Baseball v. UIC

jetz · April 04, 2013, 02:15:49 PM

Breaking news today, reports are out that UIC will leave for the Missouri Valley Conference. Other reports say that Oakland is coming in to the HL, but no time frame yet. The bad news is that UMKC and Denver are also looking at the HL. Neither of those schools has baseball, and if these are the only moves made, baseball will still be one short of the needed six teams for the automatic NCAA qualifier...

We obviously need a series win this weekend, and there's lots of other things happening too. The 2012 HL Championship/NCAA Regional sign will be unveiled at EGB. More importantly, the Valpo baseball concession stand with grilled cheeseburgers, brats, and hot dogs will make its Grand Opening. Concessions will be permanent for all weekend series going forward.

historyman · April 04, 2013, 02:51:19 PM

Quote from: jetz on April 04, 2013, 02:15:49 PMBreaking news today, reports are out that UIC will leave for the Missouri Valley Conference. Other reports say that Oakland is coming in to the HL, but no time frame yet. The bad news is that UMKC and Denver are also looking at the HL. Neither of those schools has baseball, and if these are the only moves made, baseball will still be one short of the needed six teams for the automatic NCAA qualifier... We obviously need a series win this weekend, and there's lots of other things happening too. The 2012 HL Championship/NCAA Regional sign will be unveiled at EGB. More importantly, the Valpo baseball concession stand with grilled cheeseburgers, brats, and hot dogs will make its Grand Opening. Concessions will be permanent for all weekend series going forward.

I hope these are rumors. In there somewhere you have to wonder if Valpo turned down the MVC or the MVC saw UIC as having greater potential.

jetz · April 04, 2013, 02:54:42 PM

I'm thinking now that these reports are NOT official. It appears a UWM blogger broke the story from an unnamed source of his. I'll hold off on this until somebody makes an official announcement. The MVC visit to Valpo apparently went very well, so we're probably still in the hunt...

valpotx · April 04, 2013, 04:01:08 PM

I wouldn't worry about that UWM blogger, as he has said things before that weren't correct. It very well may be that they got an invite, but I will wait for something more official. I would be fine with Denver, but absolutely NO to UMKC if we stay in the HL.

jetz · April 06, 2013, 08:31:36 AM

Absolutely snakebitten. I have never seen a team not get a big break for so many games in a row. Loeffler's ball in the 5th with no out and bases loaded was smoked down the right field line, and easily could have fallen. Three runs would have scored on the double. The 1B instead speared it on a desperation lunge, then stepped on first for the DP. In the ninth, Hara reaches base after the 2B bobbles an easy chance. With two strikes on Bain, Hara takes off for second. Bain however hits the pitch right to the 2nd base bag--the only place where UIC can turn a double play. Two away with nobody on in the ninth instead of one down and the tying run on 2nd. Absolute stunned silence in the clubhouse after the game. You want to believe that it will all even out, but we'd have to get a ton of breaks in a short time for the baseball gods to make this right. I really feel for Cole Webb. A 1.88 ERA on the year and he's 2-5.

valpotx · April 06, 2013, 03:58:50 PM

Good to get the win today, and hopefully close it out tomorrow as well!

jetz · April 06, 2013, 06:48:37 PM

Big, huge win today. We are now realistically playing for the #2 seed in the HL tournament. Milwaukee didn't help us by losing to YSU today. Great to see Burns break out w 2 triples today. He is capable of that and finally it happened. Martin should be back by next weekend, making it an interesting dilemna at 3rd base for Coach Woodson. It started to feel a lot like last year today. Lost in everything was Hara's web gem--he hauled back a 405' shot to dead center to save a run. Went over the fence to get it, and brought it back. Nice job by DeBoo--who went 6 innings w no hits. A little arm fatigue spelled the end for him. We need to win the series tomorrow. So far no doubt Valpo is the better team in this series...

bbtds · April 06, 2013, 08:12:04 PM

I drove up for the game and saw from the 6th inning on.

Also got looks at the ARC and the baseball area/Kroenke Theater and where the new dorm will go. Boy! Not sure at all about if those tennis courts and the dorm will fit.
I guess the "L" shape will help.

