Honest question: What type of ball is Simpson trying to throw when she keeps skipping the ball in the dirt? I always thought it was a rise. But my family said NO. No pitch starts that low!
It appears like OU may have a mental hill or two to climb before they reach their prior lofty heights.
I think she is trying to keep it low in the zone like Mike White likes for his pitchers do! But she can’t seem to control it. When she missed the strike zone it was way off the plate or a foot above the zone! It was the perfect time to let her test her stuff. I’ll say it again I think it is mental with her. Seems to have lost all confidence. She had a record of 8-4 her freshman year! Would love to see her make a come back but don’t think she’ll get many more opportunities this season!!
FYI, the tentative dates for post-season are: Big 12 tournament: May 8-11 NCAA Regionals: May 17-19 NCAA Super Regionals: May 23-26 WCWS: May 30 - June 7 Added: These were gathered off the OU and OK-State web pages as both those teams expect be in the WCWS every year. Texas just lists the Big 12 tournament.
What I liked about this series with Baylor: 1. Sweeping them. After last year's collapse cost us Super Regional hosting 2. Mike is putting the hot hitters at the front of the lineup 3. He's temporarily benching those hitters that are in a slump and not waiting for the next series to do so 4. HRs are coming back to life to this team 5. Mike is finally pulling pitchers when it's obvious they've run out of gas and not giving them, One. More. Inning. to prove themselves 6. When this team gets behind on runs, it has confidence they can generate points to catch up without desperation swings at the plate. I thought I saw some desperation swatting by Baylor this weekend 7. Mike's actually gone conservative on base running. Players bypassing his HOLD sign to score and players getting tagged out by going past the base Mike wanted them to hold on 8. Fewer fielding errors (overall) compared to our opponents 9. Seems the team is on the same page about getting ready for the post season. They don't seem to care about winning the Big 12, but more about winning the Super at home to get to the WCWS
Wonder how scrambled the rankings will be after this weekend (including mid-week): 1. Texas 4-0 2. OU 3-1 3. Duke 3-1 4. Tennessee 2-1 5. Oklahoma State 2-2 6. LSU 2-2 7. Stanford 3-1 8. Georgia 2-2 9. Florida 1-3 10. Washington 2-0 I hope I got this right. I usually mess up when it's a lit of multiple schools
It is amazing how when Texas Football is good most all the other sports are too. CP & CDC have done an amazing job building ALL Lady Sports on the Forty.
I agree with this list. However, while Mike is giving pitchers a shorter leash, it’s becoming a problem that most have short leashes. We need ones that can go the distance. Laly had a bad weekend. Simpson showed she’s still really prone to throw not even close to the zone (but I do think she can get there). Morgan was okay to good but not great. Our “amazing pitching depth” that was lauded at the beginning of the season is wavering a bit. That’s to be expected deeper into the season. But we need an ace - not sure who that is now. I do think we can get this sorted. Don’t want to overlook the remaining opponents though.
No disagreement there. To be fair, Cat said on the broadcast that later in the year, they have more film on pitchers and hitters are adjusting.
Nervous position to be in. Whenever we've popped up at #1, we knew in our hearts that OU would come roaring back. But with OU now looking mortal and the rest of the top 10 stumbling, maybe we'll be #1 for more than a week? Kansas, you'd better not do us dirty. I was thinking today that Mike White was the #1 seed in the tournament years ago.....and didn't even make it to the final. And then Mike White was unseeded and made it to the final. Stay humble team!
One game at a time. Prepare for the current opponent and execute the game plan with intensity and focus.
We take game 1 over Kansas 4-2. Morgan pitches the 6th and 7th and shuts them down Game 2 tomorrow at 2.
Notes from watching it on TV: 1. Has Kavan hit the freshman wall? Or as I stated elsewhere, lots of video for opponents to study. 2. But those balls totally out of strike zone at the start. Like she's rusty, but she's not 3. The commentators were fair, considering they are Kansas homers. But: 3a. When mentioning that Kavan has never played HS softball should have followed it up with "Because in Iowa, where she's from, HS softball starts playing in June" 3b. When they threw out the nugget (I never knew) that Kavan is a lefty and taught herself to throw with her right arm. Why? Argh! No followup!
Reese: Two brain farts, one resulting indirectly in a run. Reese: Two HRs resulting in 4 RBI Okay, fair trade.
I like the way Coach White allows his players to play into playing time. I love the way Katie Cimusz is taking advantage of all the opportunities given her. At this rate she will be at least first off the bench. Even the batting order is fluid. Ashton Maloney is now our leadoff, with a batting average that I believe leads the country. Because of this system, high school and transfer players want to play for Texas (at least I hope so)
What a Great throw out at second by Katie Stewart! She looked at third, stepped around the bat the hitter had stuck out and threw a perfect strike to Vivi to get the runner!! Wow!
I will confess to knowing little about the strategy in softball. This particular play showed me an interesting strategy. Kansas had the steal on for the player on first. The batter stands there in the bunting position with the bat held in place long after the ball was past her. It would seem that she stood there to block the catcher from making the throw to second. Is this common? It's the first time I've actually noticed it.
Had a discussion about that exact point with my wife as we were watching it. I asked if that would be considered obstruction. She said, "No. It's just rude!" (she used to play catcher). Just as it's okay to swing through a ball you don't want to hit in order to distract the catcher, I guess leaving your bat out there to block part of the view is fair game. But yes, I've never seen that either.
