Softball

Officially, I think they have Arnold singling to right in the fifth. I'm not sure that it wasn't the second baseman that fielded it. In the bottom of the fifth, KU hit a fly down the right field line that was fielded by Pendley (who switches with Mendes on right-handed hitters). Announcers said that Mendes caught it as well as another in the sixth. Finally, they recognized that it had been Pendley. Pendley did get a triple to the right field wall in the sixth. Until that, hits had been grounders to deep infield.
 
This past week, the top ten teams in the rpi all suffered at least one loss. Several suffered two. It will be interesting to see the rpi this week. #10 LSU lost three straight to Mississippi, who we beat.
 
rpi after games of 4/16:
1. Florida: beat Florida, took two of three from Kentucky
2. Auburn: took two of three from Missouri
3. Arizona: lost two of three to Utah
4. Washington: took two of three from Oregon
5. Texas A&M: took two of three from Arkansas
6. UCLA: lost two of three to Oregon State
7. Oregon: lost two of three to Washington
8. Florida State: lost to Florida, split with South Carolina
9. Tennessee: took two from Alabama
10. Baylor: lost to Texas State
11. Minnesota: swept Northwestern
12. LSU: swept by Ole Miss
13. Oklahoma: swept Kansas
14. Alabama
15. Utah
16. Kentucky

The top ten was destroyed this week. But, OU moved up one?
 
sybarite said:
rpi after games of 4/16:
1. Florida: beat Florida, took two of three from Kentucky
2. Auburn: took two of three from Missouri
3. Arizona: lost two of three to Utah
4. Washington: took two of three from Oregon
5. Texas A&M: took two of three from Arkansas
6. UCLA: lost two of three to Oregon State
7. Oregon: lost two of three to Washington
8. Florida State: lost to Florida, split with South Carolina
9. Tennessee: took two from Alabama
10. Baylor: lost to Texas State
11. Minnesota: swept Northwestern
12. LSU: swept by Ole Miss
13. Oklahoma: swept Kansas
14. Alabama
15. Utah
16. Kentucky

The top ten was destroyed this week. But, OU moved up one?
Click to expand...

It's become increasingly obvious that the committee does not want OU in the Top 8 of the RPI and will do whatever is necessary to achieve its objective. The Sooners will likely host a regional (unless they fall apart down the stretch or in the Big 12 Tournament), but will have to play their Super Regional at a place like Baton Rouge, College Station, Knoxville, etc.).

Maybe one of our more knowledgeable posters can chime in and explain why a team like UCLA gets the 6-spot and OU is relegated to 13.
 
It still appears OU has an outside shot at hosting a super-regional despite still having to jump 5 teams in the rpi to get a hosting bid. But our strength of schedule playing in the Big 12 is definitely hurting the Sooners. Fortunately we get our only remaining ranked opponent #10 Baylor this weekend.

Obviously the first prerequisite is for OU to sweep #10 Baylor this weekend and win out the regular season plus the Big 12 tournament. It does appear based on remaining schedules that several teams in the #4-#12 slots will have several losses prior to the post season which should work to OU's advantage.

#12 LSU with 12 losses closes with series against #9 Tennessee, #28 Missouri and #22 South Carolina. It would be to OU advantage for Tennessee to win that series. Maybe even sweep the series. A 14-15 loss tiger team is not going to rank above an OU team with two conference championships.

#11 Minnesota has only 3 losses and close out their season against #44 Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and Purdue. Apt to win out. Difficult to jump unless they lose their conference tournament.

#10 Baylor with a sweep we would easily jump them and move up one spot.

#9 Tennessee closes the season with series against #12 LSU, #1 Florida, #5 A&M and #14 Alabama. Likely to lose 4-6 games. If so Sooner should jump the 9-11 loss Vols with both a conference and a tournament championship for the Sooners. Especially if we win out and are on a 27 game winning streak.

#8 FSU has series with #52 Louisville, #33 UNC, 1 game with #1 Florida and a series against #7 Oregon. Lose 3 of the last 4 and I think OU with its two championships has a slim shot at jumping a 6-7 loss FSU. However FSU's high poll rankings might work against the Sooners.

