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Rogers scored 2 in the top of the 9th to win 8-6 and sweep their series @ Northeastern. The loss probably ends Northeastern's season. The River Hawks weren't under consideration in the last regional rankings and went 0-2 this week.Leave a comment:
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The Mules completed the sweep of Emporia 7-3. The Mules never trailed in the game thanks to a 5 run first inning. The Mules only had 3 hits but were helped by Emporia defense. The Hornets only officially committed 1 error but twice Mules batters reached base on a fielder's choice where no outs or errors were recorded (the Hornets tried to get a lead runner).
Mule starter Colin Jones gave up 2 runs in 6 innings to get his 5th win. Erik Webb singled in the 4th, the 313th hit of his career, making him the all time hit leader in the MIAA.
In the other games, Southern beat CentralOK but the other two series had game 1 upsets as Washburn won at Pitt and Rogers won at Northeastern.Leave a comment:
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CentralMO pushed their series with Emporia up a day due to the rain expected this weekend. The Mules won 3-2 in a game with no runs scored after the 4th inning. Mason Green stuck out 6 in 6 innings for the win allowing 2 runs (1 earned). Evan Rathburn recorded his 8th save. Jake Burton was the tough luck loser for Emporia allowing only 7 hits and 3 runs (2 earned).
Emporia had 4 straight singles in the 8th without scoring a run. After Chase Plymell struck out the first batter, the next 2 singled to center. The next batter hit a ground ball to the shortstop that hit the runner going to 3rd. By rule the runner is out, the ball is dead and the batter gets a single. The next batter hit a grounder up the middle that the 2nd baseman fielded but had to rush the throw and threw high. Emporia, trying to tie the game, sent the runner home from 2nd. Mules 1st baseman Cole Taylor, realizing they weren't going to get the out at 1st, came off the bag and easily threw out the runner at home.
Tomorrow's game 2 has been moved up to noon and the "if" game will follow if needed.Leave a comment:
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All MIAA team:
https://themiaa.com/news/2021/5/12/m...iaa-teams.aspx
I don't think it's surprising that the team that won the league by 7 games put 7 players on the 1st team. 2 of 3 outfielders, 3 of 4 infielders, a starting and relief pitcher.
No surprise that Stroup is the player of the year or Parish as the pitcher of the year. I do find it surprising that a coach that finished 30-3 in the league with a 7 game lead on the field wasn't named coach of the year in the MIAA, which (at least in football & basketball) usually gives it to the conference winning coach.
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Week 11
Sweeps for CentralMO(Western) & Washburn(Northwest)
2-1 series wins for Northeastern(CentralOK), Emporia(Pitt), Hays(Newman) & Southern(Rogers)
Emporia had their first losing MIAA record since 2000 and Western had their first since 2010. Only CentralMO, who hasn't had a losing MIAA record since 1984, has had fewer losing MIAA records in the last 10 seasons (2020 doesn't count).
Losing MIAA records last 10 seasons (2011-2021):
0 CentralMO
1 Emporia, Western, CentralOK(joined 2013), Rogers(2020) & Newman(2020)
3 Southern & Northeastern(2013)
6 Pitt & Washburn
7 Hays & Northwest
Looking at the weekends, sweeps and times swept has interesting numbers.
Southern & Northeastern each won 9 of 11 series. Southern had 4 sweeps in the 9 series wins (22-5) but were swept in both series losses (0-6) for a 22-11 record. Northeastern had only 3 sweeps in their 9 wins (21-6) but weren't swept in either loss (2-4) for a 23-10 record.Code:[B] SCHOOL SERIES SWEEPS SWEPT[/B] CentralMO 11-0 8 0 CentralOK 6-4 1 1 Emporia 4-7 1 3 Hays 3-8 2 5 Southern 9-2 4 2 Western 2-9 0 5 Newman 0-10 0 2 Northeastern 9-2 3 0 Northwest 3-8 1 4 Pitt 7-4 4 1 Rogers 4-7 2 3 Washburn 7-4 1 1
At the other end Newman didn't win any of their 10 series but were only swept twice for a 8-22 record. Western won 2 series without a sweep (4-2) but were swept 5 times in the 9 series losses (4-23) for an 8-25 record.
