Shocker SB at Cougar Classic (College of Charleston)

[flyingMoose]

The Shockers begin their 2019 campaign in Charleston, SC, at the Cougar Classic.

The Shocks open the tournament on Friday, playing the first two games. Central Michigan is the opponent at 8am followed by Virginia Tech at 1015am. Games Saturday are against Pitt at 5pm followed by Charleston at 715pm. They close out the tournament with another game against Pitt at 1015am on Sunday.

The Chippewas of Central Michigan are members of the MAC. They finished 22-26 last year with a 12-11 mark in the MAC, going 0-2 in the conference tournament as the sixth seed. CMU return one All-MAC First Team player in 1B Erika Underwood, while DP Shaidan Knapp was a member of the MAC All-Freshman team. Their pitching is young with two sophomores and three freshmen. Cloe Mallory and Samantha Howell had eleven starts between them last year.

Virginia Tech (23-30, 7-16 last year) are members of the ACC. The Hokies with a new coach are a preseason pick for tenth of twelve teams, somehow receiving one vote for first. Defending National Champion Florida State is the perennial favorite in this conference. Pitcher Carrie Eberle is a pick for the Preseason All-Conference Team.

The Panthers of Pitt are also members of the ACC. They were 33-18-1 and 16-6 last year and are picked for fourth this year. They also have a new head coach. Olivia Gray is a choice for the Preseason All-Conference Team. Sarah Dawson is a returning pitcher who started almost half of their games last year.

College of Charleston (31-27, 8-13) are a member of the Colonial Athletic Association which has not published any preseason selections. Gracyn Thrasher was a member of the conference All-Rookie team for the Cougars last year. They return both of their main pitchers (52 of 58 starts) from last year in Izzy Berouty and Summer Jenkins.

The Shockers have a lot of options in the infield, so we may see a number of starting lineups in the first few weeks of the season. We will also see how much progress the sophomore pitching has made. SS Laurie Derrico and P Bailey Lange are returning members of the All-Conference First Team while Ryleigh Buck was a member of the Second Team. Bailee Nickerson was a member of the All-Rookie squad.

[flyingMoose]

I'll stick this in here.

Sully's RH article about team chemistry.

[flyingMoose]

College of Charleston ... are a member of the Colonial Athletic Association which has not published any preseason selections.

Now they have. The Cougars are second of eight teams in the Preseason Poll. They received the only first-place vote that did not go to perennial power James Madison (coaches cannot vote for their own team).

[1972Shocker]

Bailey Lange Named to Softball America's Top 100

[flyingMoose]

Changed the start times to CT.

[1972Shocker]

Cougar Classic Tournament Notes

WEEKEND SCHEDULE (Times are CST)
Friday, Feb. 8 @ 8 am - Wichita State vs. Central Michigan
Friday, Feb. 8 @ 10:15 am - Wichita State vs. Virginia Tech
Saturday, Feb. 9 @ 5 pm - Wichita State vs. Pitt
Saturday, Feb. 9 @ 7:15 pm - Wichita State at College of Charleston
Sunday, Feb. 10 @ 10:15 am - Wichita State vs. Pitt

[flyingMoose]

Another RH article focusing on the options and flexibility of the team.

The article notes the fences are ten feet deeper and one foot taller, perhaps impacting Laurie's chances for setting the Shocker career HR mark.

The six foot height of the fence and the distances of 195' down the line and 220' to center are dictated by the NCAA.

[jdmee]

Anybody know why on Sunday we replay Pitt instead of playing Purdue? Or is that a mistake in the schedule?

[flyingMoose]

It is because Pitt and Virginia Tech, both members of the ACC, are in the tournament. In order for them to not play each other, we play Pitt twice and the Hokies play Purdue twice. It is common for conference opponents to not play each other in pre-conference tournaments.

[jdmee]

Thanks. Didn't think about that.

[flyingMoose]

Game One

Shockers v Central Michigan

The starting lineup is:

rf Bailey
3b Ryleigh
ss Laurie
c Madison
lf Bailee
cf Asea
dp Lauren Mills
1b Neleigh
2b Sydney McKinney
p Caitlin

[flyingMoose]

Samantha Howell is in the circle for the Chippewas.

In the top of the first, Laurie draws a two-out, full-count walk and Butters drives her home with a triple.

In the bottom half, Caitlin loads the bases with one out on two singles and a four-pitch walk. Ugh! We have seen this before. A sac fly scores one run and the second scores on a cutoff and bad throw to third by Neleigh. A ground out ends the inning. CMU leads 2-1 after one.

In the Shocker second, a double by Asea, wild pitch and walk to Lauren puts runners on the corners. A sac fly by Neleigh scores Asea but Lauren is thrown out trying to advance to second. The Shocks the load the bases on a single by Sydney, an error on Bailey's ground ball and a walk to Ryleigh. Pitching change for the Chippewas. Laurie ends the inning on a foul pop-out.

Three-up, three-down for the bottom third of the CMU lineup in the second. Tied, 2-2.

In the third after Butters walks, a fielder's choice and a single by Lauren set the stage for a three-run homer by Neleigh. Shockers 5-2 after three complete.

A leadoff double for the Chippewas in the fourth, but three groundouts follow. Shocks still lead, 5-2 after four.

