2022 Softball College World Series

[slot canyon 1,333]

If you have been following the regionals and super-regional it seems pretty clear that the SEC softball teams are overrated. After 12 SEC teams qualified for regionals, as of this moment, the Florida Gators are the last hope for an SEC team to get into the eight team World Series mix.  What has been a shocker of sorts to me that a couple of teams with less than a 5 year history of softball program history qualified for the super-regionals (Duke and Clemson).......hats off to them.  Mississippi State surprised me by making the supers.

Current Qualifiers

Oklahoma

UCLA

Texas

Oregon State

Arizona

Oklahoma State

Pending: Virginia Tech - Florida, Arizona State -  Northwestern

I would like to see someone other than Oklahoma or UCLA win it.  

 

[OlderWhiskey 954]

Currently Florida is leading VT 4-0 early in the game.  We were an inning away from winning the series over them.  Apparently, there is regular season softball, and then there is playoff softball.  I have been very surprised at some of the results, such as Texas eliminating Arkansas in Fayetteville.  I mean, we beat Texas.  The shocker of the tournament, though, has to be Miss. State, #11 in the SEC, eliminating 2 seed Florida State in the latter's regional.  Second to that is Stanford's win over Alabama.   What all this signifies to me is more parity and less predictability.  The transfer portal contributes to that, much like scholarship limits did in football.    Like you, I don't want Oklahoma to win.  I would say that UCLA and OSU have the best chances of dethroning them, but that would imply that I know something about it.  Will be fun to watch.   

Edit:  Florida now leading 11-0 going to top 5.  

Edited May 29, 2022 by OlderWhiskey

[TigerTennis80 345]

2 hours ago, slot canyon said:

If you have been following the regionals and super-regional it seems pretty clear that the SEC softball teams are overrated. After 12 SEC teams qualified for regionals, as of this moment, the Florida Gators are the last hope for an SEC team to get into the eight team World Series mix.  What has been a shocker of sorts to me that a couple of teams with less than a 5 year history of softball program history qualified for the super-regionals (Duke and Clemson).......hats off to them.  Mississippi State surprised me by making the supers.

Current Qualifiers

Oklahoma

UCLA

Texas

Oregon State

Arizona

Oklahoma State

Pending: Virginia Tech - Florida, Arizona State -  Northwestern

I would like to see someone other than Oklahoma or UCLA win it.  

 

As much as I'd like to see someone other than UCLA or OU win it, I wouldn't bet against OU. When a team has only lost twice all year, it's hard to see them losing twice in a single tournament. Also worth noting... If Arizona State wins tonight the WCWS is almost a Pac-12/Big 12 shootout (Florida being the outlier). I sure hope that's not a signal of a power shift happening toward the midwest & west. 

[OlderWhiskey 954]

No one would bet against Oklahoma without at least 20-1 odds.  That said, recall that FSU had only 5 losses entering their regional; and MSU was the 11th place team in the SEC.  Pre-Title IX, softball power was concentrated on the West Coast.  I'm sure PAC-12 fans see this year as a return to the way it's supposed to be.

Did anyone else catch the comment on today's telecast, quoting Tim Walton as saying that Skylar Wallace might be the best player he's ever coached?  Remember she transferred from Alabama last year.  She was 6 for 10 in the super.

[WarTiger 3,901]

You never know what can happen, but I'm not betting against Oklahoma.  They have it all.  How many run rule victories does Oklahoma get in the CWS?  I actually want Oklahoma to win it all, 2nd choice would be Texas.  I'll take anybody winning it EXCEPT Florida.  Never want them to win in anything.

[blakem 296]

I’m rooting for Northwestern from here on out. Love their team energy and fight.

[AUBwins 10,075]

2 hours ago, WarTiger said:

You never know what can happen, but I'm not betting against Oklahoma.  They have it all.  How many run rule victories does Oklahoma get in the CWS?  I actually want Oklahoma to win it all, 2nd choice would be Texas.  I'll take anybody winning it EXCEPT Florida.  Never want them to win in anything.

Yep.  I'm rooting for Taylon. 

[woodford 3,655]

I want Auburn to return to the promised land. 2016 was so much fun. I enjoyed that run more than 75% of the football over the past decade.

[AUBwins 10,075]

6 hours ago, woodford said:

I want Auburn to return to the promised land. 2016 was so much fun. I enjoyed that run more than 75% of the football over the past decade.

Agreed.  I'm craving that success again in softball. And to think how close we were to beating OU in that final series.  

[AU1947 157]

I noticed that most of the teams for instance: UF, OU, Texas, etc. do not live or die by the LONG ball. They have slappers and speed that kills in their respective line ups. Not to mention in a couple years both OU and Texas are coming to the SEC. That in itself will improve our lack of "SOS" ...... just my opinion and observation.....

[WarTiger 3,901]

1 hour ago, AU1947 said:

I noticed that most of the teams for instance: UF, OU, Texas, etc. do not live or die by the LONG ball. They have slappers and speed that kills in their respective line ups. Not to mention in a couple years both OU and Texas are coming to the SEC. That in itself will improve our lack of "SOS" ...... just my opinion and observation.....

OU doesn't die at all.   They may not "live" by the long ball, but they have hit 138 home runs, and I believe that leads the country.  They have 508 hits so 26.5% of their hits are home runs.

[AU1947 157]

14 minutes ago, WarTiger said:

OU doesn't die at all.   They may not "live" by the long ball, but they have hit 138 home runs, and I believe that leads the country.  They have 508 hits so 26.5% of their hits are home runs.

