Softball

Gasso had just praised her patience and unselfishness. The next post announced her entry into the portal just after I posted that she probably wouldnt go. That'l teach me.
 
I hate to be negative on any player but I won't necessarily miss Lopez. I thought all she threw was meatballs. I understand her ERA was really low, I don't understand how it was, but then again I only ever watched bedlam and then the playoffs. I'm really helping Vestal or one of the seems like 15 other pictures steps up next year, we are going to need some of the younger gals to grow up fast if we want to be at the same level again. I really hope Vestal does not transfer and hangs in there! I'm also hoping Hansen is healthy!
 
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Soonerguy06 said:
I hate to be negative on any player but I won't necessarily miss Lopez. I thought all she threw was meatballs. I understand her ERA was really low, I don't understand how it was, but then again I only ever watched bedlam and then the playoffs. I'm really helping Vestal or one of the seems like 15 other pictures steps up next year, we are going to need some of the younger gals to grow up fast if we want to be at the same level again. I really hope Vestal does not transfer and hangs in there! I'm also hoping Hansen is healthy!
Click to expand...

Lopez pitching game plan left one believing she was not the same pitcher as Juarez but her numbers indicate she was more effective than we tend to give her credit. She did throw only about 2/3 the inning of Juarez (117.2 vs 186.1) indicating Patty's preference but Lopez had the better era (1,25 vs 1,39). Also Juarez allowed 1 HR every 10.9 innings (17 total) and Lopez 1 every 23.5 innings (5 total).

The numbers say that Juarez served up more than twice as many meatballs as Lopez. Although Juarez (7) allowed about 20% fewer HR's/inning in the post season than Lopez (2).

https://stats.ncaa.org/team/522/stats?id=14800&year_stat_category_id=14661
 
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From Bill Haisten...

Within the span of a few months in 1999-2000, as the University of Oklahoma football program vaulted from an extended slump to having become the national champion, Bob Stoops’ pay zoomed from $625,000 to $1.4 million.

Stoops was the first coach in state history to command as much as $1 million for a year’s work. Nineteen years after Stoops got rich, the list of the state’s million-dollar coaches remains fairly short.

At OU, the Million Dollar Club also includes Jeff Capel, Lon Kruger, Sherri Coale, Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch (the Sooners’ new defensive coordinator who, at $1.4 million, is the first assistant coach in Oklahoma to get seven-digit dough).

...

Soon — as in the start of the 2019-20 fiscal year in July — there should be a new member of the Million Dollar Club.

In 2018-19, as she drove the OU softball team to 57 victories and another Women’s College World Series appearance, Patty Gasso’s guaranteed compensation was a few dollars shy of $1 million.

For 2019-20 — and only two years after she made $481,499 — she is positioned to crash through the $1 million ceiling.
Click to expand...
 
SoonerSpock said:
Lopez pitching game plan left one believing she was not the same pitcher as Juarez but her numbers indicate she was more effective than we tend to give her credit. She did throw only about 2/3 the inning of Juarez (117.2 vs 186.1) indicating Patty's preference but Lopez had the better era (1,25 vs 1,39). Also Juarez allowed 1 HR every 10.9 innings (17 total) and Lopez 1 every 23.5 innings (5 total).

The numbers say that Juarez served up more than twice as many meatballs as Lopez. Although Juarez (7) allowed about 20% fewer HR's/inning in the post season than Lopez (2).

https://stats.ncaa.org/team/522/stats?id=14800&year_stat_category_id=14661
Click to expand...

Spock,

There was a reason that Juarez pitched more than Lopez. Lopez feasted upon the weaker part of the schedule this year for that ERA. She was pedestrian against the top teams. Her stats against teams that made the NCAA tournament are as follows.

Lopez 42.2-IP ER-16 H-37 K-49 BB-11 ERA-2.62

Only once did Lopez go 7 innings in a game against this NCAA competition and that was a brilliantly pitched game against OSU in Stillwater.

