2023 Softball - Oklahoma Hall of Fame Classic

[Golden Eagle 367]

#19 Auburn is playing in a tournament in Oklahoma City this weekend with Weber State, Northwestern, and  #1 Oklahoma.

Auburn's games:

Friday   11:00 am vs Weber St

              1:45 pm vs Northwestern

Saturday 1:30 pm vs Northwestern

                6:30 pm vs Oklahoma

Sunday   2:00 pm vs Oklahoma

The games vs Weber St and Northwestern can be viewed (without any audio) at this web site:

https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball/Events/2023/March/17/Omni-Hall-of-Fame-Classic/Live-Streaming

Audio for all Auburn games available on auburntigers.com

The games vs Oklahoma can be streamed on ESPN+

 

Edit:  Northwestern was ranked #24 last week.  They fell out of the top 25 this week.

Edited March 17, 2023 by Golden Eagle
Added note about Northwestern ranking

[Golden Eagle 367]

Game 1 vs Weber St:

Auburn won game 1 against Weber St 4-2.  I only saw the last couple of innings.  Looks like Widra pitched the first 2 innings and then Shelby Lowe took over. 

The positives:  Lowe was effective.  Auburn struck out 12 Weber St batters.  Denver Bryant hit her first home run of the season (with the bases empty) in the top of the 7th with 2 outs.

The not-so-positives:  Auburn only had 3 hits to Weber St's 6 hits.  Looks like Auburn lined out and flied out a lot and struck out 6 times.  Also, Abbie Smith was called out after what looked like a base hit for being out of the batters box when she made contact with the ball.  That has happened several times this year.  Offensive woes continue.

 

[AUBwins 10,075]

 

 

[AU1947 157]

Just squeaked a win from a team that has been run ruled by the following and some on more than one occasion: WSU was run ruled by Arkansas, Arizona, Nebraska, UNLV, Grand Canyon, Utah Tech, & California State University Northridge (CSUN) 

[Golden Eagle 367]

Game 2 vs Northwestern:

Another maddeningly frustrating game.  Northwestern wins 2-1.

Observations:  Maddie Penta pitched the entire game and struck out 12.  However, she threw 124 pitches (not sure if/how that will affect her for the rest of the weekend).  NW scored 2 runs on 4 hits while AU scored 1 run on 5 hits.  Can't string together hits or hit when it matters.  Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th, Godwin had a base hit, then Packer had a base hit...and then, with 2 on base and no outs...Bryant struck out swinging, Blaine flied out, and Peralta popped up.

It's beyond comprehension that we see this same pattern year after year under CMD and nothing changes...

 

[AU1947 157]

And we lose by 1 run with getting 2 lead off hits in the bottom of the 7th? Couldn't even bunt a runner to 3rd to play for a tie??

 

[Jad0003 408]

I mentioned my frustration with the hitting in the 2023 Softball thread, so I’ll focus on positives and hopes here.

Lowe was great in relief. Hopefully she can handle a larger role moving forward, and we can see a true 1a and 1b situation with her and Penta. Widra shows flashes of greatness too, so I think she continues to provide innings as a very good number 3.

Bryant had a great day at the plate. It was nice to see her show power because we haven’t seen it so far this year. Packer is slowly getting her groove back too. If they can continue their slow return from injuries, I’d like to see this lineup by the end of the year:

1. Packer (CF)

2. Bryant (3rd)

3. Peralta (SS)

4. Ellis (1st)

5. Garcia (RF / LF)

6 / 7. Blaine / Godwin / Lisenby (DP / C)

8. McCrary / Tresvik (RF / LF)

9. McCondichie (2nd)

I still have hope to see improvements later in the year as those three return from injury. All it takes is for the team to get hot at the right time. 

[AUBwins 10,075]

1 hour ago, Jad0003 said:

I mentioned my frustration with the hitting in the 2023 Softball thread, so I’ll focus on positives and hopes here.

Lowe was great in relief. Hopefully she can handle a larger role moving forward, and we can see a true 1a and 1b situation with her and Penta. Widra shows flashes of greatness too, so I think she continues to provide innings as a very good number 3.

Bryant had a great day at the plate. It was nice to see her show power because we haven’t seen it so far this year. Packer is slowly getting her groove back too. If they can continue their slow return from injuries, I’d like to see this lineup by the end of the year:

1. Packer (CF)

2. Bryant (3rd)

3. Peralta (SS)

4. Ellis (1st)

5. Garcia (RF / LF)

6 / 7. Blaine / Godwin / Lisenby (DP / C)

8. McCrary / Tresvik (RF / LF)

9. McCondichie (2nd)

I still have hope to see improvements later in the year as those three return from injury. All it takes is for the team to get hot at the right time. 

Love that lineup setup.  We need a slapper or two in the lineup.  Used to have Tiffany Howard and Draper etc.  I like having a slapper that is a triple threat at plate.  Howard especially is a perfect leadoff in softball.  Can hit for power, slap, or bunt. 