CentralOK finished behind Washburn probably because their series with Newman was canceled. CentralOK had 1 sweep in their 6 series wins for a (13-5) and were only swept once in their 4 losses (3-9) for a 16-14 record. Washburn also had 1 sweep in their 7 series wins (15-6) and were also only swept once in their 4 losses (3-9) for a 18-15 record.
Code:[B] POS SCHOOL W-L % GB OPP% OVERALL[/B] 1 CentralMO 30-3 90.9 0.0 (50.0) 34-6 2 Northeastern 23-10 69.7 7.0 (50.0) 26-14 3 Southern 22-11 66.7 8.0 (50.0) 29-11 4 Pitt 21-12 63.6 9.0 (50.0) 26-13 5 Washburn 18-15 54.5 12.0 (50.0) 19-20 6 CentralOK 16-14 53.3 12.5 (52.3) 22-18 7 Rogers 14-19 42.4 16.0 (50.0) 18-20 8 Emporia 13-20 39.4 17.0 (50.0) 17-23 9 Northwest 11-22 33.3 19.0 (50.0) 13-26 Hays 11-22 33.3 19.0 (50.0) 11-26 11 Newman 8-22 26.7 20.5 (49.7) 9-23 12 Western 8-25 24.2 22.0 (50.0) 10-29 Note: The OPP% is conference games only. Non-conference games against conference opponents are not included. If no games are cancelled, everyone will finish at 50%.Leave a comment:
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All the games that matter are done for the day. Washburn completed the sweep of Northwest. Emporia won the first 2 against Pitt. CentralOK/Northeastern & Southern/Rogers split their DH's. Southern won the series with Northeastern if both tie for 2nd. Pitt won the series with Southern if both tie for 3rd. Here's what happens if:
Northeastern beats CentralOK - Northeastern is 2nd - Washburn is 5th - CentralOK is 6th
CentralOK beats Northeastern - Northeastern is 2nd if Southern loses & 3rd if they win - CentralOK is 5th - Washburn is 6th
Southern beats Rogers - Southern is 2nd if Northeastern loses & 3rd if they win - Pitt is 4th
Rogers beats Southern - Southern is 3rd if Pitt loses & 4th if they win - Pitt is 3rd with a win & 4th with a lossLeave a comment:
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Pitt, down 3 in the bottom of the 9th, scored 2 and loaded the bases but Emporia held on and won the first game of the series. That win eliminates Hays & Northwest since the Bearcats lost the first 2 games of the series with Washburn. The best either team can do is tie Emporia and both lost their series with the Hornets.
Emporia could catch Rogers for 7th but Rogers won the series when the 2 played so Emporia would have to sweep and Rogers get swept.
We know the 8 teams, but as of now we only know the #1 seed.Leave a comment:
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Week 10
Sweeps for Emporia(Hays), Southern(Northwest) & Pitt(Western).
2-1 series wins for CentralMO(Northeastern), CentralOK(Rogers) & Washburn(Newman).
When CentralMO won the first game of the series, they clinched the outright MIAA title with a 6 game lead and (at the time) 5 games remaining. Clinching a 33 game conference schedule with 5 games remaining is like an MLB team clinching their division with a 25 game lead and 24 games remaining. The Mules have dominated the MIAA. They have not lost a series and everyone else has lost at least 2.
CentralOK & Washburn clinched spots in the MIAA tournament and Rogers magic number is 2 over both Emporia & Northwest.
Emporia's sweep combined with Northwest being swept has the 2 teams tied for the last spot 2 games ahead of Hays. Emporia plays at Pitt and Northwest hosts Washburn. Emporia won their series with Northwest and would have the tie breaker. Hays still has an outside shot at 8th but they would have to sweep Newman, have Pitt sweep Emporia and have Washburn win at least 2 over Northwest. Hays must finish ahead of Emporia but only have to catch Northwest.
