MOUNT PLEASANT – The Iowa Wesleyan College baseball team has had some changes in its schedule for Wednesday which will result in an unusual baseball occurrence.
IWC’s non-conference doubleheader against Missouri Valley College, originally scheduled for Wednesday in Marshall, Mo., has been cancelled and will not be made up. In its place, Wesleyan will be playing a Midwest Collegiate Conference tripleheader on Wednesday at home against Ashford University.
The Tigers and Saints will play three seven-inning games on Wednesday, with the first game starting at noon at the Mapleleaf Athletic Complex. The second game will follow approximately 15 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. After the second game ends, the teams will receive about a two-hour break before beginning the final game of the day.
The change was necessitated after this past weekend’s three-game series between IWC and Ashford was wiped out by heavy rains in Mount Pleasant. The two teams were supposed to play a pair of seven-inning games on Saturday and a single nine-inning game for the series finale on Sunday.
The conference games are particularly important to Wesleyan, which is in the thick of the chase for an all-important top three finish in the conference standings. The Tigers currently are fourth in the conference by percentage points, trailing Viterbo (Wis.) University by 2 1/2 games. Grand View University is two games ahead of IWC and William Penn University is one game ahead, but the Tigers have one less loss than the Statesmen and control their own destiny for a top three placing.
Viterbo and Grand View also play a three-game series later this week, leaving the possibility open of a regular season title for Wesleyan if it can sweep games this week against Ashford and Waldorf College. The top three teams in the MCC Tournament advance to the double-elimination “Final 4” of the tourney, while teams finishing fourth through seventh face off in a single-elimination format to determine the fourth team in the double-elimination round.
The baseball tripleheader will make for a busy day at the Mapleleaf Athletic Complex involving IWC sports. The Tiger softball team also will be playing a doubleheader against Ashford, starting at 5 p.m. Both the baseball and softball teams will be playing their final home games of the season as well on Wednesday, and Senior Day festivities will be held between games of the softball doubleheader and before the third game of the baseball tripleheader. The games are the final home athletic events at Iowa Wesleyan for the 2009-10 school year.
IWC’s non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday against Lindenwood (Mo.) University will be played as scheduled, with the twinbill in St. Charles, Mo., starting at 2 p.m. Wesleyan also will face Waldorf this coming weekend in its final conference series of the year, with a nine-inning game on Saturday and a doubleheader on Sunday.
For more information regarding the IWC baseball program or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
