I apologize to my readers as business is going quite well right now and I’m finding little time (and motivation) to devote to blogging about baseball right now (especially since I’m way more interested in the Twins).
It was an interesting weekend – the Augustana vs. Wayne State pair of games tomorrow should be big, especially for the Vikings. Winona State at Upper Iowa and Duluth at Minnesota State are not gimmies for the higher ranked teams either.
The Free For All? In addition to the teams on the field, it’s up to the readers to have it out with each other and keep the thread going this week.
Now – back to selling houses where I finished up a deal for a buyer yesterday and am negotiation on an offer for a seller I represent today. 🙂
Glad to hear bussiness is so good for you when just about everybody else I talk to thinks things are still in a downward spiral. There-fore If you happen to stop by the Conferance Tourney I will do my best to embarass you into buying a round for all the posters in attendance.
As far as a “Free For All” you might have to bring back The Stat Rat for that one. Everybody else on this site plays well togeather. That’s what makes it such a good site and a great place to get information and discuss life in the NSIC for a bunch of Baseball junkies like us.
I am very happy you have continued to operate this site. It allows me to listen to others about different schools.
Your commitment is outstanding.
CU due to have a run soon. I believe they are jelling as a team. Is it too late to make the top 6?
CU17dad.. In this conference it seems that its never to late, especially this year the way soe teams are playing and the known all to well upsets taking place. Hopefully they start playing well, be fun to add another team to the mix
CU sweeps Northern State on Wednesday. Record is slowly climbing.
Looks Augie is just going to lay down the rest of the season.
Augies got too good of a team to lay down. They are top 6 for sure but the schedule is tough.
I don’t know about Augie. The started off the conference 8-0 as I recall and now have gone 1-7. They didn’t put up much of a fight yesterday. Scored 1 in the first of game 1 and were shut out after that. And they gave up 20 runs on 15 or so hits. And the walked 14 and hit 8. Not a great combination for winning.
Ima, you are right about their schedule – and it’s not getting any easier as they are at St. Cloud this weekend. Sure would like to see a split there! After this weekend, it lightens up for them a bit, SW and UI and then finish with 4 wins against Northern.
Big weekend for UI at SW and for Augie at St. Cloud. Someone could claim that 6th spot and SW could solidify their hold on 5th.
I tink auggies choice to play non conference between two tough foes put them in a little trouble pitching wise? Sure looks that way to me?
Im not a big believer in SW. I think they will slide out of the playoffs even though they have the easiest schedule available in the conference.
I also see St. Cloud does not play a mid week conference Dh this week. How nice for them to rest the pitching. Augie has their work cut ouy for them. I only hope they get a break on scheduling next year.
SMSU’s next 12 games come against UIU, Winona, and Augie. Huge stretch of games against very good teams
Duluth beat MN State again today. I believe they will steal the 6th spot away from SW or Augie? I think thier coach is very good.
Believe Augie and St. Cloud will split this weekend?
IF CU wins 4 this weekend, they could get above .500. Not sure if any of the top 6 will fall far enough to catch them.. Too bad SMSU does not play CU in conference play.
Augie looked very talented against CU. Not sure for their long fall.
St Cloud pitching was good last weekend. First game Deminsky pitched and was hit hard. Game three pitcher was pretty good even though CU won.
Birr did not pitch at all last weekend. Arm fatigue or worse
WSC has played CU and you have a good club. I would be willing to bet my last dollar you win 4 this weekend. Crookston might be the worst team in the Division 2.
Other than a few teams at the bottom, who also really are not that bad, any team can beat any team in this league and this is a good thing. The bad thing is only 6 teams advance to the tourney. This needs to change or every year quality teams get left out. Softball gets 8. “Fair should me fair.”
why does SMSU have an easy schedule? IMAFAN? I don’t get it. Winona doesn’t play Mankato, Wayne or St. Cloud. That seems easy doesn’t it? This has been hashed out many times. It’s all pretty even.
After bringing that up I would have to agree thay Winona has it easier than SMSU. SMSU could surprise everyone yet.
CU plays Crookston at Barnes (4), Home and Home Wednesday’s against MSU, Bemidji (4) at Barnes, and finishes with 4 at Winona.
Hopefully the Golden Bears can finish the conference above .500. If they can do that 6th place might fall to them. SMSU and UIU are the wild cards since CU does not play them.
