New softball thread

#95 may be all that it takes. That's three. If this goes to extra innings, I doubt Lauren sees another pitch near the plate.
 
That hurts! With Self, Paige, and Georgia coming up, I don't see us scoring two. Georgia hasn't had a hit this weekend in several key situations. Paige just couldn't do it one more time.
 
A bitter loss. Chamberlain did everything that she could.

Those two defensive plays by McCleney were fatal to our hopes. Robbed Pendley of a homer.
 
Great Season for our ladies. Tough loss but tremendous effort by both teams. Great Series.
 
Two outstanding freshman pitchers in Parker and Osorio. I didn't like the Alabama coach's constant whining about pitches, but I do agree with him when he said in an earlier in-game interview that the Super Regionals should go to 3 days rather than force a double-header. Both Paige and Osorio were scraping the bottom of the tank...
 
Walking batters often bite ya on the butt.

Good season but it just wasn't to be this year.
 
SoonerNorm said:
Walking batters often bite ya on the butt.

Good season but it just wasn't to be this year.
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Hate to say it but today was an example of how the Big 12 is failing. The lack of an RPI because there are only seven teams in the conference since losing A&M, Mizzou, and Nebraska has finally come to roost. OU should not have been playing on the road in Tuscaloosa - Bama is a great team but so is OU. The World Series will miss Lauren this year. No Big 12 in the WCWS and barring a Texas victory tomorrow only two Big 12 baseball teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Patti is going to have to really figure out the schedule to move the RPI forward in the future.
 
BlackwellSooner said:
Paige gave up 2 bases on balls. Definitely not a lot. Don't make it sound like you're blaming her for walking batters and losing the game.
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Walks always bite you in the butt. The real bite was not having a 2nd great pitcher - a top notch Kelsey Stevens would have helped. Oh well, it was not to be.
 
Speedy17 said:
Walks always bite you in the butt. The real bite was not having a 2nd great pitcher - a top notch Kelsey Stevens would have helped. Oh well, it was not to be.
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There is no assurance that had Patty had an ace like Stevens was last year, and had gone to her, that it would have worked any better for her than when the Bama coach pulled Osorio for their second ace Littlejohn (she was 16-1 on the season). What happened? She gave up a home run.
 
BlackwellSooner said:
There is no assurance that had Patty had an ace like Stevens was last year, and had gone to her, that it would have worked any better for her than when the Bama coach pulled Osorio for their second ace Littlejohn (she was 16-1 on the season). What happened? She gave up a home run.
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Different situation - Littlejohn is not a real ace. OU will have a second pitcher next year with Finney who is ranked as high as Osorio and Parker. This will give OU a situation like they had with Michelle Gascoigne who really was a second ace.
 
I thought Paige had a great three game series against a good team. Lauren did as well. Some didn't, and that was what hurt. You can't have one or two players get into the game and others stop thinking.

Speedy, let's start thinking next year.

Lineup?
RF Erin Miller
CF ? Nicole struggled when she began to see better pitching. Will Fale Aviu beat her out?
LF Kady Self
SS Sydney Romero
3B Kelsey Arnold
2B Shay Knighten
1B Kylie Lundberg
c Whitney Ellis

Reserves: Caleigh Clifton, Lea Wodach, Macey Hatfield, Destinee Lookout, Leslie Miller, ParisTownsend.

Pitchers:
Paige Parker
Brittany Finney
Kelsey Stevens
Jayden Chestnut
 
Paige was closing in on 400 pitches in 30 hours. That is rediculous.

My opinion, this loss was on Gasso. Up 2-1, bases loaded and their leading home run hitter up. I don't care if she 0 for 13, that just means she's due. I go with Shelby just to mix it up. A rested Shelby vs a tired Paige, seems clear to me.

We will all miss Lauren and Shelby, not to mention Casey, Cassie and Jessica. Great Sooners who gave us a lot of joy.
 
Sooner Cal said:
Paige was closing in on 400 pitches in 30 hours. That is rediculous.

