ISU vs. SIU

[ISUCC]

not much interest in this game, but ISU is just getting hammered 10-4 in the 6th in this one. SIU is making up for the 3 game sweep at the hand of the Sycamores earlier this year. Not a good way to end the season, on a 7 game losing streak......Sheesh

[BankShot]

Another explosion of our pitching staff...makes you wonder if an epidemic of "slinky arm" might've infected the ISU clubhouse after the UE series?

[Beav89]

Well, I wish I knew what was behind this slump, but we'll probably never know for sure. What I do know is that I'd rather be getting a root canal than riding on that bus back to TH today...

That's a final score with Jett's SO -- 10-6 SIU wins.

[msreason]

Glad to see that Shelton was superior on the mound today. It's a good way for him to end his college career! As I've said before, we have the basics for a very good team next year. It will depend on our pitchers being brought along and on filling a couple of key holes in the batting department. Recruiting should be good with nine Sycamores getting honors, Meggs named coach of the year, the strong league season and the new stadium. Looking forward to February 2010 when play starts up again!

[SycamoreFan317]

Another explosion of our pitching staff...makes you wonder if an epidemic of "slinky arm" might've infected the ISU clubhouse after the UE series?

I watched on ShockerTV and we definitely did not take advantage of our opportunities. In the 8th we had runners on the corners with no outs and hit into a FC then we load the bases with two outs and only get one run out of the inning. We did hit 5 homeruns all solo shots. ILS hit homeruns but had a couple of runners on. The worst part about this is that I hate losing to WSU, ILS and SIU. All in all a very good season that lays a solid foundation for next year.

[ISUCC]

does anyone think the pressure simply got to ISU these last 7 games? I mean it all started with the #26 ranking, so that alone puts new pressure on the team, then they go and lose their very 1st game as a ranked team, at home, to Xavier, followed up by an even more pressure packed series at MSU, then even MORE pressure at the MVC tourney.

None of the current players have ever been in these kind of situations before so I wonder if it was simply too much? Now let's just hope that next season everyone who is eligible comes back and remembers the awful ending they had this season and use that as motivation to prove they are better than this. Because we all know they are, coach knows they are, and the players themselves would know they are better than this.

Does anyone think the MVC will expand the post season tourney and let all 8 teams in since UNI no longer has baseball? Why not? There's an even number of teams now, easy to format.

[bent20]

I suggested this would probably happen in the thread Wednesday night. I'm not surprised we lost the last two games. The team needs to use this as motivation to get better though. If we come into next season with the same self doubt it's going to be a long season.

[Daveinth]

Could even stay with the pool play or Pod play whatever you want to call it . if we are worried about revenue then this makes even more sense. I think it should be all teams involved . But then I also still believe in single class basketball

[SycEm]

does anyone think the pressure simply got to ISU these last 7 games? I mean it all started with the #26 ranking, so that alone puts new pressure on the team, then they go and lose their very 1st game as a ranked team, at home, to Xavier, followed up by an even more pressure packed series at MSU, then even MORE pressure at the MVC tourney.

I think it had more to do with our schedule. If you really look at our numbers, we didn't beat a "good" team all season. Using RPI data (this is WarrenNolan data), we came into the tournament with a 33-18 overall record. Breaking that down somewhat, you find the following:
vs Top 50 = 0-5
vs 51-100 = 7-8
That puts us at 7-13 vs top 100 teams
vs 101-200 = 8-7
vs 200+ = 15-0
vs Non D1 = 3-0
So, 26 of our wins were against teams outside of the top 100. We had a losing record not only in the top 50 & top 100, but also from 51-100 and then won at a .533 clip from 101-200. While I think we had a wonderful season, a deeper analysis of the numbers shows we fans might have let the wins alter our perspective a bit.
I think we'll be fine next season - and challenge for the MVC Title and an NCAA bid.

[BankShot]

I hinted at this in a prior post, but you did the homework and provided the evidence. Nice job.