Syracuse W 7 0-ER 1-H 12-K 2-BB
Charlotte W 5 0-ER 1-H 10-K 0-BB
*Kentucky W 5.1 1-ER 1-H 4-K 2-BB
FAU W 7 0-ER 0-H 13-K 3-BB
Hofstra W 2 0-ER 0-H 2-K 1-BB
*UCLA L 3.2 3-ER 6-H 6-K 1-BB
*Cal Fullerton 3.2 1-ER 2-H 6-K 1-BB
Oregon State W 6 3-ER 5-H 3-K 7-BB
McNeese 1 0-ER 0-H 1-K 0-BB
Grand Canyon W 5.1 0-ER 2-H 8-K 2-BB
UCSB W 5.2 0-ER 1-H 13-K 1-BB
Dartmouth W 4.2 0-ER 1-H 6-K 1-BB
CSUN 1 0-ER 0-H 0-K 0-BB
UNT W 5 0-ER 0-H 6-K 1-BB
*Texas Tech 1.2 3-ER 4-H 0-K 1-BB
*Tulsa 1.1 1-ER 4-H 1-K 0-BB
Utah W 3.1 3-ER 4-H 3-K 1-BB
Baylor W 5 0-ER 3-H 5-K 0-BB
Kansas W 7 0-ER 1-H 8-K 2-BB
Kansas 1 0-ER 0-H 1-K 1-BB
*Texas 4 1-ER 6-H 5-K 1-BB
Wichita State W 5 0-ER 2-H 7-K 0-BB
Iowa St W 4 2ER 6-H 7-K 0-BB
*OSU W 7 1-ER 2-H 9-K 0-BB
*UMBC 1 0-ER 0-H 3-K 0-BB
*Wisconsin 4.2 0-ER 2-H 6-K 1-BB
*Northwestern W 4.2 0-ER 2-H 5-K 2-BB
*Alabama W 4.1 2-ER 4-H 3-K 1-BB
*UCLA 1.1 3-ER 4-H 1-K 1-BB

*denotes NCAA tournament team
 
Speedy17 said:
Spock,

There was a reason that Juarez pitched more than Lopez. Lopez feasted upon the weaker part of the schedule this year for that ERA. She was pedestrian against the top teams. Her stats against teams that made the NCAA tournament are as follows.

Lopez 42.2-IP ER-16 H-37 K-49 BB-11 ERA-2.62

Only once did Lopez go 7 innings in a game against this NCAA competition and that was a brilliantly pitched game against OSU in Stillwater.

Syracuse W 7 0-ER 1-H 12-K 2-BB
Charlotte W 5 0-ER 1-H 10-K 0-BB
*Kentucky W 5.1 1-ER 1-H 4-K 2-BB
FAU W 7 0-ER 0-H 13-K 3-BB
Hofstra W 2 0-ER 0-H 2-K 1-BB
*UCLA L 3.2 3-ER 6-H 6-K 1-BB
*Cal Fullerton 3.2 1-ER 2-H 6-K 1-BB
Oregon State W 6 3-ER 5-H 3-K 7-BB
McNeese 1 0-ER 0-H 1-K 0-BB
Grand Canyon W 5.1 0-ER 2-H 8-K 2-BB
UCSB W 5.2 0-ER 1-H 13-K 1-BB
Dartmouth W 4.2 0-ER 1-H 6-K 1-BB
CSUN 1 0-ER 0-H 0-K 0-BB
UNT W 5 0-ER 0-H 6-K 1-BB
*Texas Tech 1.2 3-ER 4-H 0-K 1-BB
*Tulsa 1.1 1-ER 4-H 1-K 0-BB
Utah W 3.1 3-ER 4-H 3-K 1-BB
Baylor W 5 0-ER 3-H 5-K 0-BB
Kansas W 7 0-ER 1-H 8-K 2-BB
Kansas 1 0-ER 0-H 1-K 1-BB
*Texas 4 1-ER 6-H 5-K 1-BB
Wichita State W 5 0-ER 2-H 7-K 0-BB
Iowa St W 4 2ER 6-H 7-K 0-BB
*OSU W 7 1-ER 2-H 9-K 0-BB
*UMBC 1 0-ER 0-H 3-K 0-BB
*Wisconsin 4.2 0-ER 2-H 6-K 1-BB
*Northwestern W 4.2 0-ER 2-H 5-K 2-BB
*Alabama W 4.1 2-ER 4-H 3-K 1-BB
*UCLA 1.1 3-ER 4-H 1-K 1-BB

*denotes NCAA tournament team
Click to expand...

I wondered why her numbers were so good but anytime I watched her she didn't seem to back them up. Juarez was the better pitcher this year. I dreaded just having Lopez as our ace coming into this past season...hope she succeeds wherever she goes
 
Never said Lopez was anything but not as bad as many here think and she definitely did not give up the Big Fly or threw meatballs as implied. She was a legitimate day 2 pitcher that threw in every series for the season and maintained the numbers stated above while winning 19 and losing 1 game for the season. She had 4 conference wins and 5 wins against NCAA tournament teams. In those 9 games her era was 1.57. That is quality pitching period.

