19/21 Shocker SB at Tulsa

[WuDrWu]

By my count Syd needs 10 more hits to move into 4th all time by herself. Only guaranteed 5 more games (assuming an at large is pretty safe right now) if the weather holds.

Certainly a possibility for 7 or more.

I do believe she moved back into the National lead for BA today. The girl in front of her was 0-3. Syd was 6-7.

[BAShocker]

Not sure there could be a more uncomfortable way to watch any game of any kind than at TU. Sitting on stone. Horrible. There are a few bleachers, very few.

Most will need to see a chiropractor.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks did clinch at least a tie for the AAC regular season championship today. UCF has also won the first 2 games of its series with Houston. Also, I believe the Shockers have clinched the #1 seed in the AAC Tournament as the hold the tiebreaker over UCF.

A Shocker sweep of Tulsa tomorrow or a UCF loss to Hourston tomorrow or a UCF loss to Memphis next weekendd in their final series of the AAC regular seaon will give the Shocks the outright AAC regular season championship. I really don't see UCF losing any of their final 4 games. Houston is on a 5 game losing streak and Memphis is 8-37 on the season. So I think the Shocks need a win tomorrow to win the regular season title outright.

[1972Shocker]

By my count Syd needs 10 more hits to move into 4th all time by herself. Only guaranteed 5 more games (assuming an at large is pretty safe right now) if the weather holds.

Certainly a possibility for 7 or more.

I do believe she moved back into the National lead for BA today. The girl in front of her was 0-3. Syd was 6-7.

Syd was 6-8 today. 4-5 in Game 1 and 2-3 in Game 2. Her 1 out in Game 2 came when the ball hit her in fair territory on a bunt attempt.

[1972Shocker]

My gut is telling me that Sunday's series finale at Tulsa will be perhaps the closest game of the weekend.

I am guessing Maura Moore will start in the circle for Tulsa and she has looked pretty good in the first two games for the most part. I think she is capable of keeping Tulsa in the game. However, if the Shocks can get to her Tulsa doesn't seem to have much behind her.

My guess is that HCKA will go with the freshman to try to clinch an outright AAC Title for the Shocks. However,, both Lauren and Alex will be available if and as needed. Alex has only pitched 4 innings, Lauren has pitched 5 innings and Alison only 3 innings so far in this series.

In any case, let's gitter dun Ladies!

[flyingMoose]

Game Three

As prognosticated, Alex and Maura Moore are in the circle.


Syd reaches on an error, and Addie bunts her to second. Neither Lauren nor Zoe can score Syd. No score in the middle of the first. A single, fielder's choice and another single but runners at the corners for Tulsa with two outs. Yet another single scores one run. Tulsa takes an early 1-0 lead.

Three up, three down in the Shocker second.

Alison is on to pitch to start the bottom of the second. A single, a one-out double, and a walk load the bases. Ugh! Is this Sunday against Houston? Line out to Krystin, called strike three. 0-1 after two complete.

Sydney gets a two-out walk, but nothing else happens. A one-out single and two-out error for the Golden Hurricane, but Alison gets line drive out to escape the jam. Still 1-0 Tulsa after three.

Three fly outs in the fourth for the still-hitless Shockers. With two outs, Tulsa gets two infield singles, but a ground out ends the threat. Tulsa 1-0 after four.

Moore continues to mow the Shockers down - now seven in a row. An error on Syd's ground ball in the first and her walk in the third are the only baserunners.

Lo is in to pitch to start the Tulsa fifth. With one out, a hit batter, and a single and the Golden Hurricane have another threat. A walk loads the bases. A forceout at the plate and a flyout follow. On to the sixth with Tulsa still in the lead.

Krystin opens the Shocker sixth with a single but is thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. :( Back to the top of the order. Sydney has a bunt single, and Addie follows with a bunt single of her own, both bunts to the 3B. Lauren singles to score Syd. Zoe flies out, but Lolo drives in Addie with a two-out single. The Shockers break up the no-hitter and take a 2-1 lead to the bottom of the sixth.

2-3-4 are down in order for Tulsa. Shockers lead 2-1 after six.

Strikeouts of the first two Shockers, but Nash is on in relief of Moore. Nash gets the out, and we move to the bottom of the seventh.

Pop up, pop up, line out to Addie. The Shockers are undisputed regular-season champions of the AAC.


Shockers 2-1 Tulsa


All five Shocker hits are in the sixth with the single by Lolo driving in the winning run. Lo was the most effective of the three pitchers, yielding one hit over three scoreless innings and getting the win.

[ShockTalk]

Dodge a bullet! Hopefully, a wakeup call.

[flyingMoose]

Other AAC Series

Houston 0-3 UCF

Memphis 0-3 USF
Three shutouts.