CU almost lost 2 games to Northern. Wednesday’s first game was won on a walk off hit but all 3 Northern’s pitchers were freshman. They should have some arms to compete in the conference in the near future. Not to mention they have one of the toughest schedules with Mankato, CU, Wayne, St. Cloud, SMSU, Duluth, and Augie. Who are all above .500 in the conference. They have played some tough games in there with a very young rotation.
I would say this is the toughest schedule in the conference for the second straight year.
U cant say Winona has easier schedule, just because they dont play those teams in the regular season. Winona Played all three of those teams very well. took 3 of 4 from wayne. split 1-1 with st. Cloud and was winning going into last two innings of that game. and split wit mankato. Winona is for real
Winona is for real, but not having to play 12 games against the top teams will make the NSIC Conference Champions. Mankato, Auggie, SCSU and Duluth have tough schedules. Any coorelation about them all being NCC teams? And a lot depends on when you play each other. Mankato ans SCSU havign to play Wayne right after each other is way more difficult then playing one of the easier teams inbetween.
Still have to beat everyone, but divisional play is the only fair way to go especially with USF and Minot joining.
Anonymous,
I wouldn’t go crowning Winona NSIC Champs just yet. We still got a lot of baseball to go. I think St. Cloud and MSU might agree also.
USF? I was unaware of any potential let alone official changes.
Adding teams should lead to divisional play if all the current teams continue to field teams
Who is USF?
University of Souix Falls. I had to look it up.
USF has beaten Augustana twice this year.
Have you ever driven to Minot??? You really gotta be goin there to get there. Yuck!
Nate Baumann stole his 28th and 29th bases against Wayne on Wed.
Who holds the NSIC record since its inception that was in 1993 I think. Chad Funk SMSU 32 in 1997. Anyone.
Your Honor, Let the record show that he stole them on the pitcher!
I WAS NOT AT THE GAMES BUT WILL GO ALONG WITH YOU ON THAT ONE.
In conference from last years program NSIC conference only games.
SB’s 17 – Ben Smothers, Winona State – 2009
Blain Schnaible, SMSU – 1987
Gene Glynn, MSU – 1978
There were a ton of new records set last year.
Don.t believe Glynn and Schnaible were in the NSIC. Schnaible played in th NIC. Glynn in the NCC I believe.
Just writtin what I’m readin.
Said NSIC. I believe they were in the NSIC B4 the NCC than back again?!
In “78” that must have been Geno Glynn Sr. ay?
will try to find info
2009 Statistics (28-15, 16-10 NSIC | NCAA Tournament)
2008 Statistics (24-20, 14-12 NSIC)
2007 Statistics (26-16, 17-7 NSIC)
2006 Statistics (20-30, 10-8 NSIC)
2005 Statistics (26-22, 12-10 NSIC)
2004 Statistics (30-22, 17-11 NSIC)
2003 Statistics (27-20, 16-6 NSIC)
2002 Statistics (31-19, 18-6 NSIC | NSIC Champions)
2001 Statistics (21-18, 11-4 NSIC)
2000 Statistics (25-18, 12-4 NSIC)
1999 Statistics (28-16-1, 15-7 NSIC | NSIC Champions)
1998 Statistics (33-16, 14-6 NSIC)
1997 Statistics (31-13, 10-6 NSIC | NSIC Champions)
1996 Statistics (24-17, 12-4 NSIC | NSIC Champions)
1995 Statistics (17-25, 11-7 NSIC)
1994 Statistics (25-22, 12-4 NSIC)
1993 Statistics (17-23, 9-6 NSIC)
1992 Statistics (15-31, 7-11 NIC)NAIA
1991 Statistics (16-26, 8-4 NIC)
1990 Statistics (14-25, 8-10 NIC)
1989 Statistics (17-22, 7-9 NIC)
1988 Statistics (21-22, 7-11 NIC)
1987 Statistics (17-22, 12-8 NIC)
1986 Statistics (27-23, 11-6 NIC)
1985 Statistics (19-26, 9-11 NIC)
1984 Statistics (23-15, 13-5 NIC)
1983 Statistics (8-23, 3-17 NIC)
1982 Statistics (9-24, 8-12 NIC)
1981 Statistics (21-19, 7-9 NIC)
1980 Statistics (10-18, 5-11 NIC)
1979 Statistics (11-20, 6-12 NIC)
1978 Statistics (14-22, 6-14 NIC)
1977 Statistics (10-30, 7-13 NIC)
1976 Statistics (18-21, 10-10 NIC)
1975 Statistics (7-14, 4-6 NIC)
1974 Statistics (23-16, 10-4 NIC | NIC Champions)
1973 Statistics (18-15, 8-7 NIC)
1972 Statistics (17-18-1, 5-10 NIC)
1971 Statistics (8-24, 1-14 NIC)
MSU joined the NCC in 1968 left in 1976. They rejoined the NCC in 1981 untill 2008, then joined the NSIC.