My opinion, this loss was on Gasso. Up 2-1, bases loaded and their leading home run hitter up. I don't care if she 0 for 13, that just means she's due. I go with Shelby just to mix it up. A rested Shelby vs a tired Paige, seems clear to me.

We will all miss Lauren and Shelby, not to mention Casey, Cassie and Jessica. Great Sooners who gave us a lot of joy.
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No, I don't think you saw the moments when that change was made during the season - Shelby left the ball over the plate too much. Not having a true second pitcher definitely impacted this team.

There were two lineup things that this team was missing that 2013 had. First, was the #2 pitcher - like Michelle Gascoigne. Michelle kept the pressure off of Ricketts and led the nation in ERA. Kelsey won 38 games last year but she was never a legit #1 or #2. It was smoke and mirrors - OU owes her a lot though because she is the reason they went to the WCWS last season.

Second, OU did not have a true slapper that could get on base when others were having trouble with a pitcher like Osoria. These games showed the importance of this role. The national title team had Briana Turang and Destinie Martinez. Those guys terrorized opponents. This team never had a true slapper in the regular lineup. They tried move Arnold from righty to lefty to fill this role but it was abandoned at Texas Tech. Nicole was never comfortable with the slapper role either. Callie was the only true slapper and if there was hindsight - she should have been in that role all season. The problem is who do you bench in the OF - Kady, Nicole, or Erin - the answer is none. I think maybe in the DH slot.
 
sybarite said:
I thought Paige had a great three game series against a good team. Lauren did as well. Some didn't, and that was what hurt. You can't have one or two players get into the game and others stop thinking.

Speedy, let's start thinking next year.

Lineup?
RF Erin Miller
CF ? Nicole struggled when she began to see better pitching. Will Fale Aviu beat her out?
LF Kady Self
SS Sydney Romero
3B Kelsey Arnold
2B Shay Knighten
1B Kylie Lundberg
c Whitney Ellis

Reserves: Caleigh Clifton, Lea Wodach, Macey Hatfield, Destinee Lookout, Leslie Miller, ParisTownsend.

Pitchers:
Paige Parker
Brittany Finney
Kelsey Stevens
Jayden Chestnut
Click to expand...

Honestly, I think it goes close to what you have.

I am going to say that Fale Aviu (slapping) is in the lineup but I don't know that she will take Nicole's position in CF. I haven't seen anywhere that Aviu slaps the ball. It all depends on just how dedicated Nicole is to softball after Shelby leaves (I would not be surprised to see Shelby in one of the Graduate Manager spots next season).

RF - Erin Miller - had a great year
CF - Nicole Pendley - hit .368 as a frosh
LF - Kady Self - had a great healthy year
C - Whitney Ellis - best defensive catcher in the country - offense lagged
1B - Kylie Lundberg - big lefty power hitting 1st baseman
2B - Shay Knighton - Super Frosh
SS - Sydney Romero - Super Frosh
3B - Kelsey Arnold - Great Fielder but might not hold position because of the bat - the Jess Vest syndrome - you have to hit
DP - Paige Parker

Bench - Fale Aviu - OF, Lea Wodach - C, Macey Hatfield - Utility, Leslie Miller - Utility, Caleigh Clifton - Inf, Reagan Rogers - Util, Tori Nirschl - OF, Destinee Lookout - 1B

Pitching
#1 Paige Parker
#2 Brittany Finney
#3 Jadyn Chestnut
#4 Kelsey Stevens
#5 Taylor Hodges

It is kind of interesting because this roster is missing the slapping capabilities that Gasso needs. This could be where Aviu comes into play. This team needs a couple of slappers and I don't know where they are. You never realize how important that role is until you don't have it or play a series like the one that was just played. One other note is that Finney and Chestnut like Parker are big bats. I also think there will be some attrition on this team - I don't know who but would not be surprised to see 3-4 players (who won't play a key role) not be on the roster next year. It is a big commitment and if you are not going to see the lineup then ?????
 
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