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OT: NCAA Softball

Many of the teams that were in a must win situation today did in fact win and force another game. Gonna be a long, dramatic day of softball. Minnesota Regional may not ever end. Keep having delays, can't get the game between Georgia and Drake completed to determine who will face Minnesota. I think Michigan-James Madison has been delayed as well.
 
UCLA going down in the 5th to Missouri 3-1. Big upset if it holds.
 
DefenseBB said:
Wow, what a game with ND leading 4-0 into the bottom of the 7 and Wisconsin comes all the way back to win on a walk off 3 run home run with 2 outs! Unbelievable. And their reward? they get to play #1 Oklahoma tomorrow in Norman.
The softball wrap around coverage on the ESPN app is pretty good as is using all your devices to watch 3 games at once...How did ULL Ragin Cajuns not get a top 16 seed I think they were ranked #7 in the poll and were 50-4.
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That earns a happy Badger dance:
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
UCLA going down in the 5th to Missouri 3-1. Big upset if it holds.
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Missouri did indeed beat UCLA in the first game, but I think it pissed the Bruins off. 13-1 trip to the woodshed in the second game.
 
A few of the seeded teams had to come out of the losers bracket, but so far all of them have advanced. Minnesota and Michigan sites have both been postponed til tomorrow due to weather. Washington was struggling for a while with the bats but in the 5th they got a 2 run and a 3 run homer to blow the game wide open. I think Plain has a no hitter going still, she took one into the 6th in her last outing. Mississippi St. has 2 big home run hitters that have done nothing but strike out or pop out in 2 games against UW in the Regional (one of them hit 3 homers against Washington in an early season game). You'd think Mississippi St. would've decided to stop pitching to Morganne Flores at some point--she has 3 2 run homers against them in the 2 games. It's been pretty much automatic all during the Regional--if Sis Bates gets on base, Flores will bring her home.
 
Plain got her no hitter! Had one walk in the 2nd inning, just missed a perfect game. 8-0 Huskies win.
 
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Excellent day / weekend of softball watching, just wish we could have gone to the local games. Oh, well, we will get tix for the Supers and hope the Mrs. feels up to it.

As you say, all the seeded teams have advanced so far.
 
Roll Tide Roll. Wild game on Sunday, Arizona State did not want to go home. But Bama eked out the victory. Now they get to round up some steers!
 
nwhoopfan said:
Missouri did indeed beat UCLA in the first game, but I think it pissed the Bruins off. 13-1 trip to the woodshed in the second game.
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UCLA has quite a team including one of my daughter's high school teammates..............just to show how talented they are, she was a high school All American and all she does is pinch hit and play the outfield on occasion.........
 
Bama fan said:
Roll Tide Roll. Wild game on Sunday, Arizona State did not want to go home. But Bama eked out the victory. Now they get to round up some steers!
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I still don't understand why Bama was not a top 4 or 5 seed. I think their steamrolling to the SEC Regular Season title overrides their "soft" OOC Undefeated streak.
Plus to add insult to injury, the Committee setup them up for the 1/8 matchup in OKC.
I also think that Florida was rewarded for winning one game, the SEC Tournament title game, and not their overall season.
Oh well, it's not like other sports don't have Selection Committee issues every season...
 
TN has FL in the Supers coming up. TN sort of replicated the basketball team as they started out hot and cooled off a lot towards the end of the season. TN from early in the season would beat FL. Now, not so much. Of course FL struggled early in the year which normally isn't "their style".
IMHO, TN bows out quietly this week.
 
Even though there were a few upsets and nail biters for some of the top teams, as expected the top 16 seeds have risen to the top.

It is hard for teams not in the south or the west coast to break through. It has got to be a challenge to recruit kids to play in the midwest or northeast when the season starts in February. Trust me, playing softball in cold weather is not a whole lot of fun. Practicing in cold weather is even worse.
 
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Rixxx said:
TN has FL in the Supers coming up. TN sort of replicated the basketball team as they started out hot and cooled off a lot towards the end of the season. TN from early in the season would beat FL. Now, not so much. Of course FL struggled early in the year which normally isn't "their style".
IMHO, TN bows out quietly this week.
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If you follow the Softball thread on Volnation, they are almost as dissatisfied with their team as the WCBB team for many of the same reasons. Came pretty close to not surviving the regional. Main criticism seems to be on the offensive side of the ball against competent (not to mention star) pitching.
 
I am not familiar with the TN recruiting strategy, but to me, there are too many slappers in the lineup, as well as left handed hitters. Today, there is no homerun threat in the lineup like other teams. Their true homerun hitter has become less productive in the regionals, like the rest of the lineup, a point made above.
 
Bama fan said:
Roll Tide Roll. Wild game on Sunday, Arizona State did not want to go home. But Bama eked out the victory. Now they get to round up some steers!
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ASU acquitted themselves well in 2 games against Bama, but the Tide proved better in both match ups.
 
Respect takes a year or two to jell. And records will differ depending on your conference opponents.

The Cajuns have a great record this year...but didn't make it out of the Regional last year or the year before (couldn't get by LSU either year).

The Cajuns were 23-1 in conference in 2017, LSU was 12-12.

in 2018, LSU was 13-12 while the Cajuns were 21-6 in conference.
 
