OT: Softball

[BuffaloChip]

Pitching, pitching, pitching. WT's is better than average. Better than average pitching seldom wins the LSC. Very seldom wins a regional. Never wins a NC. Mook needs better pitching and a couple or 3 better hitters down-placed in the line-up at 7, 8, and 9. Cordell hits well at SS, but Mook needs an old-time Blaskowski-style AA at that spot.

[WT_TKW]

WT lost 3 of 4 in Oklahoma this weekend. The split with Cameron was understandable, as they always give WT trouble, Being swept by OCU, who played more like they were simply OU, was disappointing. I looked at their schedule before the game, and they only have 5 conference losses. WT now has 10, which makes them .500 against LSC opponents. I do expect that record to improve.

The first game was a blowout with dreadful pitching, dreadful fielding, and dreadful hitting. It was 5-0 at the end of the 2nd, with 3 of those being unearned runs. Evidently the team had a fun Spring Break, as they committed 4 errors early on. 9-1 was the final, with only 6 hits for OCU.

The second game was better. WT mounted a comeback in the 7th (like in the loss against Cameron), with 3 straight home runs, but lost by a run.

OCU's Kali Crandall is an exceptional pitcher. She pitched all 5 innings of the first game and most of the second. OCU had a very nice broadcast with 2 cameras and no charge. The press box camera placement was not good with a large seam of the net in the picture. I had to turn the commentator off as he repeated himself too much.

[WT_TKW]

WT's former 1st baseman, left fielder, and pitcher, Shayne Starkey, who was very good at all of the above, is recovering from a softball injury (4 screws and a nail were inserted). She's looking for some donations to help cover her medical bills.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-shay...RMvvqQYCt8m-KE

[WT_TKW]

Commerce lost 2 at Rogers State yesterday. That was their 4th doubleheader in 7 days, so I'm thinking it was largely just a fatigue issue. Either way, Im guessing they drop to 8 or so next week.

That's too many games, but the 3 losses were reflected in the current ranking.

I have mixed emotions about weekly rankings. It's nice to see how you compare to other teams, but the final ranking is the only one that matters.

Good luck on the visits to Laredo and Kingsville. That's a long trip from Commerce, but painful from Canyon.

[JakeTAMUC]

This week's rankings:

North Georgia (14-0) remains atop the national poll for the third consecutive week earning 14-of-16 possible first-place votes. Augustana (S.D.) (one first-place vote) moved up to second alongside Texas A&M-Commerce (one first-place vote) after the Lions recorded three straight losses to Angelo State and Rogers State.

Five teams from the Lone Star Conference stand in the national rankings led by TAMUC in second with 370 points. UT Tyler stands fifth with 336 points followed by West Texas A&M (10^th, 262), Texas A&M-Kingsville (12^th, 228) and Oklahoma Christian (14^th, 191) while three programs look to make the jump into the ranks as Lubbock Christian, Angelo State and Texas A&M International are all receiving votes.

Commerce lost 2 at Rogers State yesterday. That was their 4th doubleheader in 7 days, so I'm thinking it was largely just a fatigue issue. Either way, Im guessing they drop to 8 or so next week.

[WT_TKW]

This week's rankings:

North Georgia (14-0) remains atop the national poll for the third consecutive week earning 14-of-16 possible first-place votes. Augustana (S.D.) (one first-place vote) moved up to second alongside Texas A&M-Commerce (one first-place vote) after the Lions recorded three straight losses to Angelo State and Rogers State.

Five teams from the Lone Star Conference stand in the national rankings led by TAMUC in second with 370 points. UT Tyler stands fifth with 336 points followed by West Texas A&M (10^th, 262), Texas A&M-Kingsville (12^th, 228) and Oklahoma Christian (14^th, 191) while three programs look to make the jump into the ranks as Lubbock Christian, Angelo State and Texas A&M International are all receiving votes.

[WT_TKW]

WT swept St Edwards and split with St Mary's last weekend. In the last game WT mounted a good comeback but fell short by a run.

WT is now 21-7 overall but only 9-7 in LSC play. They are off this week, then face an 8 game road trip.