#7 Oregon has series against #3 Arizona, #42 Oregon State, #84 Stanford and #8 FSU. I can see another 4-5 loses as reasonable. Oregon is 2-4 over last 6 games and going 12-9 or 13-8 to close the season along with OU's championships the Sooners should jump the Ducks.

#6 UCLA already has 12 loses and with series against #17 Cal, #54 Stanford and #3 Arizona another 3-4 losses is very possible. Just cannot see a 15-16 loss UCLA staying ahead of a 7-8 loss OU with two conference championships.

#5 Texas A&M has series with #26 Georgia, #10 Tennessee, #16 Kentucky and a single game with #29 Louisiana Lafayette. 2-4 losses possible to close the season with 8-9 losses. Because of strength of schedule on the cusp regarding OU jumping them. 50/50 depending who they lose to? Preferably George and Lafayette.

#4 Washington already has 10 losses and have #17 Cal, #84 Stanford, #15 Utah, 2 games against #14 Alabama and single games against Seattle and UAB. 3-4 losses is very viable but another on the cusp team as to whether the Sooner could jump them despite their possibly losing 11 or 12 of their last 25.

As stated earlier OU needs to jump 5 of the 9 teams listed above and we cannot afford for any of them to win their conference championship. Also we do not know how these teams superior strength of schedule will work against the Sooners but realistically we can still host both a regional and a super-regional if the ball bounces just right.

Root for Florida, Arizona, Michigan and anyone not named FSU to win their conference tournaments.


http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/softball/d1/ncaa-womens-softball-rpi
 
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SoonerSpock said:
It still appears OU has an outside shot at hosting a super-regional despite still having to jump 5 teams in the rpi to get a hosting bid.

Obviously the first prerequisite is for OU to sweep #10 Baylor this weekend and win out the regular season plus the Big 12 tournament. It does appear based on remaining schedules that several teams in the #4-#12 slots will have multiple losses prior to the post season which we work to OU's advantage.

#12 LSU with 12 loses closes and series against Tennessee, Missouri and South Carolina. It would be to OU advantage for Tennessee to win that series. Maybe even sweep the series. A 14-15 loss tiger team is not going to rank above an OU team with two conference championships.

#11 Minnesota has only 3 losses and close out their season against Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and Purdue. Apt to win out difficult to jump unless they lose their conference tournament.

#10 Baylor with a sweep we easily jump them and move up one spot.

#9 Tennessee closes the season with series against LSU, Florida, A&M and Alabama. Likely to lose 4-6 games. If so Sooner should jump the 9-11 loss Vols with both a conference and a tournament championship for the Sooners. Especially if we win out and are on a 27 game winning streak.

#8 FSU has series with Louisville, UNC, 1 game with Florida and a series against Oregon. Lose 3 of the last 4 and I think OU with its two championships has a slim shot at jumping a 6-7 loss FSU. However FSU's high poll rankings might work against the Sooners.

#7 Oregon has series against Arizona, Oregon State, Stanford and FSU. I can see another 4-5 loses as reasonable. Oregon is 2-4 over last 6 games and going 12-9 or 13-8 to close the season along with OU's championships the Sooners should jump the Ducks

#6 UCLA already has 12 loses and with series against Cal, Stanford and Arizona another 3-4 losses is very possible. Just cannot see a 15-16 loss UCLA staying ahead of a 7-8 loss OU with two conference championships.

#4 Washington already has 10 losses and have #17 Cal, Stanford, #15 Utah, 2 games against #14 Alabama and single games against Seattle and UAB. 3-4 losses is very viable but still on the cusp whether the Sooner could jump them despite their possibly losing 11 or 12 of their last 25.

As stated earlier OU needs to jump 5 of the 8 teams listed above and we cannot afford for any of them to win their conference championship. But realistically we can still host both a regional and a super-regional. Slim but a shot!

Root for Florida, Arizona, Michigan and anyone not named FSU to win their conference tournaments.
Click to expand...

