2017 Softball 4/18 and following

[Tax Guy]

3 weeks and 10 games to go.

Wednesday OSU comes to Tulsa. Tulsa won the previous game in Stillwater 3-2.
OSU is 28-16 overall and 8-1 in Big 12.

The next 3 weekends are:
At Connecticut 4/21-23
At East Carolina 4/28-30
Home against Central Florida 5/5-7

Connecticut is 14-22 Overall and 1-7 in Conference.
They lost to Arkansas 3-2 (8) Tulsa won 8-0 (5)
They went 1-1 with USF L 9-0 (6) W 1-0. Tulsa swept 5-0, 7-3, 5-0
Houston swept them 0-6, 6-4 and 22-0 (5) Tulsa swept Houston 1-0, 6-5, 7-3

I’ll post Carolina and Florida records just before those series.

Tori Stafford efforts last week, hitting .385 Slugging .462 3 RBI including the extra inning walk off got her a conference honor roll mention. (Others have been mentioned in previous weeks and I've been remiss in recognizing here)
Emily Watson’s 25 Ks in 13.2 innings last week earned her a 6th conference pitcher of the week award. 244 strikeouts on the season is 3rd in the NCAA and she is now 5th on Tulsa career list.

 

[softballdad1985]

So you guys might see a change in the regular 8 starters line-up tomorrow...if there is i will explain...if not great

 

[Gmoney4WW]

If there is, I don't think too many people on this board give a about your explanation.(like none) You are still bragging about knowing one of the kids.(parents) Loser looking for attention.

Now have a temper over my post like the last time. Tell me how much I don't know. Go ahead, it'll give you an excuse to talk about how much you think you know.

 

[softballdad1985]

Ok..gloser...man i was going to give some insight...are u like 5'1 or something..does gloser have little boy syndrome...im not bragging about anything..it is a fact that im a close friend of a parent and give his version of events...that is all

 

[rusty-c]

So you guys might see a change in the regular 8 starters line-up tomorrow...if there is i will explain...if not great

Please start it in a new thread so there's a choice to view or not.

I for one would rather not take a side on the arguments that always seem to arise when you post. I do appreciate the info you provide from time to time but the back and forth negative stuff that follows is a real bummer. Tax Guy does a great job of laying the info out there and it's nice to just go grab a quick glance of what's happening. I'd certainly be interested in what you reference but would rather consume it at a time of my choosing when I can muddle through all of the other garbage that ensues after... Keep posting

 

[softballdad1985]

Understood and agree..thank you

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Please start it in a new thread so there's a choice to view or not.

I for one would rather not take a side on the arguments that always seem to arise when you post. I do appreciate the info you provide from time to time but the back and forth negative stuff that follows is a real bummer. Tax Guy does a great job of laying the info out there and it's nice to just go grab a quick glance of what's happening. I'd certainly be interested in what you reference but would rather consume it at a time of my choosing when I can muddle through all of the other garbage that ensues after... Keep posting

Nice suggestion. Cordoning him off to read or not read, is the second best result.

 

[softballdad1985]

Hey Gmoney you never have to read..obviously you dont like to hear the truth...ive said positive things and negative things...its always a mixture at a program but to blindly say that everything a person says is wrong is just ignorant

 

[softballdad1985]

That pitcher is special special

 

[TU_BLA]

That pitcher is special special

Watson won't get the national recognition she deserves but she has basically dominated everyone after the 1st week of the season. And she's only a junior. Maybe coach can recruit some other special players to go around her next year. He will need to replace the Withees as they will graduate. Maybe a key transfer or two ready to come in and play and hopefully one of the other pitchers will continue to develop (Meinen seems to be coming on lately but not quite ready to go full games). Behind Watson and some additional bats, this team can be really special.

 

[Tax Guy]

Wednesday 4/19 result: W 3-0
Oklahoma State 0 Runs 3 Hits 0 Errors 4 LOB
Tulsa 3 Runs 5 Hits 0 Errors 6 LOB
Julia Hollingsworth doubled
Emily Watson pitched 7 innings 0 runs 3 Hits 0 BB and 11 K
Looks like some type of promotion was happening where several local teams came out. 815 in attendance and lines for autographs after the game. Did anyone pick me up one of those player card sets?

