Softball

No question Shay and Sidney were our offense leaders last year. But Patty is on record that Erin and Kady held this team together last year. What is you basis that Romero and Knighten are injured. There have only been six home game and I have been at Marita Hynes for all six.

They may have some injuries but watching swing, field and hit does it does not appear they are injured. My take on Shay is she is just not seeing the ball. She fooled frequently on pitches and I think she may be pressing. Sidney is not hitting the ball solid as frequently as last year and she was absolutely fooled on the 3rd strike the two time I have seen her K.

Also Patty's juggling of the lineup is not consist with them playing injured. Shay has hit in the 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 slot. Romero has hit in the 2, 3, 4 and 5 spot. That tells me Patty is switching things around looking for a combination that will string some hits together to score some runs.

No way either of us know if there is a leadership issue. Also it is not unusual for a top performer but not be a great team leader. It is not impossible, but difficult to expect a pair of sophomore to be the glue that holds a team together. For certain I hope there is not a leadership problem as that one is a tough one to fix.
 
SoonerSpock said:
No question Shay and Sidney were our offense leaders last year. But Patty is on record that Erin and Kady held this team together last year. What is you basis that Romero and Knighten are injured. There have only been six home game and I have been at Marita Hynes for all six.

They may have some injuries but watching swing, field and hit does it does not appear they are injured. My take on Shay is she is just not seeing the ball. She fooled frequently on pitches and I think she may be pressing. Sidney is not hitting the ball solid as frequently as last year and she was absolutely fooled on the 3rd strike the two time I have seen her K.

Also Patty's juggling of the lineup is not consist with them playing injured. Shay has hit in the 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 slot. Romero has hit in the 2, 3, 4 and 5 spot. That tells me Patty is switching things around looking for a combination that will string some hits together to score some runs.

No way either of us know if there is a leadership issue. Also it is not unusual for a top performer but not be a great team leader. It is not impossible, but difficult to expect a pair of sophomore to be the glue that holds a team together. For certain I hope there is not a leadership problem as that one is a tough one to fix.
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Sydney and Shay both had off-season injuries. Sydney got the final wrap off her wrist, in California, I think. If not mistaken, she had surgery on the wrist. Shay had knee injury and I believe that is why Patty pinch ran for her in the 10th the other night.
 
tycat947 said:
Sydney and Shay both had off-season injuries. Sydney got the final wrap off her wrist, in California, I think. If not mistaken, she had surgery on the wrist. Shay had knee injury and I believe that is why Patty pinch ran for her in the 10th the other night.
Click to expand...


I knew Sidney had off season surgery but my understanding is she is full go and while she is not hitting with the authority of last year her BA is only 20 points than last season.

I had not heard that Shay had a knee injury. Do you know what it was? A strain? Miniscus? Partial ACL. I had heard nothing about her condition. Perhaps we can get Speedy17 to give us an update. He has more inside info than anyone on this board.

I'll shoot him a PM and see if I can get a reply on their status.
 
While Sidney has her wrap off and has been medically cleared I still think she hasnt gottern her confidence to use the hand as she used to back. Sidney can hit with her leg injury but I doubt she can go full out. Hitting starts with the legs.
 
Don't think I have mentioned it and I checked back a few pages to confirm but Texas coach Connie Clark has hired Tripp MacKay as hitting coach for the whorns. I do not consider that as a positive for the Sooners. Tripp is an outstanding hitting coach and I think he was a big factor in OU hitting the ball with the power they did during his tenure at OU. The link follows:


http://www.texassports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1151&path=softball

His last four years as hitting coach the Sooners hit .361/102 HR's, #2 nationally, .319/94 HR's, #4, .335/90 HR's, #4 and .316/107 HR's, #2. Of course Lauren was on all four of those teams and Shelby was on three of them with distorts things somewhat.
 
