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Is NU baseball on the rise?

DaCat

DaCat

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The baseball team got off to a rough start this season but seems to be coming on strong in Big Ten play, improving to 8-10 by taking 2 of 3 from Purdue. Coach Allen hopefully has the team pointed in the right direction.

One thing that was odd when I viewed the highlights from the Purdue game was that both teams were wearing the same color black uniforms. In most sports you need to wear different colors so I was surprised to see that. It could get confusing for the viewers. Just curious how common this is in college baseball.
 
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DaCat said:
The baseball team got off to a rough start this season but seems to be coming on strong in Big Ten play, improving to 8-10 by taking 2 of 3 from Purdue. Coach Allen hopefully has the team pointed in the right direction.

One thing that was odd when I viewed the highlights from the Purdue game was that both teams were wearing the same color black uniforms. In most sports you need to wear different colors so I was surprised to see that. It could get confusing for the viewers. Just curious how common this is in college baseball.
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I wonder if they will get any benefit from the Ryan Fieldhouse? They start slowly every year because it is hard to work out outside in a typical Chicago spring (this year was an anomaly). The indoor fieldhouse could be a great place to work out for the baseball and softball teams as long as they don't break any windows on the North or East sides!
 
DaCat said:
The baseball team got off to a rough start this season but seems to be coming on strong in Big Ten play, improving to 8-10 by taking 2 of 3 from Purdue. Coach Allen hopefully has the team pointed in the right direction.

One thing that was odd when I viewed the highlights from the Purdue game was that both teams were wearing the same color black uniforms. In most sports you need to wear different colors so I was surprised to see that. It could get confusing for the viewers. Just curious how common this is in college baseball.
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Omaha or bust. Give Spence another 4 years.
 
CoralSpringsCat said:
I'm serious...he's gonna win. Sleeping giant in Evanston.
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I am pretty involved in youth travel baseball and as much as I love NU... it'll never be a giant in baseball. It can be decent for the B1G, but a giant, no way. I've sent a lot of kids D1 for baseball and with the scholarship restrictions at the D1 level, it's a tough sell to ask kids to pay half (at best for NU) of a $60,000 or w/e tuition. Couple that with tougher academic restrictions, shitty weather and it's just really, really hard sell for the better players. (don't talk about Giardi and Happ, they're the exception, not the rule...)

That said I kinda-ish know Allen and have only heard great things about him in the recruiting world. His players swear by him. He'll definitely do better than that bum Stephens
 
chicagocatfan24 said:
I am pretty involved in youth travel baseball and as much as I love NU... it'll never be a giant in baseball. It can be decent for the B1G, but a giant, no way. I've sent a lot of kids D1 for baseball and with the scholarship restrictions at the D1 level, it's a tough sell to ask kids to pay half (at best for NU) of a $60,000 or w/e tuition. Couple that with tougher academic restrictions, shitty weather and it's just really, really hard sell for the better players. (don't talk about Giardi and Happ, they're the exception, not the rule...)

That said I kinda-ish know Allen and have only heard great things about him in the recruiting world. His players swear by him. He'll definitely do better than that bum Stephens
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So do they have the have the preferred walk on situation like they do inFB? Seems they can help a lot even if not on scholarship..
 
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hdhntr1 said:
So do they have the have the preferred walk on situation like they do inFB? Seems they can help a lot even if not on scholarship..
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The problem is, there are only around 11 full scholarships available for baseball, and they tend to split them up so most of the team has to rely on normal financial aid or pay retail, just like any other student.

"The average NCAA Division I baseball team has a roster of 35 players but only a maximum of 11.7 athletic scholarships available. This means the average award covers only about 1/3 of annual college costs and this assumes the sport is fully funded at the sponsoring school. Baseball is an equivalency sport for NCAA scholarship purposes, so partial scholarships canbe awarded to meet the NCAA limit per school."

http://www.scholarshipstats.com/baseball.html
 
Fitzphile said:
The problem is, there are only around 11 full scholarships available for baseball, and they tend to split them up so most of the team has to rely on normal financial aid or pay retail, just like any other student.

"The average NCAA Division I baseball team has a roster of 35 players but only a maximum of 11.7 athletic scholarships available. This means the average award covers only about 1/3 of annual college costs and this assumes the sport is fully funded at the sponsoring school. Baseball is an equivalency sport for NCAA scholarship purposes, so partial scholarships canbe awarded to meet the NCAA limit per school."

http://www.scholarshipstats.com/baseball.html
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Yes, and unless it changed with Allen's hire, I am pretty positive NU doesn't even get 11.7. I think it was 10 I wanna say. There's a chance I'm incorrect here, but I'm like 80% sure
 
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CoralSpringsCat said:
How do Rice, Vandy and Stanford do it?
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Vandy is a baseball school. It's by far their best sport, it's in the best conference, has better weather, and Nashville doesn't have a pro team which helps drive attendance a little bit. Stanford and Rice have weather. Rice actually recruits Chicago quite a bit, and they tap into the JUCO systems as well. South Sub JC and coach Rue has sent a lot of players to Rice over the years
 
chicagocatfan24 said:
Vandy is a baseball school. It's by far their best sport, it's in the best conference, has better weather, and Nashville doesn't have a pro team which helps drive attendance a little bit. Stanford and Rice have weather. Rice actually recruits Chicago quite a bit, and they tap into the JUCO systems as well. South Sub JC and coach Rue has sent a lot of players to Rice over the years
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Just took 2 out of three from MD, who had previously lost just once all season in College Park. Cats are within a game of 0.500 and play their final series against Rutgers. Could well qualify for the Big 10 Tournament, right now they are in at 8th just ahead of MSU, who finish against tough Michigan. To put this into perspective, NU has been 0.500 or better in the Big 10 just 5 times in the last 25 seasons. Well done to Coach Allen and the team.
 