The NCAA announced that the Central Regional will be hosted by CentralMO in Warrensburg. Barring a total collapse by the Mules, they are very likely to be 1 of the 6 teams in the regional. They also announced the first regional rankings. The 8 teams listed as "Under Consideration" are:
GAC: Southern Ark
MIAA: CentralMO, Southern & Pitt
NSIC: Augi, Crookston, Mankato & St Cloud
Code:[B] POS SCHOOL W-L % GB OPP% OVERALL[/B] 1 CentralMO 27-3 90.0 0.0 (52.7) 31-6 2 Northeastern 21-9 70.0 6.0 (49.4) 24-13 3 Southern 20-10 66.7 7.0 (50.8) 27-10 Pitt 20-10 66.7 7.0 (51.5) 25-11 5 CentralOK 15-12 55.6 10.5 (50.2) 21-16 6 Washburn 15-15 50.0 12.0 (51.5) 16-20 7 Rogers 13-17 43.3 14.0 (48.1) 17-18 8 Emporia 11-19 36.7 16.0 (48.1) 15-22 Northwest 11-19 36.7 16.0 (50.0) 13-23 10 Hays 9-21 30.0 18.0 (52.4) 9-25 11 Newman 7-20 25.9 18.5 (51.9) 8-21 12 Western 8-22 26.7 19.0 (45.5) 10-26 Note: The OPP% is conference games only. Non-conference games against conference opponents are not included. If no games are cancelled, everyone will finish at 50%.Leave a comment:
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Week 9 ended on Monday. In all 6 matchups, the team that won the 1st game also won the 2nd. CentralOK(Western), Northeastern(Emporia) & Pitt(Southern) completed the sweep. CentralMO(Northwest), Washburn(Hays) & Rogers(Newman) dropped the finale.
Going into the weekend, CentralMO had eliminated all but Southern, Northeasten & Pitt from a shot at the MIAA title. The magic number to eliminate Pitt (9 games back with 9 to play) was 1 (CentralMO win or Pitt loss) and the magic number to eliminate Southern & Northeastern was 4 (6 games back with 9 to play). CentralMO's 2 wins eliminated Pitt and Southern's 3 losses combined with CentralMO's 2 wins eliminated the Lions. The magic number to eliminate Northeastern is now 2 (5 games back with 6 to play). The Mules play the River Hawks this weekend so a CentralMO win would also mean a Northeastern loss and eliminate the River Hawks.
Those 4 teams have at least an 8 game lead on Hays (who currently sits in 9th place) so all have clinched a spot in the MIAA tournament. Next is CentralOK who will play 3 fewer games than everyone except Newman so I can't just use the magic number formula (games remaining + 1 - games ahead). If CentralOK loses all 6 remaining games they would be 43%. That's better than Emporia (42%), Western (42%) or Newman (40%) would be if they won all 6 remaining games. Hays would finish at 45% with all wins but falls to 42% with a loss. CentralOK jumps to 47% with a win so their magic number to make the tournament is 1.
Next is Washburn. Their magic number to eliminate Newman is 1, Emporia/Western is 2 & Hays is 3. Rogers magic number to eliminate Newman is 2, Emporia/Western is 3 & Hays is 4.
Northwest is currently in the last spot. Their magic number to eliminate Newman is 3, Emporia/Western is 4 & Hays is 5. Northwest plays Southern this week and then Washburn, both are ahead of Northwest in the standings. Hays plays Emporia this week and then Newman, both are behind Hays in the standings.
Going into the weekend, CentralMO had the longest active MIAA winning streak at 22 games followed by (believe it or not) Hays at 6 games. Now the longest active streak is Pitt at 4 games followed by CentralOK & Northeastern at 3.
Not only did Northwest stop CentralMO's winning streak at 24 on Sunday, they also stopped Erik Webb's 29 game hitting streak. Webb fell short of Brayden Whitney's CentralMO & MIAA record of 32 games set back in 1998.
