Shocker Softball at #1 Oklahoma

[1972Shocker]

Not sure where the esteemed flyingMoose is but the Shockers travel to Norman this evening to take on the #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners.

One heckuva way to restart after a 10 day layoff.

Oklahoma is 29-0 on the season they have 16 shut outs and 8 games where they only allowed 1 run. They only have 3 games that were close. The beat #3 UCLA 4-1 early in the season, they beat #17 Tennessee 9-8 in 10 innings and edged Utah 2-1. All three of these games were in California. 24 of the 29 games were shortened by run-rule.

And their hitting may actually be a bigger strength than their pitching.

Here are the game notes from goShockers.com.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
The unanimous No. 1 team in the country is 29-0 this season. The defending National Champions lead the nation in batting average, home runs and team ERA. Jocelyn Alo, the NCAA all-time home run leader, is hitting .529 with 15 home runs and 38 RBI. Oklahoma has six different players hitting .396 or higher. True freshman Jordy Bahl is 12-0 with a 0.80 ERA in 69.2 innings with 116 strikeouts. Hope Trautwein is 8-0 with an ERA of just 0.15 in 47.2 innings of work.

I am not sure how the OU softball stadium sets up but if it is similar to Wilkins stadium where a south wind blows out to left this could get interesting. The forecast calls for a south wind of 25-26 mph during the game.

[1972Shocker]

A comparison of team stats is quite interesting.

Oklahoma leads the nation in batting average (.384), On Base Percentage (.502) and Slugging Percentage (.777). That gives them a 1.279 team OPS.

The Shocks are #8 in batting average (.342), #7 in On Base Percentage (.429) and #4 in Slugging Percentage (.643). The Shocks have a team OPS of 1.072.

OU leads the nation with 74 home runs and 2.55 home runs per game. The Shocks have are 5th in total home runs with 54 and 2nd in home runs per game at 2.08.

Great numbers for both teams with OU having a clear but not overwhelming advantage.

But then the pitching. OU leads the nation with a team ERA of .70. The Shockers' team ERA of 4.57 ranks #214.

I see 5-inning run-rule game. I would like to say a quick 5-inning game but not sure it will be quick and it most likely will not be painless.

[1972Shocker]

Jordy Bahl in the circle for the Sooners. 0.80 ERA with a 0.643 WHIP.

Caitlyn Bingham will be in the circle for the Shocks.

Shocks dent the scoreboard in the first. Sydney led of the game with a single to left, went to 2nd on a wild pitch and after the next two batters struck out scored on an error by the OU shortstop. Bahl ends up striking out the side but this Shocks won't get no-hit and won't get shut out.

All Caitlyn has to do now is just down the Sooners for 7 innings and the Shocks have this one.

Never mind, Caitlyn jumps ahead of the OU lead off hitter, Tiare Jennings, 0-2 and then gives up a home run. After the Jocelyn Alo, the NCAA all-time career home run leader, Grace Lyons launched another home run. Caitlyn finally figured out how to avoid another homer and walked the next batter.

[WuDrWu]

CB is getting squeezed something fierce. I mean seriously, it's hard enough to play OU, but if the zone is the size of an almond, it's going to be 672 to 10.

[WuDrWu]

2 solo long balls (wind aided one for sure) and it's 2-1 Sooners after 1. Bingham leaves the bases loaded in the bottom of the 1st. I had her at 36 pitches for the inning.

[1972Shocker]

CB is getting squeezed something fierce. I mean seriously, it's hard enough to play OU, but if the zone is the size of an almond, it's going to be 672 to 10.

I tried to get the video stream going but the say i am over my limit on the number of streams. Must have too many TV's on at home.

I had to laugh. OU's #8 hitter is hitting .415 with and OPS of 1.186. The #9 hiitter who will lead off the Sooner 2nd is hitting .418 with an OPS of 1.528. Perhaps the home cooking they get in Norman helps those video game numbers a little bit. But their is simply no place for an opposing pitcher to catch a breath.

Caitlyn did well getting out of the first only giving up the 2 runs. I will take holding OU to 2 runs per inning.

Caitlyn worked around runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out to get through the 2nd unscathed. At this point I would say she is operating above the curve. But this OU lineup is just endless and relentless.

[1972Shocker]

Looks like a 6-run third put OU up 8-1 and OU finished it off with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 5th for a 10-1 run-rule. About what I was expecting. In fact, thought it could have been worse. Pretty much a normal game for OU.

Not sure catching a team like OU coming off of a 10 game layoff between games is the best situation but probrably made very litttle difference.

The Shocks open up AAC play this weekend hosting Tulsa in a 3-game series.

[WuDrWu]

30-0 with 25 games run rule events. Amazing.

[flyingMoose]

Not sure where the esteemed flyingMoose is

My day yesterday just totally blew up. Thanks to you and others for keeping us informed about the game.