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| UW-Whitewater has become accustomed to a celebrating a regional win. But the Warhawks are not the only ones in this bracket who know how that works. d3photography.com photo by Steve Frommell |
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| Tommy Parsons has a stretch of 44.1 innings without issuing a walk this season for Adrian. Adrian athletics photo |
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By Austin Walther
for D3sports.com
UW-Whitewater is back in the Midwest regional and landed the number one seed after winning the WIAC regular season and conference title. The Warhawks are matched up against the winner of the Midwest Conference tournament St. Norbert who is coming over from the Central Region.
Concordia-Chicago again drew the number two seed in this playoff regional. The Cougars dominated the NACC regular season and tournament, but lost nine non-conference games. CUC will kick off the regional against the surprise winner from the MIAC, Macalester. The Scots won three games in the conference tournament as the four-seed including two against top seed Bethel to receive the automatic qualifier.
The MIAA tournament automatic qualifier from the Mideast region is back in the Midwest playoffs. Adrian gets the number three seed after defeating last year’s tournament champion Kalamazoo. The Bulldogs will play the second team from the MIAC, at-large St. Thomas. The Tommies only won one game in the conference tournament, but made the regionals on the strength of their schedule and stay in the Midwest.
Lastly, two familiar teams will play each other in the four-five game matchup. UW-La Crosse has won this regional the past two years. St. Scholastica, the four seed and the UMAC's big dog, went undefeated in conference play and swept the tournament. The Saints and Eagles played earlier this year with St. Scholastica coming out on top both times.
Whitewater Regional schedule
All times Central
Thursday, May 18
Game 1: No. 4 St. Scholastica (32-8) vs. No. 5 UW-La Crosse (28-17), 10 a.m.
Game 2: No. 1 UW-Whitewater (35-7) vs. No. 8 St. Norbert (30-11), 1:15
Game 3: No. 3 Adrian (33-11) vs. No. 6 St. Thomas (26-16), 4:30
Game 4: No. 2 Concordia-Chicago (29-11) vs. No. 7 Macalester (26-15), 7:45
Friday, May 19
Game 5: St. Scholastica vs. St. Norbert, 10 a.m.
Game 6: St. Thomas vs. Macalester, 1:15
Game 7: UW-La Crosse vs. UW-Whitewater, 4:30
Game 8: Concordia-Chicago vs. Adrian, 7:45
Saturday, May 20
Game 9: St. Thomas vs. UW-Whitewater, 4 p.m.
Game 10: Adrian vs. St. Scholastica, 7:30
Sunday, May 21
Game 11: UW-La Crosse vs. Concordia-Chicago, 11:00
Game 12: St. Thomas vs. St. Scholastica, 2:30
Game 13: Game 12 winner vs. Game 11 loser, 6
Monday, May 22
Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 13 winner, TBA
Game 15: Game 14 rematch, if necessary
Favorite
UW-Whitewater is the host and they have been a top-15 team all season. The Warhawks won the Central Regional last year to get to Appleton and they believe nothing will be different this year. The World Series will only be in Wisconsin for two more years so the Wisconsin teams are going to try to take advantage of that.
Most likely to disappoint
Concordia-Chicago has drawn the No. 2 seed for the second consecutive season. The Cougars slipped up right before the finals last year against UWL and the Eagles are back in this regional. Nine non-conference losses don’t look favorable so it’s been hard for them to crack the top-25 this year. With two teams from the WIAC and two from the MIAC, it’ll be tough for CUC to advance as far as have the past two years.
Cinderella
St. Scholastica is a team that could make a deep run in this regional. The Saints are certainly battle-tested as they went 5-1 during a span of playing three out of the top four WIAC teams. They continue to seek top-flight non-conference competition to make up for the lack of challenge in the UMAC.
Players to Watch
C Riley Bernsdorf, St. Scholastica (.320, 33 R, 40 H, 14 2B, 2 HR, 20 RBI)
1B Brent Spohr, Concordia-Chicago (.325, 25 R, 52 H, 20 2B, 6 HR, 45 RBI)
1B Miccoy Drzewiecki, Adrian (.318, 25 R, 42 H, 5 2B, 9 HR, 39 RBI)
2B Steve Chamberlain, UW-Whitewater (.364, 43 R, 59 H, 6 2B, 8 HR, 38 RBI)
2B Mitch Wilson, Concorida-Chicago (.365, 42 R, 58 H, 15 2B, 6 HR, 37 RBI)
3B Cal Aldridge, UW-Whitewater (.345, 40 R, 48 H, 5 2B, 6 HR, 40 RBI)
SS Bryan VanDuser, Concordia-Chicago (.413, 50 R, 66 H, 12 2B, 4 HR, 29 RBI)
SS Tyler Duex, St. Scholastica (.419, 44 R, 57 H, 16 2B, 5 HR, 39 RBI)
OF Brett Krause, UW-Whitewater (.396, 43 R, 65 H, 10 2B, 2 HR, 31 RBI)
OF Ian Mikowski, Adrian (.475, 66 R, 77 H, 6 2B, 37 SB)
OF Stevens Neutzling, St. Scholastica (.344, 47 R, 52 H, 13 2B, 9 HR, 46 RBI)
OF Jake Smith, St. Thomas (.312, 36 R, 49 H, 6 2B, 7 HR, 30 RBI)
OF Alex Baretta, Macalester (.407, 35 R, 61 H, 15 2B, 3 HR, 30 RBI)
DH Carter Hoffman, UW-La Crosse (.400, 16 R, 32 H, 9 2B, 3 HR, 16 RBI)
UTIL Sam Cobbs, St. Thomas (.388, 33 R, 57 H, 15 2B, 5 HR, 34 RBI)
UTIL Tyler Banovich, St. Norbert (.340, 47 R, 51 H, 6 2B, 2 HR, 39 RBI)
SP Austin Jones, UW-Whitewater (8-2, 1.75 ERA, 3 CG, 77 IP, 76 K, 16 BB)
SP Tommy Parson, Adrian (11-1, 2.25 ERA, 8 CG, 84 IP, 93 K, 6 BB)
SP Pierce Banks, Adrian (8-0, 1.99 ERA, 4 CG, 72.1 IP, 57 K, 16 BB)
SP Caleb Boushley, UW-La Crosse (8-2, 1.42 ERA, 6 CG, 89 IP, 94 K, 17 BB)
RP Mike Nompleggi, UW-Whitewater (4-1, 1.91 ERA, 6 SV, 33 IP, 34 K, 11 BB)
RP Caleb Willems, UW-La Crosse (1-4, 1.99 ERA, 7 SV, 31 IP, 27 K, 4 BB)