Softball vs. ole miss game 3

[OlderWhiskey 953]

11 hours ago, WarTiger said:

Lot's of speculation in this post but that bolded part just doesn't wash.   I guarantee you Dean was not looking at this as accepting a reduced chance of winning to get a player experience.   To me, that's just completely ridiculous.   Dean expects his offense to score every game.  We lost game 3 because we couldn't get the big hit when we had opportunities to score. 

OK, do we have a better chance of winning with Carlson pitching, or with Harris pitching?  If you say Carlson, then we have established that Dean accepted a reduced chance of winning.  Now, why did he do that?  

[AU64 10,122]

31 minutes ago, OlderWhiskey said:

OK, do we have a better chance of winning with Carlson pitching, or with Harris pitching?  If you say Carlson, then we have established that Dean accepted a reduced chance of winning.  Now, why did he do that?  

Good question.....Can't pitch Carlson all the time but when a game is on the line and the pitcher in the circle has given up a bunch of hits already......I'm still thinking that you go with a different look....  CMD has me wondering sometime.  

I'm glad we got him and think he will do well for AU but I still wonder about his game day coaching decisions....kinda like CBT.

[WarTiger 3,901]

43 minutes ago, OlderWhiskey said:

OK, do we have a better chance of winning with Carlson pitching, or with Harris pitching?  If you say Carlson, then we have established that Dean accepted a reduced chance of winning.  Now, why did he do that?  

If we are hitting the ball like we are capable of 1-9 in the order, it doesn't matter who is in the circle.

[wildling 35]

Starting Harris is ok, but Swindle is not SEC material imo, with a career .284 BA against vs mostly weak competition (to her credit she gives up very few free passes).

And Amanda Roth isn't exactly Kasey Cooper up there, that was her third HR of the year. If you walk her, they could steal 2nd and be one hit away from winning the game.

[OlderWhiskey 953]

4 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Good question.....Can't pitch Carlson all the time but when a game is on the line and the pitcher in the circle has given up a bunch of hits already......I'm still thinking that you go with a different look....  CMD has me wondering sometime.  

I'm glad we got him and think he will do well for AU but I still wonder about his game day coaching decisions....kinda like CBT.

I have pretty much the same attitude.  Game management seems to need work.  I'm still appalled that he pitched to Amanda Doyle in bot 14.  Of course, he had Megan Good for the past three years.  She could probably strike out any given batter on demand, if the situation required it.  He may not be accustomed to thinking about things like not pitching to somebody. 

[OlderWhiskey 953]

11 minutes ago, WarTiger said:

If we are hitting the ball like we are capable of 1-9 in the order, it doesn't matter who is in the circle.

How do you define "what we are capable of" ?  We're currently hitting .202 in the conference, compared to our opponents' .241.  I think you have to live with and plan for that reality, until it changes.  Or maybe if you're the HC, you can make it change.  I think that's what we're all hoping for.  I do believe we're improving.  McCrackin is hitting an incredible .368 in conference play.  That's over 100 points better than anyone else.  And I think Tannon Snow is actually hitting better in conference play than she was earlier.

I've heard Tennessee fans complaining about their pitching.  Maybe we'll have success against them this weekend

[saminbama 740]

1 hour ago, OlderWhiskey said:

OK, do we have a better chance of winning with Carlson pitching, or with Harris pitching?  If you say Carlson, then we have established that Dean accepted a reduced chance of winning.  Now, why did he do that?  

Starting Harris wasn't necessarily accepting a reduced chance of winning.  Number one, she's a left-hander and starting her shows something different to opposing teams.  She looks like she can throw her changeup for a strike any time she wants.   But.... she isn't ready for the SEC as a full time starter.  She needs a year to get stronger.    She only throws in the low 60's and she can make through the order one time.  It's the second time through the order when teams have a chance to adjust where she starts getting hit.  It happened against UK and OM.  UK's coach even talked about adjusting to her speed in the on field interview.  Bringing in Swindle was ok as well, but again, she's not a SEC caliber pitcher either.  She can go through the order once.  It was the second time through the order where she gave up the dinger.  So our 2 underclassman could have given us maybe 5 innings.  That's when one of our 2 top pitchers should have been used.  One or both of these underclassmen will be needed next year because Carlson will be gone, but they need to be used sparingly and at the right time until they get to be SEC caliber.    But, bottom line, we have to hit and we're not.

