Softball

[sybarite]

Syd and Caleigh has only been in a funk only for the last two weeks. Fale and Nicole have had their streaks but nothing consistent. With Mendes she is just not swinging the bat like she was last year. IMHO too much attempting to slap hit. Also seems to be thinking too much and allowing the pitcher to control her at bat.

You should never question Patty as she knows this team pulse but I would be starting Rogers instead of Mendes. The way Mendes is presently playing I don't know that she gives you any advantages. But key #1 is for Paige Parker to get back on her game in a consistent manner.

When you get to the tournament winning the first game in the regionals, super-regionals and WCWS is something you desperately need to do and that is PP's game to start.

Caleigh doesn't show the judgement that she has shown for two years. But, Mendes is completely different. She was OK until conference season. She probably hit about 320 until conference play. Since then, ouch.

But, she had about the best swing on the team last year at playoff time. It was smooth, graceful, accurate, and attacking. This year, someone decided she should bunt, slap, and use speed to get on base. It seems to have introduced uncertainty.

Gasso is the best. But, even the best make mistakes. This is a mistake---in my opinion (JT?). I would have her attacking every pitch where it was pitched. She would bunt or slap about as often as Alo.

And, we brought her in for defensive purposes late in the game yesterday. She is still our fastest outfielder and has a great arm from right.

 

[TulsaWorld]

Saturday recap here. As for Sunday...

The Oklahoma softball team used four home runs and a walk-off single to take down saxeT 5-4 in eight innings Sunday in Norman.

Freshman Jocelyn Alo homered twice, while Shay Knighten and Nicole Pendley both registered solo shots.[/quote]

Link

 

[j2d2]

I got jumped on when I suggested Paige Parker should be pitched more often. I think she is one of those athletes that needs work to stay sharp. Her performance in the texass game reinforced my conviction. The last game I remember her being sharp in was the Auburn regional last year when she was a killer. This team's bats have a tendency to get cold albeit against good pitching. I have the feeling that we are on thin ice going into regionals.
CC very rarely swings at the first strike offered so she spots the pitcher a strike. She usually gets away with it. The whole team gives me the impression that they are not very aggressive at the plate and take too many fat strikes.

 

[scrybe]

We all know that Mendes has slumped in the second half of the season, but I disagree with some of the comments about her approach to hitting during the Texas series.

I don't know exactly what her problem has been in conference play, but I believe Nicole is showing signs of regaining her stroke. For instance, that eighth inning double play she hit into that almost (if not for Lea's heroics) spoiled an almost certain walk-off win: Nicole did exactly what most of you have been asking for. She attacked the first pitch. And she hit the ball hard and sent it right back up the middle. And it would have almost certainly driven home the winning run if not for the great reflexes of von Strecken.

Mendes also had several other hard-hit balls against UT pitchers this weekend. I firmly believe that she will get her act together in time to help her teammates win some games in the postseason.

On another topic: I very much agree with j2d2's thoughts on Paige Parker. Paige's velocity and spin appear (to me, at least) to be as good as ever. But for Paige to thrive and be the Paige Parker we all know and love, she needs to be given lots of work. The more innings she pitches, the more Paige seems to thrive.

If the Sooners have any real chance at a three-peat, we'll need Paige Parker to get back to being her dominant self. That's just my opinion, but I believe Patty shares it and that's why I fully expect to see more Parker – not less – in the circle as our team gets ready for a postseason run.

 

[SoonerSpock]

Caleigh doesn't show the judgement that she has shown for two years. But, Mendes is completely different. She was OK until conference season. She probably hit about 320 until conference play. Since then, ouch.

But, she had about the best swing on the team last year at playoff time. It was smooth, graceful, accurate, and attacking. This year, someone decided she should bunt, slap, and use speed to get on base. It seems to have introduced uncertainty.

Gasso is the best. But, even the best make mistakes. This is a mistake---in my opinion (JT?). I would have her attacking every pitch where it was pitched. She would bunt or slap about as often as Alo.

And, we brought her in for defensive purposes late in the game yesterday. She is still our fastest outfielder and has a great arm from right.

