HL Tournament

[circle70]

After being picked in the pre-season to finish in 4th place (next to last), we ended up tied for 2nd place with Valpo. Because we beat the Crusaders 5 of 6 times during the regular season, we snag the 2nd seed in the tourney.

The good news is that the first 3 seeds don't play the first day (5/22). So, we don't have to play 4 days in a row (if we get that far).

That is a big deal because starting pitching is our strength. We have the worst hitting team in the HL, by far, and our defense is poor (60 unearned runs allowed for the year). However, we have 3 excellent starters (ERA's between 2.58 and 3.15). Since pitching is the name of the game, I think we have a chance.

We can't seem to beat Milwaukee, the #1 seed, (lost 5 of 6 to them) so we'll need some help. Seems in the baseball tournaments, the winner is frequently someone other than the regular season champion. Anything can happen.

Go Flames!!!

[Chuck A]

Yes, Milwaukee has been on a tear, but that's been mostly at home. Playing at a neutral site (if it's us and Milwaukee) could make a difference. This would just be great if we could make it to the CWS. This, along with the Curtis Granderson Stadium would make excellent recruiting points! Go Flames!

[UICJohn]

I see the baseball team left off where the softball team did - losing in the tourney. Not put yet but losing the first game is usually a bad start.

[UICJohn]

Quite a disappointing showing from both the softball and baseball teams in the postseason. Combined, the two teams went 1-4 in post season play.

[Chuck A]

Yeah, not good at all. I think both teams need to pick up the recruiting just a bit. If we could get back to talent level of our CWS teams (both), that would be great!

[axaguy]

We've gone from being a dominant team in the HL to an also-ran for a while and that's horrible. The Horizon League isn't a strong bed of teams by any means and we should be at the top year after year, expectedly so. Especially in a watered down league right now!!!!

Facilities, location, opportunity are all in our favor. Hell, UIUC isn't particularly strong in baseball either...... It could and should be a real niche for us....

I challenge Schmidt and Dee to get this team back to where it belongs, and fast... We are and have been much to complacent and are accepting mediocrity when we should be embracing championships and a consistent winning program.....

UIC should be shining here, not merely existing..........

[uicc79]

What makes it so disappointing is how well we started the season; knocking off the 24th ranked team in the first game and playing them tough over the next two games, taking the next series from a California-based team, and then playing well against the #1 ranked team. It should be said that what appears to be our 2 best pitchers are a sophomore and a freshman.