Butters has a leadoff walk in the fifth, but no one can move her. The score remains 5-2. After a bit of a rough start, Caitlin has only given up a walk and double in the last four innings.

Neleigh leads off the sixth with a single, but again, no one can move her. Defensive changes for the Shocks in the bottom of the sixth: Ryleigh to 1b, Kaylee enters the game at 2b, Sydney to 3b. CMU leads off with a single, but a Shocker DP started by Sydney at third erases the runner. 5-2 after six.

CMU brings on one of their freshman pitchers to start the seventh. Butters gets a one-out walk, her third of the game. Pinch-runner Adi Reese advances to second on a wild pitch and scores on a single by Asea. 6-2 as we go to the bottom of the seventh.

The Chippewas have a single and a double in the inning, but a caught-stealing prevents any serious threat.


Shockers 6-2 Central Michigan

The Shocks get a workman-like win to open the season. Caitllin gave up one earned run on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Neleigh had two hits and four RBI with a home run. Asea was the other Shocker with two hits including a double and had one RBI. Butters' run-scoring triple was the only hit by the top five spots in the order among the seven hits by the Shocks.

[ShockTalk]

Thanks for the updates.

[flyingMoose]

Game Two

Virginia Tech v Shockers

This lineup is:

p Bailey
3b Sydney
c Butters
dp Neleigh
ss Laurie
cf Asea
1b Ryleigh
rf Bailee
lf Wylie Glover
2b Kaylee

[flyingMoose]

Carrie Eberle is in the circle for the Hokies. The two staff aces are facing off.

VT starts with a vengeance: single, single, run-scoring double, wild pitch that scores another run, walk, hit batter, double that scores two more runs and finally three outs are recorded. 4-0 after the top of the first.

The Shocks load the bases in their half of the first on a bunt single by Sydney, an error and with two outs, a walk to Laurie, but Asea strikes out to end the inning. 4-0 after one complete.

The beating goes on in the second. Two singles and a three-run homer run the score to 7-0 with only one out in the inning.

Hmm. No LiveStats updates for more than five minutes. Maybe the relief pitchers are doing rock-paper-scissors to see who comes on in relief.

Oh, here it is. Massive position changes (seven of them) with Erin McDonald, the transfer from Louisiana Tech, on in relief. She closes out the inning with a fly out and strike out.

The Hokies tack on two more runs in the third to make the score 9-0. We are now in runs-ahead rule territory (eight after five). Sydney opens up the Shocker half of the third with a single and moves to third on a ground out and wild pitch. Laurie mixes in a walk, but the Shocks don't dent the scoreboard. 9-0 after three.

Two more runs in the Hokie fourth. Erin does not throw that hard, relying on her ball movement. If that or her location is off, bad things are going to happen.

The Shockers get on the board in the bottom of the fourth. A single by Ryleigh, walk to Bailee and infield single by Adi load the bases. A ground ball by Sydney scores a run and a double by Butters scores two more. 11-3 after four complete.

Hailey is on to pitch for the Shocks in the fifth and works a one-two-three inning against the top of the order. The Shocks threaten in the bottom of the fifth with a double by Laurie, wild pitch and walk to Asea, all with no outs. But when Ryleigh fouls out to third, Asea is somehow doubled off first(?). The scoring says "p to 1b" so I suspect there was some sort of continuation play although it is not clear. At any rate, Bailee fanned to end the game.


Virginia Tech 11-3(5) Shockers

The story here is that Bailey was totally ineffective: 1.1 IP, seven earned runs on seven hits and one walk, one hit batter and one wild pitch. Butters had a double and two RBI, Laurie had her double and Sydney had two singles.

[WuDrWu]

Looks like we need a run to continue the game. Leadoff double helps that cause.

[WuDrWu]

Getting doubled up at first on a foul out in the infield however, is not.

[flyingMoose]

Inquiring minds want to know so here is my theory. Asea tagged up when she saw the pop-up would be in foul territory, exactly as she should. When she saw the throw go back to the pitcher, she thought she could catch the second baseman and pitcher sleeping and broke for second. (Why? We need a lot more than her run. Laurie's run prolongs the game. That's another story.) But they weren't sleeping. Asea got caught in a short rundown or got thrown out diving back into first.

That's my theory.

[WuDrWu]

Perhaps VT will be better than expected in the ACC, but this appears to be an unfortunate reality check for a team hoping if not expecting to be elite this season.

[1972Shocker]

Perhaps but that may be the poorest outing Bailey Lange has had in the circle for the Shockers. Let's hope it proves to be an outlier. Bailey is a pretty good competitor. I think she will bounce back. We'll see.

The hitting needs to ratchet up as well.

[flyingMoose]

Her very-early-season ERA is 36.75. :) That will be dropping like a rock.

[flyingMoose]

Other Friday Scores

Central Michigan 0-6 Virginia Tech

Purdue 4-8 Charleston

Purdue 13-9(8) Pitt

Pitt 4-10 Charleston

[flyingMoose]

Other Saturday Scores

Central Michigan 3-11(5) Purdue

Virginia Tech 7-5 Purdue

Pitt 6-11 Central Michigan

Virginia Tech 13-0(5) Charleston
The Hokies beat the purported ace of the Cougars. They have not really been challenged to this point. Purdue scored four runs in the seventh to make that game close.