Shocks SB at Getterman Classic (Baylor)

[1972Shocker]

Shocks close the tournament with a game against Arkansas, 3-1 thus far on the weekend.

Sloan started in the circle for the Shocks. After a scoreless 1st Sloan gave up back-to-back homers to lead off the 2nd and then wheels came off. After a bunt single and a hit batter by Sloan she was pulled and replaced by Katie. Another hit-by-pitch, 3 singles and a triple later and the Shocks trailed 7-0 after 2 innings.

Hindsight is easy, but I probably would have preferred to let Sloan try to work her way through the poor start to the 2nd inning.

Arkansas adds a run in the 3rd to go up 8-0.

Shocks get a single from Freshman Brianne Bond and a 2-out double from Freshman Sydny Steuver to put runners at 2nd and 3rd in the 5th but could not get the 2-out hit to score and extend the game. Final Arkansas 8 - Shocks 0.

Arkansas: 8 runs, 10 hits, no errors. 7 of their hits came in the 7-run 2nd inning.
Shocks: 0 runs, 5 hits, no errors.

[flyingMoose]

Arkansas adds a run in the 3rd to go up 8-0.

Shocks 0-8(5) Arkansas

The Razorbacks finish the run-ahead game in five innings. The Shocks had five hits, including a double by Sydney Stuever, a freshman from Andale.

What did we learn from this weekend? Unfortunately, the Shocks are exactly where we hoped they would not be - limited pitching, hitting and defense.

Brittney Osborn had four hits in the five games while Hayley, Melanie Jaegers and Laura Vickers all had three. The four doubles by Melanie, Laura, Hayley and Sydney were the extent of any power shown. As @1972Shocker pointed out, we only had four hitters to speak of last year and only two of those, Hayley and Erin Carney return. (Erin had a pinch-running appearance against Belmont, but nothing more. Does she have an injury that would limit her hitting? Has she just not been impressive enough for the new coaches?)

Sloan is a hit-your-spots, change-speeds pitcher. When she does that, she can be relatively successful. KA is more of a power pitcher, but she has to hit spots, too - she is not that "powerful." Unfortunately, hitting spots has not been her history. It is too early to know for sure about KJ, so I will not offer an opinion, but she appears to be along the lines of Sloan.

It will take a few weeks yet for Coach B to see what she has, a few weeks of putting in kids and seeing how they perform, but already three freshmen are seeing some meaningful innings.

[Snapshot9]

Really doesn't sound like we have much talent on the team given the preseason polls, and the number of errors committed and getting blown out in games. I guess that we can only hope that the coach recruits better in the future.

[Hovpen]

Note: Arkansas shortstop was at Butler last year. Still, this team is better than last years and will prove it given time.

[1972Shocker]

Really doesn't sound like we have much talent on the team given the preseason polls, and the number of errors committed and getting blown out in games. I guess that we can only hope that the coach recruits better in the future.

What I am looking for this year are just some signs of improvement during the year even if that doesn't translate into wins. Coach B has a mulitple year project on her hands to get this program stabilized and moving in the right direction. Hopefully, this year will complete the bottoming out phase.

[shoxlax]

It all starts with pitching in this game. One good pitcher would turn the program around. Any prospects out there?

[Hovpen]

Couple in state sophomores still available, and I'm fairly certain that WSU is in the hunt for one of them. But for next year???????

[flyingMoose]

What I am looking for this year are just some signs of improvement during the year even if that doesn't translate into wins. Coach B has a mulitple year project on her hands to get this program stabilized and moving in the right direction. Hopefully, this year will complete the bottoming out phase.

Yes, my evaluation after one-week (which I earlier said was impossible, but I did it anyway :( ) was probably unnecessarily negative. This is indeed a multi-year project, and if Coach B does nothing more than change the mind set, it will be a good year.

[flyingMoose]

This is the recap of Friday's games involving Baylor. It includes a video, the first minute or so of which is from the Shocks-Baylor game. It of course highlights Baylor hitting and pitching, but we see five of the hits given up by Sloan. Two were flairs into right field, one of which was knocked around by the sliding RF and became a double. One was a bouncer to short that became a hit when the SS decided too late that she had no play on the runner moving to third. Two were hit hard - a liner through the middle and a ball to deep center field that Rachel could have caught, but being new to CF, she turned the wrong way.