 

[chito_and_leon]

Wednesday 4/19 result: W 3-0
Oklahoma State 0 Runs 3 Hits 0 Errors 4 LOB
Tulsa 3 Runs 5 Hits 0 Errors 6 LOB
Julia Hollingsworth doubled
Emily Watson pitched 7 innings 0 runs 3 Hits 0 BB and 11 K
Looks like some type of promotion was happening where several local teams came out. 815 in attendance and lines for autographs after the game. Did anyone pick me up one of those player card sets?

It tells you something that I'm disappointed in watson's performance because she didn't average 2 Ks per inning in her shutout like she did in the prior games.

 

[TU_BLA]

It tells you something that I'm disappointed in watson's performance because she didn't average 2 Ks per inning in her shutout like she did in the prior games.

That was my first reaction when I say 11ks, I said "only 11Ks?"

 

[Barlass]

13 Ks for Watson in today's 3-1 win over UConn.

 

[TU_BLA]

TU swept UCONN winning game 3 today 8-0 (5 innings). Watson had something like 8 or 9 Ks (didn't see a final stat). TUs bats got going today and finally got some production from the lower part of the order

 

[chito_and_leon]

Team started the year 6-7 and since then they're 27-6.

 

[Tax Guy]

Friday W 3-1
Tulsa 3 Runs 8 Hits 0 Errors
Connecticut 1 Run 6 Hits 0 Errors
Rylie Spell and Shannon Hughes Doubled
Julia Hollingsworth Tripled
Morgan Neal Homered
Emily Watson pitched 7 innings with 1 ER 6 Hits 0 BB and 13 K
Saturday: W 6-0
Tulsa 6 Runs 8 Hits 2 Errors 7 LOB
Connecticut 0 Runs 6 Hits 1 Error and 8 LOB
Julia Hollingsworth was 2 for 3 with a HR
Shannon Hughes was 2 for 3 with a HR
Rylie Spell also homered and Maddie Withee Doubled
Madison Higley pitched 2 innings with 0 Runs 1 Hit 1 BB and 2 K
Haley Meinen pitched 5 innings with 0 Runs 5 Hits 1 BB and 2 K
Sunday: W 8-0 (5 innings)
Tulsa 8 Runs 9 Hits 0 Errors and 5 LOB
Connecticut 0 Runs 1 Hit 1 Error and 2 LOB
Maddie Withee was 2 for 3 with a double an RBI and scored twice
Haley Meinen was 2 for 2 with a double and a SAC
Maggie Withee also doubled.
Rylie Spell had 4 RBI including a 2 run homer and a SAC
Julia Hollingsworth also homered.
Emily Watson pitched 5 innings 0 Runs 1 Hit 0 BB and 7 K

 

[Tax Guy]

Julia Hollingsworth batted .500 for the week with 2 home runs, 5 RBI, scored 4 times and slugging percentage of 1.400 earning the American Conference Player of the week

Emily Watson was 3-0 in the circle for the week with an ERA 0.37 and 31 strikeouts and 0 walks earning the American Conference Pitcher of the week for the 7th time.

 

[TU_BLA]

Julia Hollingsworth batted .500 for the week with 2 home runs, 5 RBI, scored 4 times and slugging percentage of 1.400 earning the American Conference Player of the week

Emily Watson was 3-0 in the circle for the week with an ERA 0.37 and 31 strikeouts and 0 walks earning the American Conference Pitcher of the week for the 7th time.

Hollingsworth is a really really good overall player from what I've seen. Watson is an elite NCAA pitcher. She's top 10 in most all meaningful pitching stats, 2nd in Ks, top 5 in wins although her number of starts and appearances is on the lower end of the top winning pitchers. The one where she is not is ERA (#1 is .19 which is ridiculous with a sharp drop after that, Watson is around 1.19 or so). Her K's per 7 innings is right at 11 which is in the top 5-10 as well. People will say its against bad competition but she has been doing it against OU, OSU, LSU, and other ranked opponents as well as the 20+K effort against Houston.

And she's only a junior.

 

[lawpoke87]

Compared to others in her sport, Watson is probably the best athlete to come through TU in at least the last ten years imo. If you haven't gone out and seen her pitch you're missing the opportunity to watch an elite talent. She's that good.

 

[chito_and_leon]

Nice that Meinen and Higley have developed to take some innings with the lower tier opponents. Meinen has a 1.8 ERA in 50 IP so you can certainly win with them out there. Meinen is a soph and Higley a freshman according to the site so they've probably got room to grow.

