So as most of you know, longtime VU football rival St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer just closed down at the end of the academic year due to financial insolvency. However, the Pumas baseball team lives on until their season is complete, and won their first game in the NCAA Division II tourney yesterday.
Gotta admit, I'm pulling for them to win it all. Nice article in the Tribune about their fate:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-st-josephs-college-baseball-haugh-spt-0517-20170516-column.html
I recall the St. Joe/Valpo football rivalry having a lot of heat well into the 1990s (I recall one game at Brown Field back in the mid-1980s that featured a bench-clearing brawl). Apparently, SJC considered joining Division I in basketball in the late 1970s, right around the time that Valpo made the move, but opted against it, even though the Pumas were arguably a stronger program than VU at the time (we still played regularly into the early 80s, and SJC beat us a couple of times even after we went Division I).
A relative of mine who graduated from St. Joe always lamented the decision to bypass Division I basketball at a time that SJC was a strong and growing university, and when becoming a Division I program did not require the investment that it does today. The connection between athletics and a university's success is debatable, but I think it's pretty safe to say that SJC might very well still be in operation today had they taken the plunge on D1 hoops way back when.
St Joe beat Southern Indiana 5-4 yesterday/Thursday. They play Quincy at 7:30 p.m. Central tonight/Friday. I'm not sure if all the regional games are played at one location since the game times are staggered or it could be home sights also because they do seem to be playing teams close to their campus locations. It's an 8 team regional with 8 regional competitions. The finals are in Grand Prairie, TX.
EDIT: When you put in travel times you would think they would have to be at regional sites instead of traveling over night.
The Midwest Region is the last bracket in the listing.
http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/gametool/brackets/baseball-d2_regionalbracket_2017.pdf
Still so sad to see this happening to St. Joe's. I played with some quality guys from their baseball program during my 2 summers in Indiana, and they were a solid D-2 program that played us tough during the NCAA season. Believe it or not, those summer teams also included some quality guys from Butler's program. Yes, I said it, quality people from Butler.
St. Joe lost to Quincy 9-8 and go into the losers bracket. This is double elimination tournament. The last of the Pumas play at 2:00 p.m. Central today/Saturday against Kentucky Wesleyan.
EDIT: The end of the St. Joe Pumas has arrived. They lose to Kentucky Wesleyan 4-1 today/Saturday.