[WarTiger 3,901]

1 hour ago, OlderWhiskey said:

How do you define "what we are capable of" ?  We're currently hitting .202 in the conference, compared to our opponents' .241.  I think you have to live with and plan for that reality, until it changes.  Or maybe if you're the HC, you can make it change.  I think that's what we're all hoping for.  I do believe we're improving.  McCrackin is hitting an incredible .368 in conference play.  That's over 100 points better than anyone else.  And I think Tannon Snow is actually hitting better in conference play than she was earlier.

I've heard Tennessee fans complaining about their pitching.  Maybe we'll have success against them this weekend

You just proved my point.     Look at our losses this year:

Harris - wisconsin
2 innings. 1 hit.  19 pitches/16 strikes

Martin - Long Beach State  LOB 8

Martin - LSU game 1 14 innings pitched 6 2/3.  LOB 10

Harris - LSU game 2  winning run score on obstruction call
Harris threw 55 pitches, 37 strikes (ON THE ROAD)

Martin - 5 hits 1 run
Lost 1-0

Carlson - uat.  7 IP
Au left 9 on base.  getting only 1 hit and 7 walks.

Swindle - ole miss  
Harris 42 pitches 29 strikes
Swindle 60 pitches, 41 strikes

ALL of our pitching including Harris and Swindle have kept us in absolutely every single game all season.   The ones we've lost, have been because of the lack of hitting and has absolutely NOTHING to do with who's been in the circle.   Again, it's completely FOOLISH to think Dean accepted a reduced chance of winning by who he started in the circle yesterday.   He has confidence in all of the pitching staff or they wouldn't be on the field.  Pitching hasn't been why we've lost any game this year.   Besides all that, I trust his judgement far more than I trust yours. 

 

[AU64 10,122]

22 minutes ago, WarTiger said:

Swindle - ole miss  
Harris 42 pitches 29 strikes
Swindle 60 pitches, 41 strikes

You failed to mention ...Swindle...faced 22 batters and gave  up 8 hits......and one strike out....it's not just about throwing strikes.  She was fooling nobody

[TXaubie 566]

On April 1, 2018 at 3:13 PM, Mikey said:

Softball coaches do some things I don't understand. Softball is different from baseball in more ways than what it appears. Since pitch count doesn't matter, I'd have started one of my two aces in this game.

Another for instance: In that last game vs. UAT that AU won, the bammer coach Murphy did some things that, had he been AU's coach, I'd have accused him of being paid to lose the game. But whatever, on to bigger and better things. War Eagle!

 As far as I'm concerned, I hope they never forget he won the natty. Without that there is no way that dude still has a job. 

[AUBwins 10,074]

We really need Taylon back. She is the consistent piece that can keep a rally going. 

[OlderWhiskey 953]

13 hours ago, WarTiger said:

ALL of our pitching including Harris and Swindle have kept us in absolutely every single game all season.   The ones we've lost, have been because of the lack of hitting and has absolutely NOTHING to do with who's been in the circle.   Again, it's completely FOOLISH to think Dean accepted a reduced chance of winning by who he started in the circle yesterday.   He has confidence in all of the pitching staff or they wouldn't be on the field.  Pitching hasn't been why we've lost any game this year.   Besides all that, I trust his judgement far more than I trust yours. 

 

Wow!  I seem to have excited an argumentative gene all over by using the phrase "reduced chance of winning".  And before I go any further, let me say that I totally agree with your assertion that our losses have come because of our lack of hitting.  Pitching is the strong point of this team.  I have never said otherwise.  And I certainly hope Dean's judgment is better than mine.  Those things said, I adamantly maintain that Dean accepted a reduced chance of winning by pitching Harris and Swindle.  (which I supported, in case you forgot)  There is nothing wrong with this, and coaches across the country do it all the time.   If this weren't true, Dean could just walk into the dugout on game day and ask, "Who wants to pitch today?"   But he doesn't do that.  He pitches Carlson and Martin the most, because they give us the best chance of winning.  Pitching anyone else gives us a reduced chance, compared to those two.  It's blatantly obvious to me.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[autan 737]

5 hours ago, AUBwins said:

We really need Taylon back. She is the consistent piece that can keep a rally going. 