East Carolina - bye

[1972Shocker]

Called it. Whew, that was close.

One thing I did not anticipate was that Tulsa would leave 12 players on base over the first five innings. Talk about the Shocks living on the edge, you could not find a better example of that than the first 5 innings of this game.

After Krysten was thrown out at 2nd leading off the 6th with a solid base hit to left center, that took an absolutely perfect throw to get her things were definitley looking sketchy for the Shocks. At that point who had Syd and Addi laying down back-to-back bunts on their bingo card. Wasn't surprised that Syd bunted but was surprised that Addi bunted (as was Tulsa I think). Both bunts were perfectly executed and did not even draw a throw. Then Lulu and Lolo delivered line drive singles up the middle in the clutch. (See HCKB's quote in post below).

Not sure if the Shocker 6th inning rally demoralized Tulsa a little but after living on the edge for 5 innings. Lauren only, needed 13 pitches to record the final 6 outs of the game as Tulsa went down in order in the 6th and 7th innings.

Congratulations to a terrific group of young ladies for capturing the AAC regulars season champioship. A team that is perhaps emblematic that the whole is sometimes greater than the sum of its parts, although this teams does have some nice parts including the best all-around player in the country.

The Tusla color commentator made a great point. Syd could have played anywhere in the country if she had chosen to. So grateful and thankful that she chose to finish off her amazing career as a Shocker which only adds to her unparalleled Shocker legacy.

Beating KU in Lawrence on Wednesday would be a perfect way to top off a terrific regular season.

[1972Shocker]

Coach Kristi Bredbenner:

“I didn’t think we were panicking, but we weren’t making great adjustments at the plate,” Bredbenner said. “Their pitcher was throwing really great and the wind was blowing in, so we talked about flattening it out. Don’t try to hit it to left field, try to hit it hard to center field."

All-American Syd McKinney"

“It kind of felt like the third game (a loss) against Houston with the wind blowing in like that,” McKinney said. “We’re big hitters, so that was tough for us to adjust and start putting the ball on the ground. That’s what we had to do and I knew going into the box the last time that I just needed to put the ball on the ground and the people after me were going to pick me up.”

Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/sports/colleg...#storylink=cpy

[1972Shocker]

Syd was 6-8 today. 4-5 in Game 1 and 2-3 in Game 2. Her 1 out in Game 2 came when the ball hit her in fair territory on a bunt attempt.

Syd finished the series 7-10 plus contributed her usual stellar defense and speedy base running.

Sydney has her average at .533. Santa Clara's Ashley Trierweiler, after their game today against LMU, is hitting .507. Sydney has 96 hits on the season compared to 68 for Trierweiler.

If am counting correctly Sydney moves into sole possession of 5th place on the NCAA All-Time hits list with 372 hits. (Correction - 371 hits)

To bad the Shocks only played 47 regular season games last year.

Correction: Looks like Sydney is at 371 hits in her career. So she is in a 5th place tie at this point.

[ShockerFever]

Did the covid bullshit interfere with any of her potential games played?

[1972Shocker]

Did the covid bullshit interfere with any of her potential games played?

No. They only scheduled 49 regular season games and 2 were rained out (vs Arkansas in Fayetteville and vs Minnesota in Charlotte NC). I don't think COVID impact their ability to schedule games in 2022.

This year they scheduled 53 regular season games and assuming the get the game against Kansas in will have played 52 games with the OU game being the only cancellation (also due to weather - sort of).

On the other hand Sydney did get an extra 27 games in 2020 before the season was cancelled and picked up 34 hits that are included in her career totals.

The hits per game are probably a better metric to use assuming you have enough games played to be meaningful and somewhat comparable.

Sydney is currently at 1.552 hits per game in her career. Which is currently 3rd best among the All-Time hit leaders.

Sydney's year-by-year hits per game is interesting as well:
2019: 57/55 = 1.036
2020: 34/27 = 1.259
2021: 87/55 = 1.582
2022: 97/51 = 1.902
2023: 96/51 = 1.882 (and counting)

Syd's last two year's have just been crazy good. Her defensive play at shortstop isn't too shabby either.

[ShockerDropOut]

Having watched Sydney play, and as GREAT of a hitter as she is, I honestly believe her defense is better. I did only see a hand full of games this year, but there was a web gem in each of them and usually a SC top 10 worthy play.

[1972Shocker]

Having watched Sydney play, and as GREAT of a hitter as she is, I honestly believe her defense is better. I did only see a hand full of games this year, but there was a web gem in each of them and usually a SC top 10 worthy play.

That may very well be the case and it's not like she is stuck out in right field. I think it's safe to say she is a GREAT all-around softball player. Arguably the best all-around player in the country. On top of that I think she provides outstanding leadership for this Shocker team. About as complete of a package as you can get.