One would tend to think that (the bolded part) is the case. However, last year the poll rankings had absolutely no bearing on the RPI rankings going into the NCAA tournament. The #1-8 teams in RPI were seeded #1-8 in the tournament.
 
scrybe said:
One would tend to think that (the bolded part) is the case. However, last year the poll rankings had absolutely no bearing on the RPI rankings going into the NCAA tournament. The #1-8 teams in RPI were seeded #1-8 in the tournament.
Click to expand...

I totally agree that based on strength of schedule and RPI ranking OU jumping A&M and FSU probably will not happen because they would have a similar #of losses and a much stronger strength of schedule.

Washington and UCLA, on the other hand, could have a significantly larger number of losses than the Sooner and I can easily see the Sooners leapfrogging them. Also can see Oregon going to the wayside if they finish 12-9/13-8 as at 57% winning percentage over you last 21 games does not warrant hosting a super-regional regardless of strength of schedule. Especially if the Sooners have won 27 straight or gone 26-1.

Add Washington, UCLA, Oregon to two from the list of Baylor, LSU and Tennessee and the Sooners get to be the host. My fingers are crossed as I think hosting a super-regional is key #1 to qualifying for the WCWS.
 
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http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/softball/bracketology

This projection has OU as a #6 seed. I doubt it.

I don't think Florida State has a very strong schedule. The ACC is weaker than the Big Twelve.

https://extra.ncaa.org/solutions/rpi/Stats Library/SB Team Sheets thru 4_16_2017.pdf

I will be somewhat surprised if we host a Super-Regional. I don't see how we are going to overcome the SEC's advantage. Curiously, we beat teams that are now doing well in the SEC: Ole Miss, Mississippi State. Arkansas just took one from A&M and gave away another to A&M. Ole Miss swept LSU which is still above us?

But, I don't know that I am that concerned about where we play. If we had to go play Florida on their home field, that wouldn't be fun. But, our disadvantage when we went to Alabama a couple of years ago was that we couldn't hit Osorio---anywhere. We have won three of five against her. But, she has shut us down four times for three or fewer hits. We simply didn't have the pitching depth to replace Parker after she had pitched a regional, and she gave up a home run to Runyon to lose the Supers. Last year, we faced them twice, got two and three hits, and won both with Shay's home runs, both walk-offs. Paige allowed seven to her five, but zero runs. If we had to go play at Bama, e.g., we could do as we did against Auburn---rest Paige. But, we would have a good shot at a win with Paige Lowary or Maria Lopez on the mound. Depth changes things. I think Florida and Oklahoma have the pitching depth to win.

Washington, Minnesota, and Arizona have an outstanding pitcher. Can one pitcher do it?
 
I to doubt if we get to host a super-regional as a lot of things would have to fall right. But several ranked above us has very difficult schedule so anything can happen. I too like our pitching depth but when playing top teams with outstanding pitching I become concerned about the OU pitching staffs' propensity to surrender home runs.

Did an analysis of the home runs allowed by the top 8 teams in ESPN poll where OU is ranked #8. Florida has allowed the fewest HR's with only 2 allowed for the season, followed by Minnesota with 6, A&M 7, Oregon 10, Arizona 11, FSU 11, Auburn 12 and OU 27. That is 225% as many home runs as Auburn the next highest team has allowed. Parker herself has allowed 17 HR's or 142% more than has Auburn and more home runs than the Florida, Minnesota and A&M's pitching staffs have allowed combined. Parker again allowed 4 runs (40% series total) off of home runs against Kansas Friday.

The pitching staff has allowed 85 runs for the season, 71 earned. 39 (46%) of the 85 runs scored on the Sooners are off of home runs. 35 (49%) are earned runs. OU pitchers' home runs allowed per innings pitched are Lopez 1/24.0, Lowary 1/13.1, Mendez 1/8.2 and Parker 1/7.1. PP is having greatest difficulty in limiting home runs allowed. Not a good stat for your ace.