I too want Mendes swinging away and Rogers appears to be very good as a defender in the outfield. I disagree. I think Rogers is faster a foot than Mendes this year mostly because I think Nicole's weight gain has slowed her a step. Although she appears to be losing some weight in the last 3-4 weeks from sitting in the stands.

Mendes may get a better jump on the ball than Rogers but not by much as I have not seen Reagan play enough to have a feel. And Mendes may have a stronger arm than Rogers but Reagan also made an excellent throw to the plate this weekend.

But I do know I have never seen Mendes run as far for a catch on the warning track that Rogers did against the whorns and I have seen every home game in person and everything on TV or the net.

The step back from Mendes to Rogers in minimal and suspect it is more experience than skill.

 

[SoonerSpock]

I got jumped on when I suggested Paige Parker should be pitched more often. I think she is one of those athletes that needs work to stay sharp. Her performance in the texass game reinforced my conviction. The last game I remember her being sharp in was the Auburn regional last year when she was a killer. This team's bats have a tendency to get cold albeit against good pitching. I have the feeling that we are on thin ice going into regionals.
CC very rarely swings at the first strike offered so she spots the pitcher a strike. She usually gets away with it. The whole team gives me the impression that they are not very aggressive at the plate and take too many fat strikes.

I agree with an exception or two. Also I sit with a former softball player that played for but mostly against the King and his Court 4 man professional exhibition softball team in the '80's. He has seen all the Sooner home games for about the last 4 years and travels to their conference road games except ISU and Kansas. He too concurs that the Sooners have lost their aggressiveness at the plate and are taking often the only good pitch they get thrown to hit. Also thinks we are getting too much of a slapper mentality without having a true quality slap hitter.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

The current RPI rankings at the NCAA site, dated 4-29-2018, have OU ranked #4.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/softball/d1/ncaa-womens-softball-rpi

1. Oregon
2. UCLA
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. Washington
6. Florida State
7. Arizona State
8. Georgia
9. Tennessee
10. South Carolina

 

[cjhsooner]

Man, if this team gets ripped for winning all but 3 games, imagine how bad it would be if they had double-digit losses...

 

[Sooner81]

I agree with the previous poster. 3 losses everyone. HELLO!!!!

And as I was reading this thread and the “experts” questioning who’s pitching and who’s doing this and who’s doing that. I think I will, and all of you should too, step back and enjoy the ride and let a multiple Championship coach and coaching staff handle things. I think they know TONS more than you internet guru’s LOL. So funny how smart all of you think you are, Patti and OU will be just fine.

 

[AdaSooner]

Man, if this team gets ripped for winning all but 3 games, imagine how bad it would be if they had double-digit losses...

Makes no sense to me either.

The 2016 team lost one Big 12 game and eight games overall. Last year’s team lost one conference game and nine games overall. They still won back to back national championships.

This is a tough crowd!

 

[sybarite]

Some of you need to follow the thread before commenting. This is not a basketball thread. There is no debate about whether Sherri is too old, won't recruit, needs a male coach to help her, or has been passed by. Everyone that contributes to the thread begins with the certainty that Gasso is as good as it gets, and we won't get better. Everyone knows that Gasso can recruit, will recruit, and does get the top players in the nation every year. OU is the UConn of softball.

But, softball, like baseball, has age-old differences in opinion, and there are different thoughts on what tends to work best. Gasso is not the first to put the power hitter at leadoff, although it tends to shift down in the order after a few weeks. The singles vs power hitter is as old as baseball. Well, it isn't quite that old since home runs didn't exist at first.

There are no real disagreements that cause feuds. Tends to be a discussion of what is going on that everyone has seen recently. We all want every player to be at her best in the CWS. It actually does take that to win the CWS. Upsets are a lot more likely in softball or baseball. One great pitching performance, and you can go home. We all know that, and we won't be outraged if we don't win. We will still know that Gasso is the best.

 

[SoonerSpock]

Some of you need to follow the thread before commenting. This is not a basketball thread. There is no debate about whether Sherri is too old, won't recruit, needs a male coach to help her, or has been passed by. Everyone that contributes to the thread begins with the certainty that Gasso is as good as it gets, and we won't get better. Everyone knows that Gasso can recruit, will recruit, and does get the top players in the nation every year. OU is the UConn of softball.

