I haven't seen that "great" team either. Every team that remains has a weakness or two, and it may be more of a case of not losing than that of winning. I am more concerned that we don't have that great pitcher that we have had when we won. But, some of the best pitchers have been eliminated by a lack of any offense.
In any short series like a World Series, a great player like a Pendley or Chamberlain can have a miserable series. We really need for both to do well, and we need some help from the bottom of the order. Last year, the winning rally in that long nightmare was initiated by the bottom of the batting order, an advantage that we had last year. We had people like Martinez and Turang at the bottom. I hope we don't miss Self too much. Her consistency is what we need.
But, we were the only team last year that had two ace pitchers and a great bottom of the order. This year, I don't see that anyone has that. In one game, Tennessee, Florida State, Alabama, UCLA, and Oregon have a pitcher than can beat you. But, they really don't appear to have the hitting to knock out a solid pitcher. They can kill an underdog. I think that it will be difficult for any of them to beat OU. But, we can beat ourselves.
Stevens is inexperienced at this level, and she just had her worst weekend of the year. She had location problems in all three games. We don't have a replacement. She needs to have a decent super and series, not sensational, just decent. If you watched, you saw A&M beat themselves with errors. Tennessee did that last year. Boston had LSU buried, and lost due to an error. Errors cost some teams. Stevens OK, and no errors. If that happens, our hitters should be able to do just enough without being hot. But, I don't see us as the favorites---this year. If Kelsey were to get hot----?
