| Jack Hogan is one of six
starters is batting above .300 for the Tommies entering the Moline
Regional. d3photography.com photo by Ryan Coleman |
Follow this regional
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By Jim Dixon and Pat Coleman
D3sports.com
The committee provided a bit of a new look in this regional for 2014, with two Central teams, two Midwest teams and two Mideast teams converging on Moline, Ill., for a trip to Appleton.
For St. Scholastica, it's a chance to get away from the WIAC powers that they have battled with for so many years in the Midwest Regional, although in many sports it's impossible for the Saints to escape St. Thomas out of the MIAC.
For Webster, which remains the No. 1 team in the country entering the postseason, it's a tougher regional than last year. But the Gorloks have had an even better season than in 2013, with just four Division III losses, and all of them to playoff teams (Marietta) or contenders (Wheaton, Mass.; Washington U., Wooster).
And for Rose-Hulman and DePauw, it's another weekend to play after each were upset winners in their conference tournaments. At least one of these teams will make it into the third day of the regional, by default. And for Buena Vista, in the middle of this regional, they look up at the other two teams who have been in Appleton and down at the other three. If they get to Day 3, they do have a third strong starter to throw.
Missing from this region is Washington U. The Bears were 6-1 against the Moline Regional lineup in April. When D3baseball.com sat down on Sunday afternoon, the Bears were a team that came off the board early on, but the NCAA playoff selection committee disagreed.
Moline Regional schedule
Wednesday, May 14
Game 1 - No. 1 Webster (37-5) vs. No. 6 DePauw (24-20), 12
p.m.
Game 2 - No. 2 St. Thomas (30-7) vs. No. 5 Rose-Hulman
(23-17-1), 3:30 p.m.
Game 3 - No. 3 Buena Vista (34-11) vs. No. 4 St. Scholastica
(33-11), 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 15
Game 4 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 12 p.m.
Game 5 - Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3, 3:30 p.m.
Game 6 - Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 16
TBD
Saturday, May 17
TBD
Favorite
St. Thomas. The Tommies came through the MIAC tournament practically untouched, and while Webster can almost make that claim as well, it's a lot tougher to do that in the MIAC than the SLIAC. The Tommies used just four pitchers in their three-game sweep of the MIAC field and the pitching is both rolling and rested.
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Most likely to disappoint
Webster. And that's just because when you come in as the No. 1 team in the country, there's so much more you can do to disappoint than to succeed. Last year Webster won its opener in a similar situation, then lost its second game and had to win twice on Day 3 to set up their win to finish it off on Saturday. This year, those opponents are generally more tested and will have a lot to throw at the Gorloks.
Cinderella
St. Scholastica. The Saints are making the trip south with a date with the prince. St. Scholastica have come close to a D-III Series appearance but always the bridesmaid, never the bride. St. Scholastica is always a team that nobody wants to face and if the cards fall right, they could find themselves with another week to their schedule.
Players to Watch
P Jon Ringblom, Buena Vista (7-2, 1.14 ERA, 7 CG in 10 GS, 71
IP, 54 H, 15 BB, 80 K)
P Eric Veghlan, St. Thomas (7-0, 1.84 ERA, 53.2 IP, 42 H, 10 BB,
48 K, opp. avg. .213)
C Brandon Wessels, Buena Vista (.358, 48 R, 57 H, 7 2B, 5 HR, 34
RBI, 8 SB)
1B Tyler Peterson, St. Thomas (.471, 18 2B, 8 HR, 50 RBI, 18 BB,
4K, .794 slg, .525 OBP)
LHP Riley Futterknecht, DePauw (4-0, 1.93 ERA, 42 IP, 27 H, 20 BB,
28 K)
2B Tyler Stoulp, Webster (.411, 45 R, 68 H, 17 2B, 3 HR, 42 RBI,
.979 FLD%)
SS Tyler Duex, St. Scholastica (.464, 26 R, 51 H, 15 2B, 2 HR, 42
RBI, 11 SB)
OF Robbie Stein, DePauw (.368, 41 R, 57 H, 8 2B, 3 HR, 24 RBI)
SS Kody Alayon, Rose-Hulman (.424, 23 R, 53 H, 10 2B, 1 HR, 19
RBI, 15 SB)