Code:[B] POS SCHOOL W-L % GB OPP% OVERALL[/B] 1 CentralMO 25-2 92.6 0.0 (49.5) 29-5 2 Northeastern 20-7 74.1 5.0 (44.1) 23-10 3 Southern 17-10 63.0 8.0 (51.9) 24-10 Pitt 17-10 63.0 8.0 (55.2) 22-11 5 CentralOK 13-11 54.2 10.5 (50.5) 18-14 6 Washburn 13-14 48.1 12.0 (54.0) 14-19 7 Rogers 12-15 44.4 13.0 (47.9) 15-16 8 Northwest 11-16 40.7 14.0 (48.6) 13-20 9 Hays 9-18 33.3 16.0 (55.4) 9-22 10 Emporia 8-19 29.6 17.0 (50.5) 12-22 Western 8-19 29.6 17.0 (42.9) 10-23 12 Newman 6-18 25.0 17.5 (52.1) 7-19 Note: The OPP% is conference games only. Non-conference games against conference opponents are not included. If no games are cancelled, everyone will finish at 50%.Leave a comment:
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Week 8
Sweeps for CentralMO(CentralOK) & Hays(Northwest)
2-1 series wins for Western(Emporia), Southern(Northeastern), Pitt(Newman) & Washburn(Rogers)
Missouri sweeping Oklahoma in the battle of the Centrals leaves only CentralMO & Northeastern as the only teams to not be swept. Southern's series win over Northeastern leaves CentralMO as the only team not to lose a series. This the 7th consecutive sweep for CentralMO and the 2nd consecutive for Hays.
CentralMO's 22 game winning streak matches the Mules second longest winning streak ever in 1999 (the Mules won 27 straight in 1996). Both of those streaks had non-conference and/or post season games in the streaks so I believe 22 (and counting) is their longest MIAA winning streak ever.
The Mules outscored the Bronchos 28-3 in the series. Erik Webb homered in the first 2 games and beat out an infield single in his final at bat of game 3 to extend his hitting streak to 27 games.
There were several notable starting pitching outings this weekend. Connor Dryer pitched 6 shutout innings in the Mules 7-1 win on Sunday. He allowed 3 hits, walking none and struck out 7. Jake Burton allowed only 1 run in 6-2/3 innings in the Hornets 5-1 win in the 1st game on Saturday. He allowed 5 hits, walking 2 and struck out 10. Peyton Ingalls allowed 1 run in 7-1/3 innings in the Gorillas 5-1 win on Sunday. He allowed 6 hits, no walks and struck out 7.
Both games of Saturday's Northeastern @ Southern DH had great pitching performances. Zach Parish tossed 7 shutout innings in the Lion's 5-0 win in game 1. He allowed 2 hits, walked 4 and struck out 13. Nic Swanson threw 8 shutout innings before allowing a 2-run homer in the 9th in the River Hawks 3-2 victory in game 2. He finished with 8-2/3 innings, 9 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks and 14 strikeouts.
None of those with be the MIAA Pitcher of the Week, however, that will be Mason Green. He tossed a complete (9 inning) game shutout in the Mules 6-0 win in the 1st game on Saturday. He faced only 28 batters allowing only an infield single, walking none and struck out 13.
The only series involving teams with winning MIAA records this week is Pitt @ Southern.
Code:[B] POS SCHOOL W-L % GB OPP% OVERALL[/B] 1 CentralMO 23-1 95.8 0.0 (50.6) 27-4 2 Southern 17-7 70.8 6.0 (51.2) 24-7 Northeastern 17-7 70.8 6.0 (46.1) 20-10 4 Pitt 14-10 58.3 9.0 (51.9) 19-11 5 CentralOK 10-11 47.6 11.5 (54.4) 15-14 6 Washburn 11-13 45.8 12.0 (57.0) 12-18 7 Rogers 10-14 41.7 13.0 (50.6) 13-15 Northwest 10-14 41.7 13.0 (40.7) 12-18 9 Emporia 8-16 33.3 15.0 (48.1) 12-19 Western 8-16 33.3 15.0 (42.4) 10-20 Hays 8-16 33.3 15.0 (56.4) 8-20 12 Newman 5-16 23.8 16.5 (55.1) 6-17 Note: The OPP% is conference games only. Non-conference games against conference opponents are not included. If no games are cancelled, everyone will finish at 50%.Leave a comment:
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Week 7 - lots of sweeps
Sweeps for CentralMO(Pitt), Hays(Western), Southern(Newman) & Northeastern(Rogers).