Going into post season play it is imperative we quit allowing home runs at the rate we have been. As was illustrated Syb's post above the winner of the last 3 games against Alabama was determined by late home runs which is not uncommon when playing really good team in the post season.
 
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NCAA Article
College softball: 7 stadiums you need to visit
http://www.ncaa.com/news/softball/article/2017-04-17/college-softball-7-stadiums-you-need-visit

LSU is also at the top of lists for the best college baseball stadium. As a college sports fan, I admire the fan support that LSU gets for sports like baseball. Alex Box Stadium seats 10,326 and is Sold-Out for the season. I have a friend that works in the LSU athletic department, and he says that baseball is a "tough ticket" even compared to football. They also draw significant crowds to gymnastic meets. On the other hand, LSU fan support for men's and women's basketball is no better than what we have at Oklahoma. It is actually worse.

Alex Box Stadium
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=177194
 
If you look at the ancillary sports Alabama probably has better attendance than LSU except for baseball. The average better than 12,000 for gymnastics (LSU 10K). They average better than 3,000 (LSU 1.8K) for softball and have had 4,000. They average about 1,200 for volleyball.

However if you look at all women's sports SEC attendance is far greater than any of the other power 5 conferences. Their are individual sports exceptions like Utah always leads in women's gymnastics attendance averaging better than 15,000.

http://www.rolltide.com/news/2016/5/6/Alabama_Gymnastics_Among_Women_s_Attendance_Leaders_Again.aspx
 
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scrybe said:
It's become increasingly obvious that the committee does not want OU in the Top 8 of the RPI and will do whatever is necessary to achieve its objective. The Sooners will likely host a regional (unless they fall apart down the stretch or in the Big 12 Tournament), but will have to play their Super Regional at a place like Baton Rouge, College Station, Knoxville, etc.).

Maybe one of our more knowledgeable posters can chime in and explain why a team like UCLA gets the 6-spot and OU is relegated to 13.
Click to expand...

the rpi is based on math ... not any committee
 
SoonerSpock said:
If you look at the ancillary sports Alabama probably has better attendance than LSU except for baseball. The average better than 12,000 for gymnastics (LSU 10K). They average better than 3,000 (LSU 1.8K) for softball and have had 4,000. They average about 1,200 for volleyball.

However if you look at all women's sports SEC attendance is far greater than any of the other power 5 conferences. Their are individual sports exceptions like Utah always leads in women's gymnastics attendance averaging better than 15,000.
Click to expand...

I am blown away by those fan bases that support "minor sports" like that. Good for them! Good for their student-athletes also. That kind of home court environment has to add a great deal to the fun-factor of being a student athlete.

Sadly, I am a typical OU fan, as I do not go to events other than football and basketball. I plan to change. Heck, I may find some of these events fun and interesting, unlike wasting lazy hours watching what's on television.
 
After retiring to the lake for a few years I moved to Norman where I could go to multiple OU events including plays, speakers, continuous ed events and about 100 sporting events/year in all sports. Love to watch kids compete so it is a blast. We have some up believable coaches coaching secondary sports.

You do get see some amazing accomplishments. K.J. Kindler takes over the OU WG job and starts winning conference championships almost immediately just as she had done at ISU. She continues to elevate the program to having point of having 7 top 3 finishes and 3 national championships while competing against primarily the SEC that has 3 schools win 10 national championships in the last 13 years and have 4 teams that averaged better 7,432 in attendance.

SEC's top schools also have superior gymnastic facilities to the Sooners. Kindler gets better results with lessor facilities and less support although it is getting a lot better. Obviously she can recruit and she can coach. Amazing!

Nor should we forget Mark Williams and his men's gymnastics team which will win its 3rd straight national championship and his 8th this weekend. In 18 seasons (2000-2017) he will have 8 national championships, 7 runner up finishes, 2 thirds and a fourth.