 I know most of you are high on Dowell but we need Taylon.  Also need to get KK back in the lineup somewhere especially if Taylon can't go.  Not sure about her defense but Jenna O has some power.  Can we give her a shot in LF? Need more punch for sure.

[OlderWhiskey 953]

Totally with you about Taylon.  Glad we have Makenna, so we don't suffer at short, and Taylon can get completely healed; but the length of Taylon's absence is beginning to concern me.  A simple pulled muscle should have healed by now.

[saminbama 740]

This shocks me.  I know we aren't hitting much, but wow!!  May be time to shake things up.  I know the early discussion was that Tannon wouldn't play defense and I assume it was a medical reason, but we need more pop.   Watching the Ole Miss slappers, they concentrated on slapping the ball down to get the high hop.  If Vic did that, she would be halfway to the foul pole before the ball reached first.

 (SEC GAMES ONLY)

Team batting average: .202

Home runs: 7

Players: Casey McCrackin .368, Taylon Snow .261 (6 games), Alyssa Rivera .257, Tannon Snow .233, Courtney Shea .220, Victoria Draper .178, Morgan Podany .148, Kendall Veach .147, Justus Perry .091.

Home run leaders: Rivera 3, McCrackin 2, Tannon Snow 1, Courtney Shea 1.

Runs: 29 (2.4 per game)

Runs scored in SEC games: 2,5,3,6,1,3,2,3,0,0,2,2.

[AU64 10,122]

The hitting coach was the guy who left at the last minute and went to Louisiana wasn't he?  looks like we did not get over that coaching loss.    Though timely hitting is as much a problem as the averages themselves.....leaving runners on base which we sure can't afford to do. 

[OlderWhiskey 953]

Tony Baldwin is the hitting coach at Georgia, who just laid waste to UT's pitching the last two games, run-ruling them twice.  They run-ruled Florida once, scoring 17 runs in three games.  Anyway, Baldwin's a former catcher with a finance degree from Butler.  Maybe that's what we should look for.  

[slot canyon 1,333]

I don't think our hitting deficiencies are anything new but rather a continuation from last year.  In SEC games last year the top 3 teams in terms of batting average were Florida, TA&M and Georgia.  Auburn ranked 8th.  As far as pitching, Florida had a big advantage with era 0.64.  They were followed by LSU 1.70, Alabama 1.96, TA&M 2.34 and Auburn 2.49.  Georgia was 10th at 3.71.  In fielding % Florida was again on top, Auburn was #10 and Georgia last.  Just a brief look at 2018 SEC game stats appears Georgia has continued to have good hitting #4 in batting average (AU last) but are now ranked second in era 1.60 (AU currently first with era 1.25) and  they have improved fielding such that they are roughly middle of the pack.  To me, current success at Georgia seems to be result of continued good hitting, and now improved pitching and fielding.  Auburn continues to get good pitching results but also continues to suffer severely at the plate.  All of this was nothing that you didn't know but just some numbers to go with it.  Our hitting being what it is (maybe I should say "isn't"), we have little margin for error in the circle and in the field.

[OlderWhiskey 953]

On 4/3/2018 at 4:01 PM, AU64 said:

The hitting coach was the guy who left at the last minute and went to Louisiana wasn't he?  looks like we did not get over that coaching loss.    Though timely hitting is as much a problem as the averages themselves.....leaving runners on base which we sure can't afford to do. 

I thought Glassco was a great hitting coach myself, based on aTm results; but just noticed that FSU won two games from Louisiana today by the combined scores of 14-1.  Maybe it takes time.  Even great hitting teams don't always hit well.  Georgia, who just run-ruled UT twice, beat Georgia Tech 1-0 today.  Throughout this year, they seem to have had one game each series in which they scored 0 or 1 run.