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DaCat said:
The baseball team got off to a rough start this season but seems to be coming on strong in Big Ten play, improving to 8-10 by taking 2 of 3 from Purdue. Coach Allen hopefully has the team pointed in the right direction.

One thing that was odd when I viewed the highlights from the Purdue game was that both teams were wearing the same color black uniforms. In most sports you need to wear different colors so I was surprised to see that. It could get confusing for the viewers. Just curious how common this is in college baseball.
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Very solid improvement! Let's sweep Rutgers
 
Fitzphile said:
The problem is, there are only around 11 full scholarships available for baseball, and they tend to split them up so most of the team has to rely on normal financial aid or pay retail, just like any other student.

"The average NCAA Division I baseball team has a roster of 35 players but only a maximum of 11.7 athletic scholarships available. This means the average award covers only about 1/3 of annual college costs and this assumes the sport is fully funded at the sponsoring school. Baseball is an equivalency sport for NCAA scholarship purposes, so partial scholarships canbe awarded to meet the NCAA limit per school."

http://www.scholarshipstats.com/baseball.html
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I think one of the problems is that NU does not even use the 11 or 11.7 that are allowed, likely at least partially because of Title IX
 
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It seems we typically have a small core of players who are MLB quality, but we struggle with depth likely due to the scholarship situation. If Coach Allen can identify and recruit some of the better role players in the country to complement some of the studs, then he has a decent shot at building a winning program.
 
Fitzphile said:
Bada Bing!!!!
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Cats beat RU 4-0 in first game of DH, are guaranteed a non-losing Big 10 record and close in on a Tournament spot......

DANgX4xVwAEK55n.jpg:large
 
CoralSpringsCat said:
Bada Boom!
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Sweep! Cats are in the Big 10 Tournament for the first time since 2010.





Congrats to Joe Hoscheit, who led the Big 10 in batting average, RBIs, doubles and total bases in conference play. Joe hit .468 in his 24 games. Very impressive.
 
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DaCat said:
It seems we typically have a small core of players who are MLB quality, but we struggle with depth likely due to the scholarship situation. If Coach Allen can identify and recruit some of the better role players in the country to complement some of the studs, then he has a decent shot at building a winning program.
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Over the past couple of decades we really have not struggled with depth. We struggled with coaching. We had some loaded and very deep teams that could just never play consistent baseball. Mark my word this is a sport we can and will win a ton of games. Coach Alllen was given a lot more resources than the previous admin and he can really coach, so keep an eye on the program.
 
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lunker35 said:
Over the past couple of decades we really have not struggled with depth. We struggled with coaching. We had some loaded and very deep teams that could just never play consistent baseball. Mark my word this is a sport we can and will win a ton of games. Coach Alllen was given a lot more resources than the previous admin and he can really coach, so keep an eye on the program.
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Any idea as to the number of scholarships being allotted to the program? Hopefully we are on a "level playing field."
 
CoralSpringsCat said:
Any idea as to the number of scholarships being allotted to the program? Hopefully we are on a "level playing field."
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I could be wrong, but I believe with the new staff we now have the full 11.7. Stevens did not have the full allotment, but the athletic department really wanted to make a commitment to win from what I understand.
 
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lunker35 said:
I could be wrong, but I believe with the new staff we now have the full 11.7. Stevens did not have the full allotment, but the athletic department really wanted to make a commitment to win from what I understand.
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At the risk of being loose with someone else's money, if NU really want to be competitive across the board they need to use all available scholarships in the sports in which they compete. If for Title IX reasons they need to award more to women in Olympic sports than men, better to drop a Men's sport team than rely on attracting Big 10 caliber talent who are willing to compete without a scholarship.
 
Fitzphile said:
At the risk of being loose with someone else's money, if NU really want to be competitive across the board they need to use all available scholarships in the sports in which they compete. If for Title IX reasons they need to award more to women in Olympic sports than men, better to drop a Men's sport team than rely on attracting Big 10 caliber talent who are willing to compete without a scholarship.
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I've got a feeling baseball is going nowhere. The new stadium is outstanding and we can absolutely compete for championships. The B1G is wide open every year and there is no reason we will not be at the top.
 
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Fitzphile said:
At the risk of being loose with someone else's money, if NU really want to be competitive across the board they need to use all available scholarships in the sports in which they compete. If for Title IX reasons they need to award more to women in Olympic sports than men, better to drop a Men's sport team than rely on attracting Big 10 caliber talent who are willing to compete without a scholarship.
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What other men's sports do you drop?
 
lunker35 said:
I've got a feeling baseball is going nowhere. The new stadium is outstanding and we can absolutely compete for championships. The B1G is wide open every year and there is no reason we will not be at the top.
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Good to hear. It seems we always churn out some good talent, maybe the baseball program is a sleeping giant, at least in the midwest. I see that Joe Hoscheit was named All-B1G first team after leading the league in batting average.
 
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