Met my son who is going to school in the Loop. When I told him it was UIC we were playing he said "Oh really!" Nice to see the bats heat up in the 8th inning. I know errors happen but the other fielders could help their team mates on those throws. Good to see a win!

Valposter · April 07, 2013, 08:55:45 AM

HUGE game today!!!!!!!! Must take the rubber game at home and win the series. We are better than UIC and must take this series at home! We need the momentum and the confidence! Good luck boys.......go get 'em today! Go Valpo Baseball!!!!!!!

bbtds · April 07, 2013, 10:03:51 PM

After leaving in the 8th inning to put my son on the train I was really sorry to see Valpo lose it 4-3

valpotx · April 08, 2013, 09:32:04 AM

Too bad, as we again lose a close one. The only positive this year is that we aren't getting blown away by anyone. We really need to show true grit in winning some of these close games, otherwise it will be a long season. Hopefully playing YSU next in conference will get us on the right track!

Valposter · April 08, 2013, 11:00:34 AM

The one seed is going to be tough to get now as the hole is pretty deep. But what ever seed we get (hopefully we end up getting hot and get the two seed and the bye) we will be a tough out in the tourny. This team has the talent to win the HL tourny no matter what their seed. The tourny is going to be wide open this year though with no easy outs.

jetz · April 08, 2013, 02:28:59 PM

BTW, we wore throwbacks on Sunday. Yellow/gold jerseys with VALPO in white across the chest. White numbers w/ brown trim. We wore white pants and white hats with the gold V...very sharp. Look for pics on Facebook/Twitter shortly. Since we lost, not sure if Coach Woodson will do that again...

We stranded 24 combined in our two losses this weekend. On Sunday, we left the tying run on third and the winning run on first (i believe) in the 9th. Both losses were by a run. Very much in need of a two out rbi--a walkoff would've set this year's team on the right path.

valpotx · April 08, 2013, 02:48:22 PM

What years were the throwbacks referencing? That sounds awfully close to what we wore, so now you are making me feel old at just 31

historyman · April 08, 2013, 02:53:12 PM

Quote from: jetz on April 08, 2013, 02:28:59 PMBTW, we wore throwbacks on Sunday. Yellow/gold jerseys with VALPO in white across the chest. White numbers w/ brown trim. We wore white pants and white hats with the gold V...very sharp. Look for pics on Facebook/Twitter shortly. Since we lost, not sure if Coach Woodson will do that again...

Actually, I liked the throwbacks better. I didn't even realize they were throwback uniforms. Sox wore throwbacks too and won so they can't be all bad.

valporun · April 08, 2013, 03:46:38 PM

The White Sux, I mean White Sox, wear Throwbacks on Sundays, I believe this year is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of "Winning Ugly", explaining the uniform look, I think...

jetz · April 08, 2013, 05:47:13 PM

Quote from: valpotx on April 08, 2013, 02:48:22 PM
What years were the throwbacks referencing? That sounds awfully close to what we wore, so now you are making me feel old at just 31

No real year referenced. That is, I don't know when they wore them. They weren't that old, but they were mesh and you could tell they were used--some stitching was gone, etc. When I say "we wore throwbacks", I mean "we wore the actual original jerseys". The kids found them in a box somewhere and got the coach's blessing...

jetz · April 08, 2013, 07:47:23 PM

Trying to share some photos from my G+ page. Try this link to see the jerseys.

https://plus.google.com/photos/107694216823525506352/albums/5864509487165481345/5864509577547499810?authkey=COT7xsW9pcS4aw

valpotx · April 09, 2013, 02:40:11 AM

Yep, we wore those

lol. We only had two jerseys my first few years, and I believe it was my last year that we went to 3 types. That gold one was worn most often at home. The one they framed for us (that is hanging on my office wall) is a brown version of the golds. If they dig up our really old brown ones from the 80s, make sure they burn them! They just had a huge gold VU on the front by the left part of your chest, and a huge gold number on the back. We used those for scrimmages and the JV games, and they were absolutely digusting because of how many years they had been worn.

Edit: I keep trying to import a picture of the one hanging on my wall, but I can't get the size to go below the maximum of 128 Kb

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