UT Tyler finally lost an LSC match to LCU, so they are 15-1 in conference action. Commerce is 14-2. That will be a great matchup.

[WT_TKW]

The new rankings are out. WT at 10 seems overrated to me, but we are getting there. Commerce and UT Tyler are the best teams in the LSC.

North Georgia (12-0) remains atop the national poll for the second week in a row earning 10-of-16 possible first-place votes. Texas A&M-Commerce stands second at 18-4 receiving six first-place votes followed by Augustana (S.D.), Lincoln Memorial and Rollins to round out the top five.

Six programs from the Lone Star Conference stand in the national rankings led by Texas A&M-Commerce in second with 389 points followed by UT Tyler (sixth, 326), West Texas A&M (10^th, 241), Texas A&M-Kingsville (14^th, 195), Oklahoma Christian (16^th, 167) and Angelo State (24^th, 43). Texas A&M International looks to make the jump into the rankings after receiving six votes.

Just for fun I looked to see how Tarleton is doing. Not too bad. https://tarletonsports.com/sports/softball/schedule

[JakeTAMUC]

[WT_TKW]

WT managed to reverse their previous SE Texas experience (in 2019) by losing 1 game then winning the rest against the Dustdevils and Lady Javelinas. The Kingsville series was really exciting, with WT holding on in the last inning of the first game and coming back in the second game, plus unexpectedly good relief pitching from Sydney Greeson, who got her first win this year. Coach Mook was more animated in these 2 games than in all the others I've watched him coach. I just hope he doesn't drive the bus home!

The Lady Buffs are now 18-6 overall, though only 6-6 in LSC play.

[WT_TKW]

Better pitching. Face it. Till Mook gets a "real deal" real deal kid that can put up 225 innings a season with a 1.5 ERA, WT won't sniff another strong Elite 8 run. Everybody's after that kid. Can Mook recruit her?

Good luck finding someone like that who is willing to play in D2.

I looked up Rita's stats for the championship year. ERA: 2.11, 29-3 with 2 saves. However we also had Hannah Newcomb, who I thought was underrated. ERA: 2.69, 20-4 with 3 saves. Plus we had the much less used Tori Bayer, ERA: 2.41, 11-0. That's how you get 60 wins - with 3 really good pitchers. Unfortunately our current pitching staff is not close to these numbers, but as you recently pointed out, we had a great defense in 2014. Commerce showed how good theirs is last week - it reminded me of our glory days.

Mook is doing a very good job of coaching, I think he will have a lot better results when better talent comes in.

[BuffaloChip]

WT won 2 against LCU and split with Angelo for a very respectable showing against 2 very good teams.

You would think 13 runs in each game against Angelo would mean 2 wins, but it didn't. Their hitters were on fire, and while we won the first game 13-5, we lost the second one 17-13, giving up 20 hits!

What do we need? Better pitching and a couple more reliable hitters. We had some decent relief pitching from a freshman at the end of the game. I wish she had come out sooner!

Better pitching. Face it. Till Mook gets a "real deal" real deal kid that can put up 225 innings a season with a 1.5 ERA, WT won't sniff another strong Elite 8 run. Everybody's after that kid. Can Mook recruit her?

[WT_TKW]

But WT has one of those new-fangled digital cameras, whereas Commerce still uses a candle-fired one. East Texas, you know.

The problem was the website having the wrong link, not a camera issue.

[BuffaloChip]

If you plan to purchase the video for the Commerce game today, be sure and do it from the Commerce website. The WT site has a bad link that actually points to a UT Tyler baseball game!

The quality of the broadcast is first rate, with 2 cameras. It's so much better than WT's single camera.

But WT has one of those new-fangled digital cameras, whereas Commerce still uses a candle-fired one. East Texas, you know.

[WT_TKW]

WT won 2 against LCU and split with Angelo for a very respectable showing against 2 very good teams.

You would think 13 runs in each game against Angelo would mean 2 wins, but it didn't. Their hitters were on fire, and while we won the first game 13-5, we lost the second one 17-13, giving up 20 hits!

What do we need? Better pitching and a couple more reliable hitters. We had some decent relief pitching from a freshman at the end of the game. I wish she had come out sooner!