule has a Tuesday 9 inning game.  I have never talked to a conference administrator, but I assume that it allows for a more compact schedule including travel. Remember the distances are greater in the West and it is not unusual to have a 5-6 hour bus ride on either side of the games.

OK I had a bit of a misunderstanding then. I thought they were all 7s. Many leagues do the 7/9 thing, though some do 9/9 and I think it makes for a different competitive dynamic. The OAC just went to 9/9 this year and in the first weekend I think it made a difference in at least one game.

A 2 inning difference is what, 40 minutes or less? If you have a 5-6 hour trip starting Saturday evening, I don't really think 2 more innings matters. And if there's enough light to play 2 9s in Ohio there certainly is further south.

I would love to see the SCAC go to all 9 innings.  Lights should not be a problem.  Trinity's first conference game was the weekend of daylight savings.

[Whatagame]

NWC plays 9 inning DHs - 2 games on Sat. and 1 game Sun.  If conference play starts before Daylight Savings Time, they begin at 11:00 AM on Saturday, otherwise they start at Noon.  There was one situation this season, occurred last weekend, where the PLU/UPS game 1 went 15 innings, then game 2 was kind of a high-scoring affair, and it was suspended for darkness in the 8th.  They finished up Sunday morning.

I agree, a lot can happen in innings 8-9, and there have been a few pretty crucial conference games change hands in those two innings this season.

[CrashDavisD3]

SCIAC 9 on Friday DH 9/9 on Saturday. Real College baseball plays 9. Does playing 7 explains why Trinity has not made it to Appleton 

[tigerfan_2001]

SCIAC 9 on Friday DH 9/9 on Saturday. Real College baseball plays 9. Does playing 7 explains why Trinity has not made it to Appleton 

doubt it....probably has something to do with the fact that Trinity can't win that 3rd game of the tournament.

[CrashDavisD3]

SCIAC 9 on Friday DH 9/9 on Saturday. Real College baseball plays 9. Does playing 7 explains why Trinity has not made it to Appleton 

doubt it....probably has something to do with the fact that Trinity can't win that 3rd game of the tournament.

Your absolutely right. Just throwing it out there. I really feel this may be the year finally. I fully expect Trinity to battle Linfield for the trip to Appleton. Linfield has the experience of having done this multiple time in the past simliar to when Chapman made so many trips to Appleton.

I still really believe Trinity has front ended their schedule with so many games and so few at the end that it can be hard to get over that last game in the regional since they are at a disadvantage against the other teams that have played many more games right before the regional tournament time.  Just my opinion after watching things close up from 2007 - 2011. I am not too close to DIII or West Coast teams anymore.

[Texas Leaguer]

SCIAC 9 on Friday DH 9/9 on Saturday. Real College baseball plays 9. Does playing 7 explains why Trinity has not made it to Appleton 

Hahaha.  I think we're on to something here!  Trinity typically has a deep staff so the extra two innings would more times than not play into their favor. 

The one thing I will say about the 7 inning game is each situation's significance is somewhat magnified due to the shorter length.  It's a lot easier for either A) a dominant pitcher to get into the 7th and still have something in the reserves to finish his own game (potentially without having to go through the heart of the order for a 4th time) or B) if you have a quality reliever, getting 5 innings from your starter and handing the ball directly to your best relief arm without having to navigate through any other bullpen arms.

[tigerfan_2001]

SCIAC 9 on Friday DH 9/9 on Saturday. Real College baseball plays 9. Does playing 7 explains why Trinity has not made it to Appleton 

doubt it....probably has something to do with the fact that Trinity can't win that 3rd game of the tournament.

Your absolutely right. Just throwing it out there. I really feel this may be the year finally. I fully expect Trinity to battle Linfield for the trip to Appleton. Linfield has the experience of having done this multiple time in the past simliar to when Chapman made so many trips to Appleton.

I still really believe Trinity has front ended their schedule with so many games and so few at the end that it can be hard to get over that last game in the regional since they are at a disadvantage against the other teams that have played many more games right before the regional tournament time.  Just my opinion after watching things close up from 2007 - 2011. I am not too close to DIII or West Coast teams anymore.

the best thing trinity has going for then is their conference tournament was moved back a week. Now they only have 1 weekend between their tournament and the regional. Enough to get healthy, but not long enough to get rusty. Lots of assumptions, trinity has a ways to go before they should be thinking about regionals....