Correct and 1 of their players has 29... 😆 against a SOLID schedule with a RPI of #1 while we sit at #32.... we HAVE to play a better quality of opponents outside of SEC play if we want to host again or be relevant.. Especially with OU and Texas coming to the SEC.... speedy runners on base puts pressure on the pitchers. We have seen that in our own games... IMO

[OlderWhiskey 954]

I agree we need a stronger OOC schedule, and I think we will see that next year.  Another thing is, the value of playing in the SEC will go down a bit next year because of the poor showing of the conference in the tournament this year.

[blakem 296]

6 hours ago, AUBwins said:

Agreed.  I'm craving that success again in softball. And to think how close we were to beating OU in that final series.  

We had every opportunity to beat them. We beat ourselves in the last game.

[Jad0003 407]

16 hours ago, WarTiger said:

OU doesn't die at all.   They may not "live" by the long ball, but they have hit 138 home runs, and I believe that leads the country.  They have 508 hits so 26.5% of their hits are home runs.

I’d agree. They hit a lot of home runs, but they have a higher team batting average than every other team too. Alo is the best hitter in college softball by a long shot right now, but a pitcher can’t walk her because the lineup is so deep. Jennings, Lyons, Brito, Johns, and Elam all have double digit home runs, and Coleman, Boone, and Snow all get on base at a high rate. The weakest part of their lineup right now is Hansen (injury), and she hit 24 home runs last year with a .429 average. Their offense has not performed well at times, but a team will need great pitching, field, and hitting to beat them.

I’ll be interested to see how the team is able to adjust without Alo’s presence in the lineup next year. They also lose Snow, Johns, Elam, and Trautwein to graduation, so they will break in a few new starters. However, they have a full bench of highly ranked recruits to fill those spots, plus Gasso has already stated she will look for a power hitter in the portal. Their pitching staff will be a strength with Bahl and May returning then add in two top lefty pitchers in Deal and Geurin. 

[AU1947 157]

18 hours ago, blakem said:

We had every opportunity to beat them. We beat ourselves in the last game.

Well would that be coaching or a lack there of? What would you say was the reason?

[AUBwins 10,075]

2 hours ago, AU1947 said:

Well would that be coaching or a lack there of? What would you say was the reason?

If I recall, that last game and I think the first game was lack of execution with runners in scoring position.  Didn't we get thrown out at the plate or something in game 1. In game 3, we had 4, 5, and 6 up in 6th inning.  3 quick outs and we were left with the bottom 3 against Paige in 7th inning.  Remember feeling that the 6th inning was when we needed to do it.  We were a play away in both games. 

[slot canyon 1,333]

16 hours ago, AU1947 said:

Well would that be coaching or a lack there of? What would you say was the reason?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2645167-college-softball-world-series-2016-auburn-vs-oklahoma-game-3-score-and-recap

[AUBwins 10,075]

1 hour ago, slot canyon said:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2645167-college-softball-world-series-2016-auburn-vs-oklahoma-game-3-score-and-recap

That's what it was.  The error and then the bases loaded no out but no runs. 

[blakem 296]

That was also the season that they showed the strike zone on screen for the viewers. I remember in game 1 Lexie Davis got absolutely squeezed in the lower half of the zone on balls that were in the strike zone. She then got in trouble with a couple of runners on and then had to come at Sydney Romero and she hit a three run bomb. Those were the only runs they scored that game too. 

[wde2021 16]

9 hours ago, blakem said:

That was also the season that they showed the strike zone on screen for the viewers. I remember in game 1 Lexie Davis got absolutely squeezed in the lower half of the zone on balls that were in the strike zone. She then got in trouble with a couple of runners on and then had to come at Sydney Romero and she hit a three run bomb. Those were the only runs they scored that game too. 

I remember how surprising that start was for Lexi. Even the ESPN announcers couldn't stop talking about it in the first few innings. At that point in the season Kaylee Carlson and Makayla Martin were our 1-2 punch with Rachel Walters being a nice closer. Lexi was only 5-0 on the season at that time and her last decision had come on April 10th. Her winning decisions came against DePaul, Bryant, Troy, Longwood and Western Illinois. I definitely remember being absolutely shocked she was starting the first game. I loved her as a pitcher though and thought she pitched an outstanding game. I'll go back and watch highlights from that season randomly just to remind myself how good we were 😂

[AU1947 157]

15 hours ago, slot canyon said:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2645167-college-softball-world-series-2016-auburn-vs-oklahoma-game-3-score-and-recap

So it was an error by Carisone that cost Auburn that last game?

[AUBwins 10,075]

Crazy to think how good Texas is now and we beat Texas in that opening tourney.  

[blakem 296]

3 hours ago, AU1947 said:

So it was an error by Carisone that cost Auburn that last game?

Yes

[slot canyon 1,333]

Did not watch all of Thursday's games but thought the Texas catcher Iakopo was outstanding in their game vs UCLA.  She had a textbook tag at home on a throw from shallow CF. Great positioning prior to receiving the throw.  After the tag at home she jumped up and almost threw out the batter advancing to second base. Also hit 2 run HR and threw out a runner stealing 2nd.

There was a review reversal on a play that I questioned.  In top of 3rd the Texas batter (Jefferson) put down bunt on 1st base line and fielded by 3rd base who made throw to first.  because of the angle of the throw, it crossed in front of the runner as she reached 1st base and "interfered" with the 1st base player from catching the ball and it went down the line.  A runner on 2nd scored and Jefferson continued to 2nd.  After review they called runner interference, Jefferson was out and runner returned to 2nd.  Jefferson appeared to be on the 1st base line (not inside) but in any case the ball was thrown such that it crossed in front of her and resulted in the interference.  Difficult to describe.  You would have to see the replay which appears at 5:12 this video.