The first game against SD, whew! I wondered if this would be one of those games, like vs. Texas State, where our bats went quiet because we ran into the wrong pitcher. I kept telling myself that the Texas hits start coming against these tough pitchers when the players come up for the 2nd or 3rd time at the plate. And just when I thought I this would be the one pitcher that had the Texas player's number, they exploded with hits and runs in the 6th. Whew! If opposing coaches were smarter, they would know to pull a successful pitcher after the 2nd time through the Texas lineup. But I know that's a luxury - plus they had to turn around and play the second game of a double-header.
During a timeout in today's game against UTA, I had a chance to ask Coach Barlett a question: "Hey Coach! If you were still at Ball State, would you have to spend all your time in the touring the South just to play ball? "Oh yeah" "So you don't miss it do you?" She smiled broadly. "Nope, I like this. And I don't miss Sunday 3:00 in the morning plane flights"
We've reached the same point last year where all games were stopped at 27 games for Texas. Here's the offensive comparisons for the last 4 years at this point:
Not related to this season but I saw this watching reports for other sports. Cool to see Bekah continuing to be an athlete at UT! Can’t get image uploaded but she threw discus today against A&M.
Who watched the 2nd game against Iowa State today? Whew. TWO home runs for Jenae? What funky universe are we living in now? Love it. Once again, I'm yelling at the TV, "Pull her Mike! Pull her!!!" (your pitcher may vary) That 6th inning. Gah! I will say that it was none of the players' fault. Mike must have told Corona to go home from 3rd. And Mike MUST have told Ellsworth to bunt? Aye-yay-yay! Did you see Jenae laughing at her first home run? Not believing it would clear the fence?
She is injured. She collided with a player during practice and has been on crutches for about 1-2 weeks. Not sure how serious her injury is or when she will be back but hopefully it's by next week. We need her vs OU. She was really starting to solidify her spot in the lineup and is a great outfielder as well.
She sustained a fracture and is out for a predicted 12 weeks. In other words, not available to return this season. [Popelka and Carlee Ratliff ran into each other]
Another dominating performance...10-0 run-rule. 4 HRs. Is there anybody who can post clips of this team's potent offense? Or better yet, YouTube the game?
Shay has looked more dominant in the second game in the Tech and Iowa State series. She looked like she had something to prove! Just keep it up girl!
How awesome is it that Parker has become such a reliable offensive option that she’s batting 3rd (today)? Love that growth, development, and that grind it out mentality!
I think it was 3 HRs today: Iakopo, Sully, & Parker If you just go to youtube and type in "Texas Softball 2021" the first 2 Iowa State games show up. You just have to wait until probably tomorrow to see today's game.
Ticket City has a few. I've used them for concerts and sporting events for a long time. Found them to be very reliable and reasonable. Their website has a seating chart with seats & prices listed.
You can buy tickets at the box office at the stadium the day of the game. I would just recommend getting there early to ensure you get tickets
Looks like someone is uploading it now and Game 3 should be available in a bit or by the time you read this.
There was a Longhorn Foundation-only 1-1 zoom meeting with Mike White held today. But to be honest, it was a meeting with a Foundation staff member interviewing Mike in the new training facility. We were asked to submit questions, which I did but they never got to. The first 25 minutes was pitching 101 where the staff member asked Mike to give us an overview of what you teach on pitching. Sheesh, that went on for a long time. But, as a non-athlete who certainly never pitched softball, I was amazed at all the stuff that goes into pitching. Then, she started reading some questions that may or may not have come from pre-submitted questions. The thing I remember most was when Mike was asked, "Would like to see some improvements to the facility?" Mike answered, of course. And these are the 3 things on his wish list: 1. More seating and in that vein lowering the seats to be closer to field level 2. Actual seats instead of benches (yay!) 3. A roof. He said that besides the obvious sun shade for the fans, the noise that a cover generates as cheers go bouncing off the roof can be very intimidating. He mentioned Oregon's stadium directly as an example. A few more questions. And then when the host asked him to show the walk out to the field through the bullpen, the Zoom call lost connection and that was it.
Oh one more thing. When asked how he got into coaching, he said that he was contracted to pitch against the US Women's National Team while they were training in Hawaii. He took it because it was going to be a paid vacation in Hawaii. Then one of the coaches on that team, Ralph Weekly (co-head coach at Tennessee) took him aside and told him he should really consider going into coaching. Mike pondered on that suggestion for a year before getting into coaching (he had a private business before then)
Going to be a tough weekend. Hope we can take at least one of the three. Not sure we have strong enough pitching though?
Yes but they also have a really good softball team too. I just beleive we also are really good team. Nothing that happens this weekend will change that. Our pitching will continue to improve as the season goes. I trust Coach White and his history with pitchers. Cup isnt as bare as some think...Hookem