[Texas Leaguer]

I wouldn't sleep on Concordia in the West either.  It looks like they have a true #1 in Cameron Cox that you need to win the first game of a Regional.  They have primarily used 3 pitchers at the halfway point of their season so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out if they make a deep run come tournament time.

[CrashDavisD3]

I wouldn't sleep on Concordia in the West either.  It looks like they have a true #1 in Cameron Cox that you need to win the first game of a Regional.  They have primarily used 3 pitchers at the halfway point of their season so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out if they make a deep run come tournament time.

Cameron Cox 
APP 7
W-L 5-0
ERA 1.18
IP 38.0
SO 38
OPP/BA .218

[108 Stitches]

It is pretty tough getting through a Regional that has in it: #1, #3, #13 and #16 in the country. (assuming these teams get there)  Takes a bit of luck and a deep staff. A dominant number 1 helps also, but  mostly that gets you one game.

The TU pitching staff is as deep as I have ever seen it, and they have two months to continue to develop their pen. They have 3 guys down there that can make any game a 7 inning affair for a starter. It is hard to argue with 500+ wins but frankly TU tends to keep a starter in the game too long IMO. If I had two 90+ closer types I would march one out there in the 8th and the other in the 9th. Easy for me to say 

Concordia game should be fun tonight.

[dp643]

Uh....has anyone seen CTX's closer Corey Holmes stat line?

8.1IP 2 SV 0 H 12 K 0.00 ERA

[Whatagame]

It is pretty tough getting through a Regional that has in it: #1, #3, #13 and #16 in the country. (assuming these teams get there)  Takes a bit of luck and a deep staff. A dominant number 1 helps also, but  mostly that gets you one game.

The TU pitching staff is as deep as I have ever seen it, and they have two months to continue to develop their pen. They have 3 guys down there that can make any game a 7 inning affair for a starter. It is hard to argue with 500+ wins but frankly TU tends to keep a starter in the game too long IMO. If I had two 90+ closer types I would march one out there in the 8th and the other in the 9th. Easy for me to say 

Concordia game should be fun tonight.

That is amazing D3 pitching depth indeed.  I really can't think of a single NWC guy that I've seen who is a 90+ guy this year, just a couple who can hump up on a few and touch 90.  I took a glance at Trinity's stats, and asides from what looks like the four starters, the vast bulk of the staff has very few innings - possibly that becomes an issue in the postseason, where lack of experience can get magnified when called-upon in the pressure cooker.  Regardless, that sounds like an impressive staff indeed.

[Spence]

It is pretty tough getting through a Regional that has in it: #1, #3, #13 and #16 in the country. (assuming these teams get there)  Takes a bit of luck and a deep staff. A dominant number 1 helps also, but  mostly that gets you one game.

The TU pitching staff is as deep as I have ever seen it, and they have two months to continue to develop their pen. They have 3 guys down there that can make any game a 7 inning affair for a starter. It is hard to argue with 500+ wins but frankly TU tends to keep a starter in the game too long IMO. If I had two 90+ closer types I would march one out there in the 8th and the other in the 9th. Easy for me to say 

Concordia game should be fun tonight.

That is amazing D3 pitching depth indeed.  I really can't think of a single NWC guy that I've seen who is a 90+ guy this year, just a couple who can hump up on a few and touch 90.  I took a glance at Trinity's stats, and asides from what looks like the four starters, the vast bulk of the staff has very few innings - possibly that becomes an issue in the postseason, where lack of experience can get magnified when called-upon in the pressure cooker.  Regardless, that sounds like an impressive staff indeed.

And yet they never can win the big one, which is why I've stopped believing this hyperbole about how Trinity always has half a dozen guys that throw 90 or some such. They must have a fast gun there or something.

Their pitching actually looks less deep this year than previous, and has a higher walk ratio than last year when they had 3 main guys that threw strikes pretty consistently.

[108 Stitches]

It's not always about Velo Spence. Pitcher tonight gave up 3 runs on 1 hit. Got to put it over the dish.