[Golden Eagle 367]

16 hours ago, AUBwins said:

Love that lineup setup.  We need a slapper or two in the lineup.  Used to have Tiffany Howard and Draper etc.  I like having a slapper that is a triple threat at plate.  Howard especially is a perfect leadoff in softball.  Can hit for power, slap, or bunt. 

Abbie Smith and Carlee McCondichie can both slap and bunt (and Carlee can swing away)...but both have been penalized more than once this year for being out of the batter's box when they made contact with the ball.  Batters used to get away with that quite a bit in the past but the officials started calling it more consistently last year.  The rule about contact out of the box also changed.  Now, instead of an automatic out, the opposing team gets to decide whether to penalize the batter with a strike or take the result of the play.  Obviously if the batter was thrown out, they'll choose the out.  If the batter already has 2 strikes, the penalty strike results in them being called out.  If the batter made it to first safely and had less than two outs strikes, the opposing team will choose to penalize the batter with a strike and send them back to the batter's box to try again.  I wonder if teams will move away from slapping if they get called frequently for being out of the box...you can't move much and still be in.  That being said, do you really need to take a few steps before contact to slam the ball into the dirt and get a high bounce?  Very rarely see Auburn do that but it can be very effective.

Edited March 18, 2023 by Golden Eagle

[AUBwins 10,075]

Also slaps are essentially swinging bunts over the infielder. But yes the rules have changed since Howard did it.  I could see teams not using as often. 

[slot canyon 1,333]

Oklahoma defeated Northwestern 2 - 1 last night. I thought they would have been more dominant.  They run ruled Weber State.  

[Golden Eagle 367]

1 hour ago, slot canyon said:

Oklahoma defeated Northwestern 2 - 1 last night. I thought they would have been more dominant.  They run ruled Weber State.  

Wow, that IS a surprising result.  Northwestern may well end up back in the top 25 after this weekend - maybe at the expense of Auburn.  

Very interested to see if Auburn can hang with Oklahoma tonight; hope springs eternal.

[Reddneckerson 0]

Dean just burned more possible runs with 2 outs, runner on 1st and 3rd, tried to steal 2nd and runner was thrown out to end inning. He is not an SEC caliber coach. 

[TigerPAC 965]

13 minutes ago, Reddneckerson said:

Dean just burned more possible runs with 2 outs, runner on 1st and 3rd, tried to steal 2nd and runner was thrown out to end inning. He is not an SEC caliber coach. 

Why?????

[Golden Eagle 367]

Game 3 vs Northwestern:  Northwestern walks it off with a 2-run homerun.  Northwestern 6 - Auburn 5

Same old/same old.

Guessing Auburn will be clobbered by Oklahoma tonight.

[AUBwins 10,075]

 

 

[AUBwins 10,075]

We used to have a designated closer. Wish we had that again.  I don't think our girls have any designated roles in staff.  Each go 2 to 4 innings other than Penta.

[AUBwins 10,075]

2 hours ago, Reddneckerson said:

Dean just burned more possible runs with 2 outs, runner on 1st and 3rd, tried to steal 2nd and runner was thrown out to end inning. He is not an SEC caliber coach. 

Wish he'd just take a game and decide not to steal.  We can just be aggressive on base hits etc. We usually make good decisions within a play.  He's so predictable on running, teams know when to throw a pitch favorable to throw the runner out.  So stupid getting the 3rd out on a steal with RISP

[AU1947 157]

Can't say I am surprised......

[AU1947 157]

Auburn softball is the new Vandy..   

And Oklahoma just throttled us and they will walk into the SEC and immediately be a contender.... 

 

[AUBwins 10,075]

Me: Finish watching basketball game, then remember to check OU score only to see we got skunked 14-0.

 

[Golden Eagle 367]

Game 4 vs Oklahoma:  Oklahoma run-ruled Auburn 14 - 0 in 4.5 innings

Oklahoma scored 4 runs in the first inning, 5 in the third, and 5 in the 4th.  They hit 5 home runs, 3 of them in the first inning.  Auburn had a total of 4 hits and left 5 runners on base.  At the plate they were 0-7 with runners on base and 0-5 with runners in scoring position.  They were also charged with 1 error.

Widra pitched the first 2 2/3  innings.  Tresvik pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and Milanowski/Roach/Smith subbed in as well so they got some (reality check) playing time.

I realize Oklahoma is the number 1 team in the country but this was a beat-down.  Auburn is mediocre on both offense and defense against good teams.  Would love for them to prove me wrong tomorrow afternoon in their final game of the weekend against Oklahoma but I'm not holding my breath.

[AU1947 157]

Well CMD took the team to Oklahoma City alright......  😆 

[AUBwins 10,075]

Pretty sad to make that trip for only 1 win for the weekend if it holds up as it likely will. What time do we lose today? 

[slot canyon 1,333]

5 hours ago, AU1947 said:

Well CMD took the team to Oklahoma City alright......  😆 

Well, we get to say that we made it to Oklahoma City.........just don't mention that it was in March.