Softball vs. uat game 3

[35Rem 5]

I think this series was more of a matter of patience at the plate. bama didn't swing at balls. Our girls did. They wanted BADLY to hit the ball, even though they should have taken more. They were so pumped up for this series. They wanted so badly to please the sell-out crowds that they lost focus, I think.

I really like Rachel Walters, but she wasn't getting the CALLS. Her pitches were, generally, good enough to be strikes. (But, she didn't have the control that she normally does, either.) They didn't call them. It was very inconsistent. I saw stuff that looked like strikes (for BOTH teams) get called a ball, and vice-versa.

I think we are OK. Need more discipline at the plate and we'll be much better off.

[AU64 10,122]

I think this series was more of a matter of patience at the plate. bama didn't swing at balls. Our girls did. They wanted BADLY to hit the ball, even though they should have taken more. They were so pumped up for this series. They wanted so badly to please the sell-out crowds that they lost focus, I think.

I really like Rachel Walters, but she wasn't getting the CALLS. Her pitches were, generally, good enough to be strikes. (But, she didn't have the control that she normally does, either.) They didn't call them. It was very inconsistent. I saw stuff that looked like strikes (for BOTH teams) get called a ball, and vice-versa.

I think we are OK. Need more discipline at the plate and we'll be much better off.

the gals gotta learn to lay off that "rise ball"....swung at balls that crossed the plate at eye-level sometimes. AU coaches teach the girls to be aggressive at the plate and that sometimes works against them....but with the results for this season....I'm not complaining about it.

[Mikey 16,613]

Over the past 12 games, we have given up 87 runs, an average of 7.33 runs per game. My thinking is, pitching like that is not good enough to get us very far into the tournament. When we get there, everybody but Auburn will have pitching that can beat giving up 7 runs per game.

I have a combined 36 years of being associated with baseball as a player, coach, manager and league official. (Maybe a few more than 36, not really sure any more) While the two sports are different, there are many similarities. Bill Veek's famous formula: "Power plus pitching equals pennant" applies to both baseball and softball. We're only halfway there.

[WarTiger 3,907]

This game could propel them forward. Great comeback.

We all hope so, but this weekend was a good example of what happens when a top team with ordinary pitching runs into a top team with top pitching. We have pitchers, yes. What we don't have is a pitcher or combination of pitchers that can hold a team of solid hitters down to three or fewer runs. The teams we'll run into in tournaments will have pitchers that can hold our scoring down. I don't think we can go far in tournament play until we have the same quality of pitching we'll be facing day after day in tournaments.

only partly agree with this...we have not seen that much really good pitching this year and in fact, there are very few pitchers out there in the class with that Bama freshman(woman) who looked so good. We are still in to top 5 or so RPI so sounds to me that there are not that many teams out there with more capability/potential.

Probably it depends on the match-ups as to how far we might go in the post-season but I still see us in the regionals at the very least....and hosting some games which always helps.

There's absolutely NO DOUBT we'll be in a regional. If we can sweep Arkansas this week (which shouldn't be hard, they've won 1 SEC game all season) and take 2 out of 3 at LSU next weekend, not only are we in the tournament but we are likely one of the top 8 seeds, meaning we host the regional and if we win, we'll host the super regional as well. We probably do need to show well in the SEC tournament too. I forgot about that step. If we are one of the final 4 (likely to be florida, lsu, uat and us) then we should be a lock for a top 8 seed.

[AU64 10,122]

This game could propel them forward. Great comeback.

We all hope so, but this weekend was a good example of what happens when a top team with ordinary pitching runs into a top team with top pitching. We have pitchers, yes. What we don't have is a pitcher or combination of pitchers that can hold a team of solid hitters down to three or fewer runs. The teams we'll run into in tournaments will have pitchers that can hold our scoring down. I don't think we can go far in tournament play until we have the same quality of pitching we'll be facing day after day in tournaments.

only partly agree with this...we have not seen that much really good pitching this year and in fact, there are very few pitchers out there in the class with that Bama freshman(woman) who looked so good. We are still in to top 5 or so RPI so sounds to me that there are not that many teams out there with more capability/potential.

Probably it depends on the match-ups as to how far we might go in the post-season but I still see us in the regionals at the very least....and hosting some games which always helps.

There's absolutely NO DOUBT we'll be in a regional. If we can sweep Arkansas this week (which shouldn't be hard, they've won 1 SEC game all season) and take 2 out of 3 at LSU next weekend, not only are we in the tournament but we are likely one of the top 8 seeds, meaning we host the regional and if we win, we'll host the super regional as well. We probably do need to show well in the SEC tournament too. I forgot about that step. If we are one of the final 4 (likely to be florida, lsu, uat and us) then we should be a lock for a top 8 seed.

I think a regional is pretty much a lock no matter what happens the rest of the way....unless there is a total meltdown.

JMO but winning 2 of 3 at LSU is not required and with all of the power teams in the SEC, a loss to bama, UF or LSU in the SEC tourney will not be held against us.......after all, three of the "big four" SEC teams are going to leave the tournament with a loss in their last game.

We've beaten some good OOC tearms along they way and I don't see any doubt about AU's ability to compete as top 10 team and to host some post season softball.

WE

[Mikey 16,613]

We'll possibly host a regional, barring a total collapse from here on out. We are certainly in a regional somewhere. I'm just not on board with the "sky's the limit" line of thinking. In our case, I think "pitching's the limit" and I don't see it taking us very deep into the tournament.

[35Rem 5]

See my rankings post. Our RPI didn't budge from #3 after this weekend. We are THREE in the nation in RPI