 

[softballdad1985]

Compared to others in her sport, Watson is probably the best athlete to come through TU in at least the last ten years imo. If you haven't gone out and seen her pitch you're missing the opportunity to watch an elite talent. She's that good.

Whoa there nellie, she is a bigtime pitcher no doubt but she is a liability defensively when she does get hit which isnt alot..I would think Barrett is the best female athlete maybe ever at Tulsa..

 

[Tax Guy]

RPI is up to 30 and more voters in the poll are noticing. Extending out the Top 25 polls Tulsa is 26 and 27.

The American Conference Standings
Tulsa 11-1 in conference 33-13 overall
Houston 8-4 and 23-21
UCF 7-5 and 23-20
USF 8-6 and 29-21
East Carolina 5-10 and 25-26
Memphis 4-8 and 25-23
UConn 1-10 and 15-26

Tulsa goes to East Carolina this weekend then finishes with UCF at home next weekend
Houston goes to Memphis then home to face USF (USF is off this weekend)
UCF plays UConn at home before coming to Tulsa

Although East Carolina is 5-10 in conference the power in their lineup is nothing to look past. 1 girl has 15 homers another has 14 and they have 61 as a team. For comparison next in our conference is Houston with 31 Tulsa has 20. Their HR/Game is 6th in the NCAA.

 

[lawpoke87]

Whoa there nellie, she is a bigtime pitcher no doubt but she is a liability defensively when she does get hit which isnt alot..I would think Barrett is the best female athlete maybe ever at Tulsa..

You might have an argument there. However, if one considers her value to this year's team and next year's squad and where I think she is going to rank among college pitchers next year I believe I have a basis for my statement. I think she has a legitimate chance to be one of the top 5 pitchers in the country next season and considering the importance of that position I like our prospects.

 

[softballdad1985]

You might have an argument there. However, if one considers her value to this year's team and next year's squad and where I think she is going to rank among college pitchers next year I believe I have a basis for my statement. I think she has a legitimate chance to be one of the top 5 pitchers in the country next season and considering the importance of that position I like our prospects.

Agreed, what does their lineup need to get to a super regional?

 

[lawpoke87]

Agreed, what does their lineup need to get to a super regional?

A good draw and two runs a game

 

[TU_BLA]

A good draw and two runs a game

Which means not being the #2 seed in the same regional as OU as seems to be the pattern the last few seasons.

 

[TU_BLA]

Whoa there nellie, she is a bigtime pitcher no doubt but she is a liability defensively when she does get hit which isnt alot..I would think Barrett is the best female athlete maybe ever at Tulsa..

I think Lacey Middlebrooks may also have a claim to being the best player to play at TU. And she could hit too.

 

[softballdad1985]

I think Lacey Middlebrooks may also have a claim to being the best player to play at TU. And she could hit too.

Barrett was a All American I believe and a NPF all star

 

[TU_BLA]

Barrett was a All American I believe and a NPF all star

Jill Barrett was an outstanding player and one of the best defensive players I've seen in person. She had ridiculously good hands.

 

[softballdad1985]

According to Tulsa records i think she had something like 101 hits...thats ridiculous

 

[TU_BLA]

Game 1 of the ECU series is in the books. TU 12 ECU 0 in 5 innings. Watson just threw the first no hitter for TU since 2014 against a line up with some gaudy power numbers.

 

[TU_BLA]

Gm 2 TU wins 3-1 in 11. Watson went the distance and had 14Ks. TU had a bunch of base runners and just left too many out there. ECU only had a handful of hits and scored their 1 run on a HR pretty early.

Gm 3 this AM, TU won 2-0. Higley and Meinen combined in the shutout. With this win TU won the regular season conference championship outright with a week to go.

 

[Tax Guy]

Here's some more detail.

