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Post by circle70 on May 25, 2017 12:15:21 GMT -6
Great way to start off: 8-0 win against Oakland.
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Post by UICJohn on May 25, 2017 20:17:59 GMT -6
And there it is - the HL's two best face off tomorrow.
UIC vs WSU
Huge game!
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Post by axaguy on May 26, 2017 0:09:36 GMT -6
Was at the game. Very solid performance. Never a doubt who the better team was. Very solid defensive game, too. No hitter through 6 innings. Sat among a group of UIC softball players fresh off their NCAA tourney play. Proud day for UIC sports!!! Ladies and men's champions, both. May be able to play hookie again and get to the Wright State game.
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Post by circle70 on May 26, 2017 8:23:45 GMT -6
We NEED to win this tournament. Can't let it reach 9 consecutive years of being left out.
This is our best chance in the last several years. Looking back on the posts from last season, the consensus was that Wright State had caught up to us and passed us by and are light years ahead of us.
We have substantially closed the gap this year and are virtually on an equal footing with them, at least for this year. The difference might come down to the home field advantage that we fortunately have earned.
Go Flames!!!
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Post by uicc79 on May 26, 2017 9:45:53 GMT -6
Don't want to jinx the baseball team, but look at the post-season Horizon League awards (UIC picked up 10). I'm not so sure that, not only have we closed the gap on WSU, but this year we've surpassed them. However, if Wright State takes it back next year, kudos to them, they probably earned it, just like UIC earned it this year. Nothing is guaranteed, like UIC or Wright State being on top of HL baseball, you have to prove it each year.
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Post by UICJohn on May 26, 2017 13:40:08 GMT -6
Winner!
Take down WSU 4-1!
Huge win!
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Post by Chuck A on May 26, 2017 14:32:49 GMT -6
Winner! Take down WSU 4-1! Huge win! Very huge win! Gives the Flames the rest of the day off while Wright State and Oakland have to wait until 7 because of impending storms coming through.
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Post by circle70 on May 26, 2017 15:37:05 GMT -6
Hopefully, the weather cooperates and they are able to play the elimination game tonight.
It would not be in UIC's best interests if the game was postponed to tomorrow and the tournament was extended to Sunday. That would give Oakland and WSU pitchers an extra day of rest, and they could go back to their Ace starters if the Tournament were to go to a game 9.
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Post by axaguy on May 26, 2017 17:38:36 GMT -6
Was able to get to this one too... Very nice game, again. Great pitching and solid play in the field along with timely hitting. Loved the successful squeeze play to net the 4th run!!!!!! Great bunt and strategy worked perfectly!!!!!!
Let's get this done tomorrow in one game and rest up for the NCAAs....................
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Post by Big D on May 27, 2017 17:00:24 GMT -6
Huge congrats to coach Dee and his Flames for winning the HL title and earning a spot in the NCAA tournament. Put together a real nice team this year...top defense...top pitching...an offense that just doesn't give up. They played a great tournament, which hopefully carries forward into the NCAAs. With our pitching and defense, it would be nice to see us do a little damage in the tourney. Why not us?
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Post by circle70 on May 27, 2017 18:38:23 GMT -6
We led the HL in all 3 aspects of the game: Batting Average, ERA, and Fielding Percentage (the last 2 by a substantial margin over the 2nd best team).
We beat WSU 5 out of the 7 times we played them.
Our RPI is a decent #99 out of 299 D1 programs (WarrenNolan.com). May not sound like much, but it's very good for a cold weather team (and better than 5 Big Ten teams, including Illinois and Northwestern).
Depending on who we pay, we can definitely win at least one game in the NCAA Tournament.
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Post by circle70 on May 28, 2017 7:27:58 GMT -6
We led the HL in all 3 aspects of the game: Batting Average, ERA, and Fielding Percentage (the last 2 by a substantial margin over the 2nd best team). We beat WSU 5 out of the 7 times we played them. Our RPI is a decent #99 out of 299 D1 programs (WarrenNolan.com). May not sound like much, but it's very good for a cold weather team (and better than 5 Big Ten teams, including Illinois and Northwestern). Depending on who we pay, we can definitely win at least one game in the NCAA Tournament. Couple more things:
- The RPI of 99 looks even better when you consider that we are just a mid-major.
- We would be ranked #24 if there was such a thing as a "Cold Weather Teams Top 25"
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Post by UICJohn on May 28, 2017 9:26:11 GMT -6
Awesome tournament by our UIC Flames! Didn't lose a single game and huge getting it done with just one yesterday.
As the old adage goes, pitching and defense wins and those are our two best traits.
Great to see UIC teams getting it done come conference tournament time. We are going to get a #4 seed in whichever regional we are assigned but hope we get some credit (I.e. Not one of the top 5 seeds or have to fly across the country) but we will see.
We are ranked #41 in the USA Today Coach's Poll coming into this week and a 'Receiving Votes in the NCBWA poll (they're listed alphabetically so can't tell where exactly ranked).
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Post by circle70 on May 28, 2017 10:26:32 GMT -6
Don't care if we have to fly cross country---school's out, we can leave in plenty of time so the guys aren't worn out, and better chance for some decent sight-seeing if we go West Coast, Florida, etc.
Also think we have a decent chance for a #3 seed, which is what WSU probably would have gotten if they won the tourney.
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Post by UICJohn on May 28, 2017 11:04:56 GMT -6
Actually Circle, you're right about that #3 seed. Should have a decent shot at one which would be big.
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