Shocker SB at Rock Chalk Challenge

[flyingMoose]

After returning from a trip down I-35 to Norman, the Shockers head north on I-35 (well, maybe, kinda) to Lawrence for five games hosted by KU. The Shocks play two games on Friday: Kansas City at 130 pm and Kansas at 4 pm. Saturday's games are at 11 am against Kansas City and at 630 pm against Drake. The Shockers close out the weekend versus the Jayhawks at 130 pm on Sunday.

Kansas City are a member of the WAC where they are a preseason pick for sixth among seven teams. Indeed, the Western AC - the Roos are the only team in the Central Time Zone. Other schools range geographically from Seattle U to New Mexico State. The current record for Kansas City is 5-9 including a run-rule loss to Missouri on Wednesday. The offense is lead by Chyanne Williams (OPS of 1.024 and three homers) and Delaney Fenoglio (1.007). Earlier in the season, Sydney Garcia had a nice weekend and was named Hitter of the Week in the WAC. The pitchers are Kailyn Packard (ERA of 3.88 and WHIP of 1.54) and Mia Hoveland (6.21 and 2.54).

Kansas were a unanimous preseason pick for seventh and last in the Big 12. Their current record is 8-11 with a 1-7 mark against ranked teams. With close to half of their games against ranked teams, they certainly have not backed off on their schedule despite the low expectations in the Big 12. Against common opponents, the Jayhawks have a run-rule loss to Missouri and a loss to UTSA. Their offense is headed by Shelby Gayre (OPS of 1.561 and eight home runs), Brittany Jackson (1.063), and Madison Hirsch (1.013). Tatum Goff (ERA of 5.36 and WHIP of 1.45) and Hailey Reed (6.10 and 1.37) are the pitchers.

Drake are the preseason pick to win the Missouri Valley Conference, narrowly ahead of North Iowa. Their record is 7-12 including two run-rule losses to Tulsa and a loss to ranked Oklahoma State. Offensive leaders are Emily Valtman (OPS of 1.075) and Macy Johnson (1.047). Pitchers in innings-order are Mackenzie Hupke (ERA of 5.44 and WHIP of 2.33), Allie Timmons (7.95 and 2.10), and Nicole Timmons (0.68 and 0.81). Nicole Timmons has been Pitcher of the Week in the Valley and Valtman has been Newcomer of the Week.

[flyingMoose]

Game One

Kansas City v Shockers

Erin is in the circle for the Shocks and Packard for the Roos. Ryleigh is back in the lineup and Bailey is the DP.

Back-to-back doubles score one run for KC in the first. After a walk with two-outs, another double scores two more. Three strikeouts for Erin in the inning, but ... . 3-0 Roos after a half-inning. For the Shocks, a single by Bailey followed by a homer by Butters narrows the gap. 3-2 KC after one.

With two outs and nobody on in the second, Caitlin is on in relief of Erin. Blister? Some other injury? Nothing on Twitter other than the pitching change. Still 3-2 after two.

And after three.

Two walks lead off the fourth for KC, but two unassisted force outs at third and a strikeout end the half-inning. Bailee doubles to lead off the Shocker fourth and moves to third on a sac bunt. Wylie's two-out single scores her. 3-3 after four complete.

Six-up, six-down in the fifth. Still 3-3.

Caitlin has another three-up, three-down in the sixth for nine consecutive batters retired. Bailee walks with one out in the Shocker sixth and advances on a wild pitch. LoJo pinch-runs for her and remains at third when Bailey U reaches second base on an infield error. LoLo's pinch-hit single scores both of the runners. With two outs, Sydney scores LoLo with a double and then scores herself on a double by Bailey. Butters then extends the lead by another two runs with her second homer of the game. 9-3 and counting. KC brings on a new pitcher who gets the last out of the inning. Six runs score for the Shocks, five unearned. 9-3 after six.

Caitlin gets two outs to lead off the seventh, giving her eleven consecutive batters retired before a single ends the string.


Kansas City 3-9 Shockers

Caitlin gave up no runs, three hits, and two walks over 5.1 innings to get the win. She had three strikeouts.

Butters led the offense with two two-run homers. Bailey had a double and a single, and both Sydney and Bailee had doubles. The Shocks had nine hits in the game.

[1972Shocker]

The 1st inning was a bit of an oddity. 5 runs scored between the 2 teams yet 5 of the 6 outs were strikeouts.