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2B Clifton
3B Romero
CF Pendley
RF Aviu
1B Knighten
DP Taukeiaho
LF Hatfield
C Wodach
SS Arnold

SP Parker
 
They got a solo HR in the third. But, we got three in the fourth and six in the fifth to run-rule Omaha, 9-1.

Second game televised on FOXSportsSW.
 
Behind Lopez, OU run-ruled Omaha in the second game, 8-0. The bats came out in the second game.
 
Mississippi State beat #6 A&M, 5-2
#8 Washington beat #7 Minnesota, 3-2
#2 Auburn beat #12 LSU, 5-4
#14 Tennessee was run-ruled by South Carolina, 9-1 (6)
#15 Baylor beat #18 Louisiana Lafayette, 5-4
Tulsa beat #23 California, 4-0
Fresno State beat #25 BYU, 6-1
 
sybarite said:
Behind Lopez, OU run-ruled Omaha in the second game, 8-0. The bats came out in the second game.
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Saw on TV that Nicole Pendley hit another monster-shot in the second game. It's almost hard to believe that she didn't even play softball as a junior in high school in Rio Rancho. I was at a college baseball game out in Albuquerque in 2014 that was being played right next to where she was playing a softball state tourney game. She looked like the real deal that day on the diamond.

FWIW, her older sister, Shelby, isn't on the UNM coaching staff this year. I'm not sure what the situation was there. But at least it removed any temptation for Nicole to "come home" to the Albuquerque area.
 
Before we become dismissive of a team that we just run-ruled twice, Omaha last week went to #20 Utah and won 5-1. That's the same team that beat Tennessee, 3-0. Omaha also beat Stanford at Stanford a couple of weeks back. They are a better team than one that was just run-ruled twice.

Illinois-Chicago is a weak hitting team (one home run as a team in 18 games). But, they are #32 in ERA. Elaine Heflin (Sr) is 5-3, 1.57. Karissa Frazier (Soph) is 3-4, 1.17. Frazier has control issues, but seems to be difficult to hit.
 
After 3, OU leads Illinois-Chicago, 9-0. Lopez pitching.

Olmos pitches the fourth.
OU 16-0 after four.
 
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Maria Lopez last walked a hitter on February 18 when she walked two Houston batters. Since then, she has had five starts and one relief appearance, pitching 25.2 innings, striking out 32, and allowing only 15 hits and 6 earned runs, five of which came in the NCState start. Of the nine runs she has allowed this year, 7 are due to a solo home run and two three-run home runs.

If you will remember, this time last year, we were trying to find someone who threw strikes.

Found someone.

In 35 innings, she has walked 3 while striking out 39.

Mendes has pitched 4.2 innings and given up two walks, striking out 4. She has given up only one hit, a solo home run today.

Olmos has pitched 3 innings with one strikeout, no walks, three hits, no runs.

Mendes, however, may be demonstrating that we need her bat more than her pitching. She is 4 of 13 with a double. This weekend, she has been 3 of six with a double, a walk, a hit batter, and an RBI to go with three runs scored.
 
Of all the attributes of a pitcher, I like throwing strikes best. It may give up the occasional home run, but , on balance, it wins.
 
No question throwing strikes is key but in addition the pitcher needs to consistently stay ahead in the count to force the batter to hit her pitch.
 
Shay Knighten had a nice 4-game weekend at the plate ...

AB ... R ... H ... RBI
.3 .... 2 ... 2 ..... 1
.2 .... 1 ... 2 ..... 0
.2 .... 0 ... 0 ..... 1
.3 .... 2 ... 2 ..... 1

Six hits in 10 at-bats, and scored 6 runs in 4 games.
 
OU plays #5 Arizona and Long Beach State Tuesday. The wildcats are 9-1 their last 10 games losing only to #1 Florida State 0-1. They have allowed only 6 runs in those ten games that include 5 shutouts. They did sweep a 3 game series from Texas in those ten games allowing only 3 runs in the sweep.

It should be a great game but is not on TV. The game is in Long Beach, CA.
 
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