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Final Week of Summit Play (ORU at Omaha)


Old Titan

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1.  Omaha  (19-8)  hosts ORU

2.  SDSU  (17-9)  at NDSU

3.  ORU  (15-11)  at Omaha

4.  NDSU  (14-13)  hosts SDSU

5.  WIU  (14-13)  at Fort Wayne

6.  Fort Wayne  (1-26)  hosts WIU

Assuming the Leathernecks win all three games in Fort Wayne this week, they are all but a virtual lock to make the final four. 

That leaves ORU and NDSU fighting it out for the last spot.  Which of those two teams is the more likely to win at least 2-of-3 on the road? 

Which one could instead get swept?

The playoffs basically start for ORU and NDSU this Thursday:  win, or go home...

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After further review, here's how ORU's current "magic number of 2" plays out:

  • If ORU sweeps Omaha, they're in no matter what NDSU does.
  • If ORU wins 2-of-3 at Omaha, they're in no matter what NDSU does.
  • If ORU loses 2-of-3 at Omaha, they are STILL in unless NDSU sweeps SDSU.
  • If ORU is swept by Omaha, they need NDSU to lose at least 2-of-3 to SDSU for ORU to get in.

Of course, this assumes none of the six games in Omaha and Brookings get rained out...

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The opening game of this series this afternoon is clearly HUGE.....winning today would take a ton of pressure off ORU.....lose today and we are up against the wall on Friday/Saturday......honestly, I can't say TheEagleman has a ton of confidence.....😬

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Yes, it is put up or shut up time.  Hopefully we step up to the plate (pun intended).

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Thursday's Schedule:

2:00pm   Western Illinois at Fort Wayne (chance of thunderstorms)

4:00pm   ORU at Omaha (no rain in forecast)

6:30pm   SDSU at NDSU (no rain in forecast)

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Break up the Mastadons:  PFW defeats WIU 8-6 this afternoon for just their second league win of the year, both coming in the past 4 games.

Meanwhile, McMinn struggling with the long ball again as ORU trails Omaha 4-1 in the 4th.  Henson has a dinger for the good guys; but unless ORU shows some life soon at the plate, McMinn might just have to take his lumps to save the relievers for the next two games.

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7-run 5th inning for the Mavs, all the damage coming with two outs. 

11-2 deficit; might as well have some of the infielders finish up on the mound... 🤮

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Man, this season has seen all kinds of milestones:  ORU gets run-ruled in 7 innings, 13-3 on a walk-off single. 

First time in Summit League play?

First time in Summit/MidCon history?

First time in any league (Midwestern, Southland, etc.)?

First time EVER?

If not, it hasn’t happened much.

Too depressing to research; I’m gonna mow the lawn before the rain gets here. 

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Its just embarrassing...….stink....stank...stunk....👎😬🤮

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2 hours ago, Old Titan said:

Man, this season has seen all kinds of milestones:  ORU gets run-ruled in 7 innings, 13-3 on a walk-off single. 

First time in Summit League play?

First time in Summit/MidCon history?

First time in any league (Midwestern, Southland, etc.)?

First time EVER?

If not, it hasn’t happened much.

Too depressing to research; I’m gonna mow the lawn before the rain gets here. 

Last time ORU was run ruled was May 16, 2011 by the lowly-Centenary Gentlemen by a score of 17-7.  It certainly doesn't happen much, but this season is a season of new lows. 

We very well may be meeting this same pitcher in the first round of the Summit League tournament next Wednesday night.

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1 hour ago, Bogus Smith said:

Last time ORU was run ruled was May 16, 2011 by the lowly-Centenary Gentlemen by a score of 17-7.  It certainly doesn't happen much, but this season is a season of new lows. 

We very well may be meeting this same pitcher in the first round of the Summit League tournament next Wednesday night.

I wish I shared your optimism that ORU's hitters will be doing something other than tarp duty next weekend (unless I should be expecting an emergency e-mail from the GEC looking for on-field volunteers! LOL)

NDSU beats SDSU tonight, 3-2, so ORU's magic number is still at "2".  With rain in the forecast for Fargo on Saturday, those two will play a doubleheader Friday starting at 1pm.  We may have all the answers in just 24 hours if ORU could simply pull out a win.

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57 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

NDSU beats SDSU tonight, 3-2, so ORU's magic number is still at "2".  

With PFW's surprise win against Western, our magic number is now at 1 with the Leathernecks and 2 with NDSU.  An ORU win or another Western loss in the two remaining games - and we are in.  Or two NDSU losses.  Hopefully, this is all settled with an ORU win tomorrow, so we can earn our way into the tourney (and not feel the pressure on Saturday).

The only way Western makes the tourney is if they win both of their remaining games - and either ORU or NDSU lose both.  I will not feel sorry at all to see Western miss out on the trip to Tulsa, as they've had our number this year.

In other news, Omaha clinched the regular season title tonight, also securing the #1 seed for the 2019 tourney, and the host for 2020 tourney.  SDSU has nothing to play for tomorrow but pride.  They are assured of the #2 seed, no matter the outcome of their remaining games.

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35 minutes ago, TrueBlue82 said:

With PFW's surprise win against Western, our magic number is now at 1 with the Leathernecks and 2 with NDSU.  An ORU win or another Western loss in the two remaining games - and we are in.  Or two NDSU losses.  Hopefully, this is all settled with an ORU win tomorrow, so we can earn our way into the tourney (and not feel the pressure on Saturday).

The only way Western makes the tourney is if they win both of their remaining games - and either ORU or NDSU lose both.  I will not feel sorry at all to see Western miss out on the trip to Tulsa, as they've had our number this year.

In other news, Omaha clinched the regular season title tonight, also securing the #1 seed for the 2019 tourney, and the host for 2020 tourney.  SDSU has nothing to play for tomorrow but pride.  They are assured of the #2 seed, no matter the outcome of their remaining games.

It seemed unfathomable to include WIU in any of this math before today, and it still feels unfathomable that Fort Wayne might conjure up a way to win the series with the Leathernecks.

But, as I often think when it comes to predicting college sports:  these are 18-to-20-year-olds, and you just never know.  They may have more interest in chasing girls, or staying up all night playing xBox, than actually caring about baseball at this point.

If WIU or NDSU fail to make the tournament, they need only look back at those losses to Fort Wayne as the exact reason why, and only they will know the reasons for those results.

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If ORU loses again today....TheEagleman is done with them....DONE!!!....not worth the time or trouble.....🤬

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2 hours ago, theeagleman5 said:

If ORU loses again today....TheEagleman is done with them....DONE!!!....not worth the time or trouble.....🤬

Not sure I myself would go that far, but I must admit that hoping for some sort of sudden upgrade in the pitching, hitting and defense at this point is exactly what Albert Einstein was referring to:

1b456630d17e8bc32f137707987cbec4.jpg

(Truth be told, I actually hate this cliche, because it's simply not true.  It has been my experience that doing the same thing over and over again TYPICALLY produces different results, as in hitting my driver off the 1st tee, or buying watermelon.)

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Your 2:41pm update:

  • ORU 5, Omaha 1 (T3) [that's good news]
  • SDSU 2, NDSU 1 (T6) [that's good news]
  • WIU 1, PFW 0 (B3) [that's expected news]

 

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ORU up 5-2 in the top of the 5th.....we had a 5 run lead early.....TheEagleman is thinking we need more.....😬

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