Erin gets the 1st two batters in the 2nd including a strike out for the 2nd out and then is replaced by Caitlyn. That seems odd. Injury perhaps?

See how much better things are when flyingMoose is around to report on the game action.

[flyingMoose]

Erin gets the 1st two batters in the 2nd including a strike out for the 2nd out and then is replaced by Caitlyn. That seems odd. Injury perhaps?

An injury is my best guess. Another possibility is that Erin was just not hitting her spots even though she was getting (strike)outs, and HCKB had seen enough. An injury seems far more likely though.

[flyingMoose]

Game Two

Shockers at Kansas

Caitlin remains in the circle to start the game against KU, and Bailey is the DP again. Reed is pitching for the Jayhawks.

When the game starts and as expected, Bailey replaces the FLEX, Caitlin, and is the pitcher. If Bailey gets in trouble, Caitlin will re-enter to pitch and Bailey will remain in the batting order. This is a common tactic with good-hitting pitchers and has been done several times by the Shockers earlier this season.

The Shockers load the bases in the first on a double by Bailey, walk to Butters and a hit-batter (Ryleigh), but Bailee grounds into a forceout to end the half-inning. KU scores two runs on a walk, a run-scoring double, a passed ball and a run-scoring single. 2-0 after one.

After a hit batter and single begin the second for KU, two groundouts score another run for them. 3-0 after two.

With one out in the Shocker third, Bailey is hit by a pitch and Butters and Neleigh follow with singles to load the bases. One out later, Bailee singles to score two runs. KU leads 3-2 after three complete.

In the Jayhawk fourth, a double, sac bunt and single score another run. They eventually load the bases on singles but cannot push another run across. 4-2 after four.

Butters leads off the fifth with a homer, her third of the day and the AAC record-setting 36th career homer. Now 4-3 KU as the game moves to the sixth.

After a one-out double by Wylie in the sixth, KU changes pitchers. An out later, Bailey drives her home with a single to tie the game at 4-4. On to the bottom of the sixth.

Oops! A single and an error precede a three-run blast by the Jayhawks. Then a solo homer follows. A single, a hit batter and a fielder's choice load the bases. It is getting real ugly real fast. Still one out. A sac fly scores one more run. 9-4.

The Shocks load the bases in the seventh with a single by Ryleigh and two walks. Then Bailee is doubled off second unassisted on a popup to shortstop to end the game. Sounds like some bad baserunning.


Shockers 4-9 Kansas

Not a badly pitched game by Bailey until the wheels came off in the sixth. She gave up eight earned runs on twelve hits and one walk.

Butters had a single and a home run while Bailey had a single and double among the nine hits for the Shockers. Bailee had two RBI with her single.


Did Shockernet go down for others? Mine was gone, so I left for a while, came back and finished the game post.

[1972Shocker]

Interesting to see Caitlin pretty much going back-to-back. Says a lot about the level of confidence HCKB has in her pitching depth.

[flyingMoose]

Interesting to see Caitlin pretty much going back-to-back.

See in the thread above. I should have made the expanded possibility/explanation earlier.

[flyingMoose]

Other Friday Games

Drake 6-1 Kansas City

Drake 2-12(5) Kansas

[flyingMoose]

Butters leads off the fifth with a homer, her third of the day and the AAC record-setting 36th career homer.

On the Shocker site, the AAC record is noted. However, the site also notes that Butters still trails the Shocker record of 39 shared by Laurie Derrico and Cacy Williams. Butters played one year in the Valley and three years in the AAC. Laurie played two years in both the Valley and the AAC. I assume since the majority of her seasons were not in the AAC, Laurie's 39 homers do not get her a record in the AAC. Obviously, most of Butter's career is in the AAC.

[flyingMoose]

Game Three

Kansas City v Shockers

Bailey has the start for the Shocks with Neleigh as the DP, Ryleigh moving to first, Sydney moving to third and Syndey N at second as the FLEX (that is, on defense but not in the batting order). Hoveland is the starter for KC.

A one-out throwing error by Bailey puts a runner at second and she promptly scores on a double. A single and a hit batter load the bases for the Roos. A line drive back to Bailey and a strikeout and the Shockers are out of the half-inning. 1-0 with the Shocks coming to bat.

Bunt singles by Sydney and Bailey lead off the Shocker half. A third-to-first DP is followed by a walk to Bailee. Ryleigh then cranks a three-run shot. Neleigh walks and Bailey U reaches on an infield error. Kaylee scores both of them with a triple and the lead grows to 5-1 after one.

