Shocker Softball-Looking ahead to 21-22

[flyingMoose]

Shockers Conclude Fall Home Slate with Win over FHSU

https://goshockers.com/news/2021/10/17/softball-shockers-conclude-fall-home-slate-with-win-over-fhsu.aspx

Wichita State capped its home schedule for fall ball with a 13-2 win over Fort Hays State Sunday afternoon at Wilkins Stadium.

In the seven home fall exhibition games, Wichita State scored 124 runs, while the pitching staff only allowed 10 runs in seven contests.

The Shockers scored their 13 runs on 18 hits with Sydney McKinney leading the way with three hits. Caroline Tallent, Arielle James, Addison Barnard, Neleigh Herring, and Jessica Garcia all registered two hits on the afternoon. Mills, Herring, and Zoe Jones tied for the team lead with three RBI.

Wichita State did most of its offensive damage in the first three innings, scoring two in the first, five in the second, and three in the third. Herring and Jones provided the power with back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the second.

Jordyn Pipkin (4.0 IP), Caitlin Bingham (1.0 IP), Alison Cooper (2.0 IP), Kenzie Schopfer (2.0 IP), and Erin McDonald (1.0 IP) combined to allow two runs on four hits in the circle.

Wichita State concludes fall ball on Wednesday when the Shockers travel to Stillwater, Okla., to face Oklahoma State at 5 p.m

[flyingMoose]

From the Oklahoma State site-


Softball October 20, 2021
OSU Softball Ends Fall With 4-3 Win Over Wichita State


STILLWATER – A Sydney Pennington grand slam lifted Oklahoma State softball to its seventh-consecutive win of the fall season over Wichita State, 4-3, at Cowgirl Stadium on Wednesday.

Kelly Maxwell earned the start for the Cowgirls, her third of the fall. She fanned four batters and kept the Shockers out of the hit column in her three innings of work.

The Shockers were first to score with a three-run home run in their half of the fourth.

OSU answered with Pennington's slam in the bottom of the sixth, which amounted to the game-winning play.

The Oklahoma State defense did its part in protecting the lead in the field, silencing the Shockers from the fifth inning on. Kiley Naomi and Brianna Evans each flashed the leather throughout the evening, particularly so with a pair of unassisted double plays.

In as the Cowgirls' closer in the seventh, Morgan Day struck out seven and allowed only a single hit in the final four innings to preserve the victory.

Wichita State	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	3	6	0
Oklahoma State	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	-	4	8	0

WP: Maxwell, K. LP: McDonald, E.; Time 2:26; Attendance - 411
HR OSU - Pennington, S.
HR WSU - Mills, L.

[WuDrWu]

Kind of sounded like that game mattered a little bit.

[flyingMoose]

Kind of sounded like that game mattered a little bit.

Reading the lead sentence, I did notice that English composition doesn't matter much anymore. I think we only played them once this fall.

[1972Shocker]

Only loss of the fall for the Shocks but one that is encouraging to me. Along with the 5-1 win over KU this provides some evidence that the success in the circle this fall was not simply a matter of facing over-matched opponents.

[1972Shocker]

Seven Sign NLI’s to Join Softball Program

https://goshockers.com/news/2021/11/10/seven-sign-nlis-to-join-softball-program.aspx

[WuDrWu]

Schedule is out. Men's basketball plays Alcorn State tonight and it's ASU's 10 straight roadie to start the season (they'll play 16 total before their 1st home game).


Shocker softball says hold my beer.


29 straight away from Wilkins road games until a home game against Kansas.

https://goshockers.com/sports/softball/schedule

[1972Shocker]

Schedule is out. Men's basketball plays Alcorn State tonight and it's ASU's 10 straight roadie to start the season (they'll play 16 total before their 1st home game).


Shocker softball says hold my beer.


29 straight away from Wilkins road games until a home game against Kansas.

https://goshockers.com/sports/softball/schedule

2 years ago their first 31 games were scheduled away from home. They played the first 27 of those games at which point the season was cancelled. I know most of the pre-conference games are played in tournament formats. Whether or not that is the primary reason for this I am not sure.

Do you think playing Oklahoma will be a good tune-up for AAC play?