But, softball, like baseball, has age-old differences in opinion, and there are different thoughts on what tends to work best. Gasso is not the first to put the power hitter at leadoff, although it tends to shift down in the order after a few weeks. The singles vs power hitter is as old as baseball. Well, it isn't quite that old since home runs didn't exist at first.

There are no real disagreements that cause feuds. Tends to be a discussion of what is going on that everyone has seen recently. We all want every player to be at her best in the CWS. It actually does take that to win the CWS. Upsets are a lot more likely in softball or baseball. One great pitching performance, and you can go home. We all know that, and we won't be outraged if we don't win. We will still know that Gasso is the best.

Bingo!!!

 

[Speedy17]

Adjusted RPI Numbers this week

1. Oregon .72089
2. UCLA .70402
3. Florida .69569
4. Oklahoma .69399
5. Washington .68813
6. Florida State .68609
7. Arizona State .68051
8. Georgia .67848
9. Tennessee .67282
10. South Carolina .67037

Others
15. Baylor .63608
21. Oregon State .62124
28. Oklahoma St .60601
34. Texas .58929

 

[SoonerSpock]

Thanks Speedy for the lastest ARPI update. I also provided some links that provide more detail with regard to how those calculations are derived. The Nitty Gritty report breaks everything down by team by game location and record against RPI ranked quadrants. I also provided the team pages for the teams. Florida (page 3) and OU (page 4) shows their comparison in detail including all opponents and their RPI's.

When comparing Florida and OU the Sooners have a 0.02250 rpi point advantage in WP but also have a shortcoming of 0.02420 in OWP +OOWP giving the gators the 0.00170 ARPI advantage in the rankings.


https://extra.ncaa.org/solutions/rpi/Stats Library/SB Nitty Gritty thru April 29 2018.pdf

https://extra.ncaa.org/solutions/rpi/Stats Library/SB Team Sheets thru April 29 2018.pdf

 

[SoonerSpock]

OU practice video. Exposes Patty's way of doing things.

https://www.flosoftball.com/article...l-weekly-recap-do-you-believe-in-sooner-magic

 

[TulsaWorld]

NORMAN — May is here, which means there are many important moments coming soon for the Oklahoma softball team.

There’s a lot of work to do, plenty more games to play. Still, softball is a sport that does not shy away from emotion.

A three-game Bedlam series is about to begin, and it will mark the final regular-season home games for OU’s seniors. So, Tuesday at Marita Hynes Field was a day for emotion and reflection.

First up Tuesday were Paige Parker and Paige Lowary, the twin pillars of OU pitching staff and two major reasons No. 3 OU (44-3, 15-0 Big 12) just keeps winning.

Link

 

[SoonerSpock]

Missouri as a member to the SEC has taken RPI ranking to the next level. They bought out their contract to play a road doubleheader at Wichita State if an effort to insure they make the NCAA tournament.

The Missouri program is in total disarray and they continue to scramble for success.

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article210172709.html

 

[sybarite]

I think Sydney's grand slam was an indication of why she is a good hitter. Texas kept throwing the pitch on the inside corner (supposedly) at the knees and getting a call on it. Struck out several on it. Got ahead of several on it. If you hit it, it will just be a foul ball.

I think, although I'm not sure, that Sydney took advantage of that. When they got into the key pitch situation with the bases loaded, I think they came back to that inside pitch. It appeared that Sydney opened her stance as the pitch was delivered as though she were looking for that pitch. In so doing, she was essentially squared up as she hit it, meaning she could keep it fair. Since LHN has telecast the three games about four times since they were played, and I taped certain times of interest, I have looked at it several times. It appears that she was waiting on that pitch.

I'm not so sure that Shay didn't do the same thing on the home run that tied the finale 2-2. It didn't appear to be as much inside as the one that Sydney hit. But, it did look like she was expecting it and adjusted.

 

[scrybe]

I don't believe there's much doubt that's exactly what happened – in both cases.

 

[sybarite]

OK. We are stuck in a lightning delay. OU leads 8-0 with two out in the top of the fifth. Needed to get two quick outs, and wait for Friday. Paige has a no-hitter. Pendley, Flores, and Shay have home runs for six of the eight runs.

But, we may not even get to finish this game tonight. Lightning in the area.