Weekend results: 3-0
Friday W 12-0 (5)
Tulsa 12 runs 11 hits 0 Errors and 5 LOB
East Carolina 0 runs 0 Hits 1 Error and 1 LOB
Julia Hollingsworth was 2 for 3
Haley Meinen was 2 for 2
Shannon Hughes was 2 for 2 with a triple
Shelby Estocado was 2 for 3
Maddie Withee doubled and Rylie Spell Homered
Emily Watson 5 innings 0 hits 2 BB and 7 K
Saturday W 3-1 (12)
Tulsa 3 Runs 12 hits 0 Errors 13 LOB
East Carolina 1 Run 2 Hits 2 Errors 5 LOB
Morgan Neal was 3 for 4
Tori Stafford was 3 for 5 2 RBI
Emily Watson 12 inning 1 ER 2 hits 5 BB and 14K
Sunday W 2-0
Tulsa 2 runs 7 Hits 0 Errors 6 LOB
East Carolina 0 Runs 8 Hits 0 Errors 10 LOB
Shelby Estocado was 2 for 3
Shannon Hughes Doubled
Tori Stafford Homered
Madison Higley started and went 2 innings 0 Runs 2 Hits 2 BB and 0 K
Haliey Meinen pitched 5 innings 0 Runs 6 Hits 0 BB and 3 K

A little let up from the top half and significant improvement from 6-9.
With the sweep and results from around the conference that clinches the regular season conference title.

 

[softballdad1985]

Going to be interesting to see if they come down here to college station for a regional, they can actually beat the Aggies I think...Texas State will be tough if they are there..they are scrappy

 

[TU_BLA]

I saw a picture on the TU Softball twitter feed of how ECU acknowledged and honored TU's 3 seniors. Two are the Withee's and the other is Brittany Walker who has played sparingly. Cupboard is pretty full moving forward with an All American pitcher returning for her senior season next year.

 

[Tax Guy]

Top 25 Polls are out Tulsa is 24/25
RPI is up to 28
Tori Stafford was mentioned on the American Conference Honor Roll hitting .500 Slugging .875 for the week.
Emily Watson working 17 innings with 2 hits and 1 run gets her 8th Conference Pitcher of the week award.
Watson's 1.02 ERA is ranked 9th and 296 strikeouts is 3rd (2nd is 298)

 

[Tax Guy]

Conference Standings heading into final weekend

Tulsa 14-1 in conference 36-13 overall
Houston 10-5 and 26-23
Central Florida 9-6 and 27-21
Southern Florida 8-6 and 31-21
Memphis 5-10 and 26-25
East Carolina 5-13 and 25-29
Connecticut 2-12 and 16-28

Tulsa will have the #1 seed in the Conference Tournament, but 2-7 depend on the results this weekend.
USF is in Houston
Memphis is at Connecticut

Tulsa is at home for UCF.
Games times are 5:00 Friday, 3:00 Saturday, and Noon Sunday.
Assuming one of those will be Senior Day. I would guess Sunday.
Friday’s game will be streamed here:

 

[Tax Guy]

Final weekend results 1-2
Friday W 3-0
UCF 0 Runs 8 Hits 2 Errors 8 LOB
Tulsa 3 Runs 5 Hits 0 Errors 5 LOB
Rylie Spell homered
Emily Watson pitched 7 innings 0 runs 8 Hits 1 BB and 4 K
Saturday L 0-2
UCF 2 Runs 6 Hits 2 Errors 5 LOB
Tulsa 0 Runs 3 Hits 0 Errors 9 LOB
Maggie Withee was 3 for 4
Lexi Blevins pitched 2.1 with 2 ER 2 Hits 2 BB and 2 K
Madison Higley pitched 1.1 with 0 Runs 2 Hits 0 BB and 1 K
Haley Meinen pitched 3.1 with 0 Runs 2 Hits 0 BB and 1 K
Sunday L 3-4
UCF 4 Runs 6 Hits 1 Error and 6 LOB
Tulsa 3 runs 8 Hits 2 Errors and 10 LOB
Julia Hollingsworth was 2 for 3
Tori Stafford was 2 for 3
Maddie Withee doubled
Emily Watson pitched 5 innings with 4 Runs 2 ER 2 BB and 7 K
Haley Meinen pitched 2 innings 0 Runs 1 Hit 0 BB and 0 K

Way too many runners left on base, including bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th in game 3.
Watson averaged “only” about 1 K an inning was not the double digits per game we’ve seen but still solid. Her ERA dropped from 1.02 to 0.99.
I liked seeing Blevins getting a start. We have not seen her since a ball was hit back at her in the last Wichita State game. Prior to that she had several solid outings. Hopefully she’ll return to form for conference and regional tournaments.

Putting this weekend in past and moving on.

 

[TU_BLA]

Someone closer to the game of softball...how much can a pitcher pitch realistically without doing damage from too much pitching? This team is virtually unbeatable with Watson on the mound and their best hope of making it through a regional is Watson pitching as much as she possibly can.