2-1 series wins for CentralOK(Northwest) & Washburn(Emporia)
That is CentralMO's 6th consecutive sweep (19 consecutive MIAA wins). This is the first time Pitt has been swept this season. That leaves only the two Central's and Northeastern as the only teams not to be swept yet in an MIAA series. The sweep for Hays is the Tiger's first MIAA sweep since 2016 (they had a couple of 4 game sweeps against RMAC opponents in 2020).
The Mules outscored Pitt 41-10 in the series. The 10-3 game 1 was the closest game of the series. Dusty Stroup won MIAA hitter of the week for the second consecutive week. Stroup was 11-16 with 7 extra base hits, 7 runs & 9 rbi. He was 5-5 in the finale with 2 HR and 6 RBI.
The MIAA has 12 schools that compete in baseball but 2 joined recently. Hays, Northeastern & Washburn had losing MIAA records in 2019. Southern in 2018, Pitt in 2017, Northwest in 2016, CentralOK in 2016, Western in 2010, Emporia in 2000 and CentralMO in 1984. (Emporia and CentralMO took some research in old online media guides. CentralMO lists the MIAA record in the year-by-year results but Emporia doesn't so I had to eyeball it and manually count several seasons. Hopefully some Hornet fan can correct me if I'm wrong.) Both Emporia & Western have 15 losses this season. 2 more MIAA losses and their streaks come to an end. CentralMO has already kept their streak alive for another season.
There are 2 series this week involving teams with winning MIAA records. The big series is the battle for 2nd place as Southern hosts Northeastern.
The other is the battle of the Central's. The Bronchos were the only MIAA team to win their series (2-1) against the Mules in 2019. (The Mule fan in me feels the need to point out that Mules won all 3 games the two played in the post season as the Mules beat the Chos for both the MIAA tournament and Warrensburg sub regional championships.) The Bronchos also won the series (2-1) in 2018.
Code:[B] POS SCHOOL W-L % GB OPP% OVERALL[/B] 1 CentralMO 20-1 95.2 0.0 (48.8) 24-4 2 Northeastern 16-5 76.2 4.0 (40.7) 19-8 3 Southern 15-6 71.4 5.0 (45.8) 22-6 4 Pitt 12-9 57.1 8.0 (56.9) 17-10 5 CentralOK 10-8 55.6 8.5 (46.3) 15-11 6 Northwest 10-11 47.6 10.0 (44.2) 12-15 7 Rogers 9-12 42.9 11.0 (50.8) 12-13 Washburn 9-12 42.9 11.0 (60.2) 10-17 9 Emporia 7-14 33.3 13.0 (52.5) 11-17 10 Western 6-15 28.6 14.0 (43.1) 8-19 11 Newman 4-14 22.2 14.5 (55.6) 5-15 12 Hays 5-16 23.8 15.0 (58.5) 5-20 Note: The OPP% is conference games only. Non-conference games against conference opponents are not included. If no games are cancelled, everyone will finish at 50%.Leave a comment:
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Good opportunity the next two Saturdays to catch both football and baseball. Football at noon and then over to the diamond to watch baseball (1:00 & 4:00)Leave a comment:
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Mules record their 6th straight series sweep and extend their winning streak to 19. They are just beating the cover off of the ball.Leave a comment:
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I fully expect Pitt to get swept by UCM this weekend, but hoping for one win.
Either way, it's nice to see the Gorillas seemingly moving in the right direction under Fornelli after a strong start last season before Covid.Leave a comment:
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