Bailey has a double in the second but is later doubled off a fly ball to the right fielder. 5-1 after two.

Another three-up, three-down inning for Bailey. She has now retired eight in a row. Neleigh doubles but does not score in the bottom of the third. Still 5-1 after three.

Three more for Bailey in the fourth. Wylie leads off with a single and advances to third on a wild pitch and a fly out. From there, a single by Bailee gets her home. The Shocker lead is now 6-1 after four.

Bailey's string of consecutive retired batters reaches thirteen before a two-out single in the fifth. Neleigh leads off the Shocker fifth with a single. LoJo gets an appearance, pinch-hitting for Bailey U. Nothing there, but Kaylee reaches on an error, and Wylie walks to load the bases. Pitching change for the Roos. A walk to Sydney scores one run, and a walk to Butters scores another, a walk to Bailee scores another. Ball game by run-rule. 9-1 Shocks.


Kansas City 1-9(5) Shockers

Bailey had a nice outing but she should against this team: no earned runs, giving up three hits and no walks. She four strikeouts.

Both Bailey and Neleigh had a double and single among the nine hits for the Shocks. Ryleigh had the three-run homer. The Shockers also benefitted from eight walks.

[1972Shocker]

Good to see Bailee Nickerson's bat coming to life recently.

Nice work by Bailey in the circle after a bit of a shaky start.

[flyingMoose]

Other Saturday Games

Kansas City 4-12(5) Kansas

Drake 8-14 Kansas

[flyingMoose]

Game Four

Shockers v Drake

Caitlin is in the circle and Bailey is the DP. Neleigh is sitting with, as before, Ryleigh at first, Sydney at third, and Syndey N at second. This time Sydney N is in the batting order. Nicole Timmons is pitching for Drake.

Sydney leads off with her first homer of the year, but three strikeouts follow. Caitlin gets three ground ball outs. 1-0 after one.

Three more strikeouts in the Shocker second. Wow!! Still 1-0 after two complete and Sydney has been the only base runner.

Sydney N walks to lead off the third and moves to third on a sac bunt and wild pitch. From there, Sydney's sac fly scores her. Bailey walks but is caught stealing to end the Shocker half. The Bulldogs open their third with a walk and hit batter. With two outs, another hit batter loads the bases and a run scores on a wild pitch. 2-1 Shockers after three.

Butters opens the fourth with a walk, but the Shockers cannot move her around. Drake gets its first hit, a single, to leadoff their half of the fourth. Although the runner reaches third with one out, two groundouts follow without the run scoring. 2-1 after four full. Both teams have only one hit at this point.

Syndey N opens the fifth with a double and moves to third with one out on a throwing error on Sydney's infield single, but neither Bailey nor Butters can get her home.

Caitlin gives up a double and a walk with a wild pitch buried in the walk to start the Bulldog fifth. With runners at the corners, Bailey is on to pitch. A sac fly advances both runners, one run scoring, and a double scores the other runner. An error adds another runner, still with one out, but the Shocks escape further damage. Drake takes a 3-2 lead after five.

Bailee and Ryleigh open the Shocker sixth with singles, but no one can move them.

Whoop! A Wylie single and the second home run by Sydney and the Shocks take the lead in the top of the seventh. Bailey's bunt single is followed by her steal of second. Butters doubles, but Bailey can only advance to third - a fly ball almost caught one assumes. Still no outs. Bailee singles and both runners move up, Bailey scoring. Ryleigh's bunt single scores LoJo who had run for Butters. With one out, Kaylee's single loads the bases. Sydney N walks to score another run before Wylie lines into a double play to end the Shocker seventh. Five runs on seven hits in the inning, more than doubling the five hits through six innings. 7-3 Shockers.

The Bulldogs open their seventh with a double, but three groundouts follow.


Shockers 7-3 Drake

The late, big rally does the trick. Twelve hits for the Shocks, led by Sydney with three hits including two homers and two singles each for Bailee and Ryleigh.

Bailey has three shutout innings to get the win, giving up three hits. Caitlin pitched reasonably well until the start of the fifth. She yielded two hits, two walks and two hit batters over her four innings plus two batters.

[1972Shocker]

Nice 7th inning rally Shocks to come from behind against what appeared to be top notch pitcher in Drake's Nicole Timmons (5-1 with a 1.10 ERA coming in to the game).

Sidney McKinney clearly the Player of the Game.

[Bossdawg1305]

Herring hurt?