From 1977-1980 they played in the NIC conference. NAIA
I do have to agree Winona is having a standout year. But with important games left to be played, i would not agree with giving them the title just yet. With wayne only a game back and posting a strong winning streak in league play, and a pair of games with northern to finish out the weekend, wayne will be a force to reckin with coming down the stretch. It will be an exciting “play-off” type feel of baseball as regular season play works its way to the end. Also, in regards to the post of “worrier lover”, yes winona did beat wayne early in the year, and I stress “early” in the year. Only time will tell, who earns the right to be crowned champs.
divisions is not the way to go either. If the NSIC stays at a 13-team league or expands to 15-team league for baseball. Look at the South Division compared to the North..just isn’t fair. WSU, MSU, Augie, SMSU, WSC, UIU, CU? wow, that is a tough division.
I agree that you can’t give Winona the title yet, but the fact of the matter is that St. Cloud, Wayne and Mankato all play each other these last few weeks. Unless one of them sweeps both of the others I don’t see how any of them can end up on top at the end of the regular season. Wayne is always a force to reckon with. Don’t get me wrong.
I also think Winona is a very good team and they have posted a solid winning record this year. My only point is that out of the top 4 teams right now, 3 of them have to play each other and I expect all three to suffer some losses in those series. Winona has Southwest, St. Paul and Duluth left. All of which could steal a game or two from them, but I don’t think enough to drop them below WSU, MSU or SCSU. So I think Winona has to be the odds on favorite going into these last few weeks.
It will be fun to see how it all shakes out. The conference tournament is going to be a great one again this year. That’s for sure.
Your right about all the teams suffering some losses but I didn’t think we would get it today. Northern 10 WSC 9. Ouch! And Mary 6 WSU 3. Double Ouch!!
Yeah. Those shocked me too. Maybe it’s going to be closer than I thought. I guess they’re all dropping games here and there that you probably shouldn’t be.
just goes to show there isn’t any “shouldn’t be” games. This league is strong.
And it wasn’t a fluke. Northern put 10 runs across the plate and WSC had 9 and it wasn’t that close. Wayne scored 3 in the last inning to give northern a scare but after leaving their starter in way to long for about the 7th time this year it wasn’t even that close. I try not to coach from outside the lines especially when it involves my favorite ball player but today was the straw that broke the camels back. That’s right, I went back thru the stats and today’s first game was the 7th time we left the starter in long enough to give up 6 runs or more. Not saying those 7 wouldn’t have been loses but it sure would have been nice to keep em within striking distance.
That first game on Sunday was a nail biter for Northern, but I would rather watch a game like that then a blow out like the second game.
Ah. I was right(once…) Augie and St. Cloud split. It must be ESPN or something?
I disagree. There are should be games and both Wayne and Winona should have swept today.
If you play like champions you find a way to win those games.
All 4 games were close this weekend with Northern and Wayne. The final score of the last game got lopsided at the end, but considering Northern pretty much threw freshman pitchers all weekend, it is hard to believe that WSC is anything close to the team they usually are.
Their hitting isn’t near as scary and their pitching is about 2 notches down from normal.
I agree, although there is no for sure win in baseball. Wayne should not have got beat by Northern st. With the race this close, and the games this important, i pin that loss on the seniors of wayne. A coach can only do so much to get a team ready to play, in games like these it is up to Senior leadership to keep the team focused, especially when playing teams that they are expected to beat. I was at the game, and the attitudes i saw were not those of a winning ball club, seemed like guys were more worried about how they were doing at the plate then as a team overall. This should not be going on, especially with the strong leaders Wayne has this year, or thought was to have this year.
Okay first of all you have no place to be saying anything like this because the seniors are trying to do their best to lead this team. Sometimes things just don’t go as good as they should, and right now Wayne is struggling to find ways to win right now. Don’t pin the team losing on the lack of leadership. Every player is playing their heart out and leaving it on the field. It is to bad that they are unable to get wins, but to go and be negative like you are, is riduculous.
Ur right anonymous, ego gets the best of be at times, like everyone. Thanks for bringing me back down to my level, and doing it in a way that was respectful, as i may not have found myself doing it the same.