That is not doing a bad job as the #2 starter. She lost only 1 game period those are the facts. Would Patty have wanted her to throw more effectively? Absolutely. Whould Patty take a day 2 starter next year that goes 19-1 with 9 wins against conference and tournament teams? Unequivocally yes! Does she hope her day 2 starter next year is a stronger pitcher than Lopez? No doubt, as do I, but that is easier said than done. JMHO.
 
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SoonerSpock said:
Never said Lopez was anything but not as bad as many here think and she definitely did not give up the Big Fly or threw meatballs as implied. She was a legitimate day 2 pitcher that threw in every series for the season and maintained the numbers stated above while winning 19 and losing 1 game for the season. She had 4 conference wins and 5 wins against NCAA tournament teams. In those 9 games her era was 1.57. That is quality pitching period.

That is not doing a bad job as the #2 starter. She lost only 1 game period those are the facts. Would Patty have wanted her to throw more effectively? Absolutely. Whould Patty take a day 2 starter next year that goes 19-1 with 9 wins against conference and tournament teams? Unequivocally yes! Does she hope her day 2 starter next year is a stronger pitcher than Lopez? No doubt, as do I, but that is easier said than done. JMHO.
Click to expand...

She was 4-1 in 12 games against NCAA competition. She was 4-0 in conference play in in 12 games. The bottom line is that she did not pitch an enormous amount once the conference started.
 
“Very, very good,” Gasso said about Vestal. “I’m really excited about her future, and I think the greatest thing we could have ever done was that redshirt year that she got as a freshman. I think it’s going to help you quite a bit.”
Click to expand...
Patti Gasso on Vestal in an interview with James Hale posted on OUInsider (got an email from 247 Sports on this and an incoming QB prospect).
 
Speedy17 said:
She was 4-1 in 12 games against NCAA competition. She was 4-0 in conference play in in 12 games. The bottom line is that she did not pitch an enormous amount once the conference started.
Click to expand...

Lopez had appearances in only 7 conference games not 12 games. She beat Kentucky, Cal State Fullerton, OSU, Northwestern and Alabama. That is 5-1 against tourney teams by my count. She only beat OSU once but OSU was both a conference team and a tourney team.

She was 4-0 against conference opponents and 5-1 against tournament competition. However she only pitched 1 game against OSU and therefore had only 8 wins combined against conference and tourney competition combined.

I'm not trying to make her an ace just an effective day two starter that was 51-2 in her OU career. She does not deserve to be belittled for her performance in OU's pitching circle. She just was not what many dreamed she would be when she signed with U. That happens 40-50% of the time with top prospects. She had the win in the super-regional finals with a shutout and the win in the win or go home game against Alabama WCWS this. And as a freshman was the winning pitcher in relief against Florida in the 2017 championship game. All very significant wins.

It might be noted that 2012-2019 OU has had 5 pitchers as the #2 pitcher win more than 15 games. Lopez won 19 in 2019 and 18 in 2017 and was 51-3 for her career. Gascoigne won 16 in 2012 and 19 in 2013 she was 35-4 for her career and Lowary won 16 in 2017 but also had 11 saves and was 26-5 with 18 saves for her career. Neither Lopez or Cascoigne were used as a closer like Lowary.

https://stats.ncaa.org/player/index...layer_seq=1867297&year_stat_category_id=14661
 
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Got to agree with Spock about Lopez.

She wasn't our ace, as that title belonged to Juarez. But Mariah was a quality pitcher and a very effective No. 2 starter.

And she got better each season. Personally, I hate to see her go, though I'm very excited about Vestal and what she can conceivably bring to the table in 2020.
 
sybarite said:
Unsubstantiated rumor.
Click to expand...

There was talk after the Sooners series with Texas that she was going to transfer. However, she was always doing bullpens and traveling during the season. She was a big part of the program during the NCAA through the World Series. She certainly never acted like she was going to transfer.
 
Speedy17 said:
There was talk after the Sooners series with Texas that she was going to transfer. However, she was always doing bullpens and traveling during the season. She was a big part of the program during the NCAA through the World Series. She certainly never acted like she was going to transfer.
Click to expand...

she is the biggest reason lopez is likely leaving she has a great chance to be the #2 pitcher next season
 
Lopez has been a terrific Sooner. I hope she doesn't transfer.
 
I think Lopez has earned my respect and admiration, and I would support whatever she thinks is best for her.
 
sybarite said:
I think Lopez has earned my respect and admiration, and I would support whatever she thinks is best for her.
Click to expand...

Yes, of course. I just selfishly hope that she decides what is best for her is to remain in Norman.
 
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