When it comes to softball nothing needs to be said but Patty, Patty, Patty. She has won more national championships than the top softball conference (SEC) has won in the history of their conference.

http://www.rolltide.com/news/2016/5/6/Alabama_Gymnastics_Among_Women_s_Attendance_Leaders_Again.aspx

http://www.rolltide.com/news/2016/5/6/Alabama_Gymnastics_Among_Women_s_Attendance_Leaders_Again.aspx

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208803559

http://www.rolltide.com/news/2016/5/6/Alabama_Gymnastics_Among_Women_s_Attendance_Leaders_Again.aspx
 
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SoonerSpock said:
After retiring to the lake for a few years I moved to Norman where I could go to multiple OU events including plays, speakers, continuous ed events and about 100 sporting events/year in all sports. Love to watch kids compete so it is a blast. We have some up believable coaches coaching secondary sports.

You do get see some amazing accomplishments. K.J. Kindler takes over the OU WG job and starts winning conference championships almost immediately just as she had done at ISU. She continues to elevate the program to having point of having 7 top 3 finishes and 3 national championships while competing against primarily the SEC that has 3 schools win 10 national championships in the last 13 years and have 4 teams that averaged better 7,432 in attendance.

SEC's top schools also have superior gymnastic facilities to the Sooners. Kindler gets better results with lessor facilities and less support although it is getting a lot better. Obviously she can recruit and she can coach. Amazing!

Nor should we forget Mark Williams and his men's gymnastics team which will win its 3rd straight national championship and his 8th this weekend. In 18 seasons (2000-2017) he will have 8 national championships, 7 runner up finishes, 2 thirds and a fourth.

When it comes to softball nothing needs to be said but Patty, Patty, Patty. She has won more national championships than the top softball conference (SEC) has won in the history of their conference.

http://www.rolltide.com/news/2016/5/6/Alabama_Gymnastics_Among_Women_s_Attendance_Leaders_Again.aspx

http://www.rolltide.com/news/2016/5/6/Alabama_Gymnastics_Among_Women_s_Attendance_Leaders_Again.aspx

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208803559

http://www.rolltide.com/news/2016/5/6/Alabama_Gymnastics_Among_Women_s_Attendance_Leaders_Again.aspx
Click to expand...

She has won as many, but not more. Fla has 2 and Bama 1. Hopefully, after this year she will though! :dance005:
 
Auburn had 3 players arrested and suspended for possession of marijuana today. One was a top pitcher who started the national title game vs. OU, Makayla Martin. Another was their starting shortstop, Haley Fagan who had a run in with Tim Walton. The third was a back up outfielder Brittany Marissette. Of course, this comes on the heels of Corey Myers, the associate head coach and son of the coach, resigning three weeks ago. It will be interesting to see how Auburn reacts.
 
Speedy17 said:
Auburn had 3 players arrested and suspended for possession of marijuana today. One was a top pitcher who started the national title game vs. OU, Makayla Martin. Another was their starting shortstop, Haley Fagan who had a run in with Tim Walton. The third was a back up outfielder Brittany Marissette. Of course, this comes on the heels of Corey Myers, the associate head coach and son of the coach, resigning three weeks ago. It will be interesting to see how Auburn reacts.
Click to expand...
I think Martin was the one who beat us this year.
 
Speedy17 said:
Auburn had 3 players arrested and suspended for possession of marijuana today. One was a top pitcher who started the national title game vs. OU, Makayla Martin. Another was their starting shortstop, Haley Fagan who had a run in with Tim Walton. The third was a back up outfielder Brittany Marissette. Of course, this comes on the heels of Corey Myers, the associate head coach and son of the coach, resigning three weeks ago. It will be interesting to see how Auburn reacts.
Click to expand...

Wow! You don't normally hear of these kinds allegations against women collegiate players. Wonder how long they will be suspended? Yes, Martin is the one who pitched against us in Mexico earlier this year and I think their #1 pitcher so I'd assume she will be suspended the least possible.

Auburn appears to be a "win at all costs" school. Changing football coaches every couple of years, hiring Myers from ASU, hiring Sonny Golloway, Bruce Pearl, etc. It's amazing all the hiring and firing they do consistently! Wonder if Myers will get the boot now???
 
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