Over the weekend saw some great theatre
-walk off 3-run homer to eliminate ND (always a favorite of mine to occur)
-3 suicide squeezes and 1 safety squeeze. 2 against Oklahoma to win the 1st game for Wisconsin. The 3rd suicide to tie a game for Ole Miss. the next play was the safety squeeze which held the runner at 3rd.
-Oklahoma’s vaunted offense went MIA after the UMBC game and has to be worrisome for the Sooner faithful.
-Wash, Florida, FSU, Arizona all moved on easily
-Minor scares for UCLA, Ok and a few others.
All in all very enjoyable.
The next set of games could see upsets.
Can’t wait! :cool:
 
Minnesota is handling Georgia but James Madison either already did or is about to force a Game 7 against Michigan. I believe this year had tied a record (7) for number of Regionals that went to a deciding game 7, so that record is going to be broken.
 
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Rixxx said:
TN has FL in the Supers coming up. TN sort of replicated the basketball team as they started out hot and cooled off a lot towards the end of the season. TN from early in the season would beat FL. Now, not so much. Of course FL struggled early in the year which normally isn't "their style".
IMHO, TN bows out quietly this week.
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Florida's top pitcher, Kelly Barnhill, had a tougher than usual season. Lost , I think, 11 games. Early in the SEC season she had trouble , frequently getting called for illegal pitches. She tends to "fly" off the rubber and always has. But they called her repeatedly on it this year for awhile, but lately no calls . During the SEC tournament , the Bama pitcher was called two pitches in a row, and the announcers, who are neutral, commented that Barnhill had yet to be called once during the tournament. I have no idea what changed, perhaps some subtle alteration that is invisible to untrained eye of a lowly fan. But her pitching late in the year is what has put Florida back in the hunt. Bama beat them three times , at Florida. But Florida beat Bama once , by a score of 2-1, to win the SEC title. Not sure that is enough for them to jump Bama in the rankings, but I do not get a vote! Nor should I, so play on! :)
 
Barnhill has a tendency to leap and always has. Where she gets in trouble is when she replants before pitching so that she gets a second "push" before delivering the ball.

This tendency is exacerbated by her trying out for the US National Team over the summer. In international play leaping without dragging your foot is perfectly legal. I didn't see enough games early in the season to see if she was being called for leaping or for replanting.
 
Ozimoto said:
Barnhill has a tendency to leap and always has. Where she gets in trouble is when she replants before pitching so that she gets a second "push" before delivering the ball.

This tendency is exacerbated by her trying out for the US National Team over the summer. In international play leaping without dragging your foot is perfectly legal. I didn't see enough games early in the season to see if she was being called for leaping or for replanting.
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I do appreciate the distinction, but now she is not getting called for either, as the announcers were commenting upon. She is a great pitcher, and has earned her place in Florida softball lore. But she always flirts with "Illegal" so I wonder what changed? I really do not go for conspiracy theories such that "they hate Bama, or so and so" ,or "they all want Florida to advance", but something sure changed lately. There are pitches where she could get frequent flyer miles for hang time!
 
James Madison beat Michigan twice today to advance to the Supers! At #15 Mich. is the only seeded team that didn't advance.
 
Even though I still think that Michigan got scr*wed by the Selection Committee, I am glad that the Dukes won in the Ann Arbor region.
I have liked and followed both the softball and football teams for the last decade or so.
However, going to face UCLA for the Supers, well, this is one David vs. Goliath scenario.
 
nwhoopfan said:
James Madison beat Michigan twice today to advance to the Supers! At #15 Mich. is the only seeded team that didn't advance.
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Nothing at all against Michigan, but it is refreshing to see a lower ranked team advance. JMU pitcher struggled with a very tight strike zone by ump who is noted for it. But she got her bearings and had enough maturity to get through a bases loaded crisis in game six. Her joy in retiring the side was palpable! Sports can be so rewarding even if you are not a "homer".
 
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Ozimoto said:
Barnhill has a tendency to leap and always has. Where she gets in trouble is when she replants before pitching so that she gets a second "push" before delivering the ball.

This tendency is exacerbated by her trying out for the US National Team over the summer. In international play leaping without dragging your foot is perfectly legal. I didn't see enough games early in the season to see if she was being called for leaping or for replanting.
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I thought the purpose of leaping or crowhopping was to be able to plant and push off closer to the batter. Does this perhaps effect the JUGS gun as she has less distance to travel, hence maybe a higher speed? I thought pitchers over the weekend were bring it until I noticed no readings of 70+.
 
So 15 of 16 seeds made it through with 8 making it without a loss (minimal concerns) and 8 sustained a loss including the top 2 seeds Oklahoma and UCLA.
Not sure how to interpret if this means anything, probably not, but Oklahoma and it’s vaunted offense not scoring is a concern.
Pitching still wins and OK and UCLA have it in spades. The super regionals are now at the top 8 seeds so huge advantage for them.
Of the lower 8 teams, Kentucky looked good but they play a very good and hot Washington team. I think Wash still wins.
Ok State has the defending Champs FSU whose former top pitcher struggled a bit. This could be interesting but not sure Ok State is deep enough, I am staying with FSU.
I would like to see some upsets but not sure I would bet on any in this round.
Thoughts?
:)
 
Hoping LSU can pull off the upset this weekend vs Minnesota.
We have been to the World Series 3 times in the last 4 years and were one play away last year from knocking Florida state out.
 
The Slam Sisters of FSU just became the first team to hit four consecutive homers in a Regional.

It will take good pitching to hold them down.

In eight of their last nine games...they have scored 7 or more runs.

The Lady Noles scored 7 runs or more in 38 games this season.

And had an incredible 25 games called early on the mercy rule.
 
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When Oklahoma played FSU back in February in Clearwater...

The Nole gals hit five HRs in the game to pull away....the game could have gone either way...but ended 7-4 FSU.
 
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