2014 West Regional - McMinnville, OR

[CrashDavisD3]

Linfield looks beatable BUT...they find a way to win and rarely make mistakes. I watched them play over a 5 year period in Oregon, SoCal and Wisconsin. They just play very sound fundamental baseball and coached very well.

They do the little things well.

Wow 3 1 run games. Day 2 will be another good one.

[SoCalSoxFan]

[There is a time to squeeze but not in this situation. Also it is tough to bunt at Linfield. Turf is really fast on warm dry days. I did see a bases loaded bunt in 2009 but it was push bunt the went past the pitcher towards 2nd baseman that would not have been possible on grass. Turf made that bunt possible. Normal types bunts move to fast which make sac bunts and squeeze bunts tough.

Ball travels well on warm days and ball will travel with home runs possible which won the game for Linfield.

Definitely an unorthordox call squeezing bunt from #4 hitter. 

As an aside:  I thought the turf played very slow today.  Groundballs had a hard time getting out of the infield, not all of it due to great plays.  UW had one bunt that died outside just on the "Grass" allowing Catcher to make the play.  During SCIAC grass games, that bunt would've kept rolling and the pitcher would typically need to field it.
It also seemed to "Run" slower with several runners looking like they were running in mud. 

I'm looking forward to another great day of Oregon baseball.   The weather was fantastic and should be until Saturday.

As most of you have said, Defense will make the difference.  Pitchers need to throw ground ball, Limit the walks; Defense needs to eliminate all errors, make the difficult play... and with this turf you'll have a chance to win.

I'm not as good as some of you Varsity members in picking,
12pm- LeTu vs IWU
3:30pm- Linfield vs Trinity
7pm- Cal Lu vs UWSP

Lastly:  LuDawg6, thank you very much for your efforts yesterday.  The story of the effort you made to come watch your team will become CLU folklore!  Also, impressive that you still fit in your jersey... 

[Whatagame]

Linfield continued their struggle against the soft lefty. Fortunately Lindell's bomb was enough. Haddeland did Haddeland things. They probably hit one ball hard all game. I think he is at 25 innings the last 2 regionals without a run given up?? Give credit to LeT tho, they played great. Linfield will need to score more if they want to win it all.

I think the soft toss lefty, who could spin it and locate it with a funky delivery like the LeTu pitcher could, would have naturally been a tough match-up, as Linfield had not played in a week and a half and guys would understandably be amped-up for the game, getting on the front foot etc.

[Westside]

Great first day of baseball. I don't think any of the results were surprising, and all six teams came ready to play. There seemed to be a lack of the big hit in every game. Base-runners were getting on, but a lot of them were left stranded. Surprised there was only one bomb yesterday, as the wind was blowing out most of the day... Anyway, based on just yesterday, UW-Stevens Point, Trinity, and Linfield all looked like teams that could make World Series runs. This regional is still wide open.

I think all three games today are toss ups, but if I were to pick the winners... Illinois Wesleyan over LeTourneau, Linfield over Trinity, UW-Stevens Point over Cal Lu. In reality, anyone can beat anyone in this regional, and that is what makes it so great.

Should be some more great pitching match-ups today too. Going just off the team stats/previous weeks I would predict:

Curt Copeland (8-2, 3.28 ERA) vs. John Munyon (3-1, 3.10 ERA)
Aarom Thomassen (9-1, 1.92 ERA) vs. Ryan Gray (3-0, 2.11 ERA)
Luke Watson (7-1, 2.03 ERA) vs. Scott Peters (6-3, 3.25 ERA)

Here's to another great day of baseball.

[108 Stitches]

UW-SP squared up only two balls vs Trinity yesterday and one went for a double. If CLU can score a few runs they will win. UWSP are one of the biggest teams I have ever seen in DIII ball, more like a football team; however not very athletic. Feyereisen had great stuff as I mentioned before. Trinity did the same thing in the SCAC tournament first game, then tightened it up and can beat Linfield today if they do this. All should be good games. As a side note how they get a home plate umpire with that inconsistent zone in a Regional is beyond me ? He did not decide the game, but wow is all I can say.

[ludawg6]

Heart or head – which do I go with... well... a little reverse psychology on myself and we will see where this takes us... predictions... (Nice move heart, listen to reason)
LeTu over IWU;   LC over TU;    CLU over UWSP...

The LC/TU game should be a prize fight – and could give a 5-team format going into Friday (shut up heart, you have been banned from this conversation)...

SoxFan – a couple points of note...
1) That jersey is my "Tommy Boy" version from the 2002 alumni game, my daughters wear my gamers from yesteryear... but thanks for the compliment...
2) Folklore – the "box and one"; "your mother hates you"; "you're not doing your job"; "Mas Tardy"; and, of course, "Shock the World" that started it all... let's just hope that my next roadie comes with an overnight stay and my daughters seeing just exactly what a true celebration feels like... (Heart - you are overstepping your boundaries!!!)

One game at a time, but hopefully that game is at 7pm tomorrow night (LuDawg6 rips his own heart out and feeds it to the geese in the field across the street)

[Whatagame]

On a side note, while the video broadcast from McMinnville is great with the multiple camera angles, etc. the video quality itself is pretty grainy (like virtually every program's video that I've seen)  However, I checked in on a game from the UW Whitewater Regional - and WOW!  Their video quality and camera angles are just outstanding, like an HDTV signal.  It is a higher definition  picture even over what I remember from the Appleton cameras.

[dp643]

What in the world was that? 2 visits in an inning allowed because he also argued a call?

[dp643]

Can anyone in attendance explain what in the world is going on with the pitching situation in this game? Did the pitcher get ejected?

[108 Stitches]

LeTourneau wins 3-2. Congrats to both teams hard fought.

[Ralph Turner]

Another 1-run game!   LeTU 3, IWU 2.  Fourth of the series!

This Regional always has the best balance.  The conferences are strong and deep.
The At-larges that they fly in are not patsies.
No conference in the Region is below average.

[Westside]

WOW. The fourth straight one-run game in the West Region...

A 2 RBI squeeze play was the difference. Copeland pitched a hell of a game. What a gritty performance.

Congrats LeTourneau on your first postseason victory!

[dp643]

Can anyone provide any insight to what happened in the bottom of the 8th with the arguments and the pitching change after the ball was thrown into center field?

[wildcat11]

I know it's early but I would like to see Linfield to start stringing together some hits.  Been really cold offense through 11 innings....

[CrashDavisD3]

Wow, high scoring game in the UWSP/TU game.  Absolutely great day of baseball all around.

Tomorrow's Schedule:

12pm- LeTu vs IWU
3:30pm- Linfield vs Trinity
7pm- Cal Lu vs UWSP

Should be another great day of baseball.

Perfect 3-0 for day 1 predictions
Day 2 predictions
Trinity goes home
IWU goes home
UWSP Wins

So far 2-0 today for my crystal ball...1 more to go