Shocks play Oklahoma State 3 times. Twice in their Mizuno Classic Tournament prior to AAC play and 1 midweek game at Wilkins Stadium during conference play. The only other midweek game after conference play starts is a Tuesday game at Kansas City.

[SubGod22]

Looking forward to softball

[1972Shocker]

Looking forward to softball

Paul Suellentrop recently ran a series of articles on his Roundhouse blog on the Top 10 most significant and interesting stories in WSU for 2021.

No. 1 : Softball's Greatest Season Captivated Fans

https://goshockers.com/news/2021/12/31/the-roundhouse-no-1-softballs-greatest-season-captivated-fans.aspx

The softball team also had the #8 spot on his list which focused on Shocker softball's record setting offensive season The Shockers set new team season records for runs scored, home runs, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage. New individual season records were set for batting average, hits, home runs, RBIs.

https://goshockers.com/news/2021/12/27/the-roundhouse-no-8-shockers-set-hitting-records-of-all-sorts.aspx

This will be a tough act to follow. The Shocks seemed to have had a pretty solid fall season although that's a bit hard to evaluate. It will be interesting to see if they can keep it going at a high level although some fall off would not be unexpected after last year.

[SubGod22]

Last year's team was a hell of a lot of fun to watch. I'm excited about this year. They lost some big pieces but also had some youngsters who were studs. Not sure what Kristi brought in but I have a lit of faith in her. Gonna have to make it out to some games

[flyingMoose]

The Shockers are the Preseason pick to win the AAC in the Coaches' Poll.

Shockers (4 first-place votes) and 33 (pts)
South Florida (1) and 31
Central Florida (2) and 29
Houston 19
Tulsa 18
Memphis 9
East Carolina 8

[WuDrWu]

Where's the pitching going to come from? This appears to be a team likely to hit a lot, maybe even elite level bats, and should defend ok if they have a catcher.

But can we pitch at all?

[flyingMoose]

But can we pitch at all?

I think Erin and Caitlin have made enough progress that we should be okay. However, they are both seniors, so some innings early in the season will have to be given to the freshmen (three, including a redshirt) so the coaches can see what we have there. Lainee Brown can catch, and Jessica Garcia is also a possibility behind the plate.

[1972Shocker]

With Georgina Corrick coming back for her 5th year at USF I have to go with the Bulls. Alea White at UCF has moved on. In any case, the voting is razor thin between the top 3 picks.

The Shocks seemed like they pitched okay this past fall but that is a bit hard to gauge. Not sure we have any proven arms. Erin and Caitlin have at times been good but they also have at times been bad. They need to take the next step to being consistently pretty good. Whether or not any of the newcomers can chip in adequately this spring only time will tell.

I think the Shocks will hit okay but replacing Madison Perrigan, Bailey Lange, Ryleigh Buck, Bailee Nickerson and Kaylee Huecker will be a challenge. The two transfers HCKA picked up, Zoe Jones and Arielle James, should help with that. I expect Sydney McKinney will continue to deliver. Don't know if Addison Barnard will be able to duplicate her freshman year or not. Need a big year from Neleigh Herring and LoLo Mills to provide some protection for Addison in the batting order.

Need to find some offensive punch in the outfield to go along with Addison and to replace Bailee. Bailey Urban only hit .212 last year and Wylie Glover hit 211. That was a weak spot at the bottom off the batting order.

As flyingMoose said Lainee Brown and/or Jessica Garcia will replace Butters at catcher but it's probably not reasonable that either one of them or a combination of both of them will be able to replace Butters' offensive production.

Neleigh will be a fixture at 1st base I think. Perhaps DP on occasion with Camryn Compton filling in.

I expect that James will take over for Kaylee Huecker at 2nd base. It will be interested to see where HCKA will slot her in the batting order. Perhaps in the 2-spot behind Syd and in front of Barn Yard.

Not sure where Addison will play in the outfield. She is a far better athlete than Bailee Nickerson was but as far as I could tell was far behind Bailee in outfield instincts.

I guess it will be between Zoe Jones and Cam Compton for the 3rd base job. Perhaps some job sharing at least to start the season. Can either of those two play some right field?

But WuDrWu zoned in on the big issue. Can we pitch enough?