Shocker SB at Illinois State

[1972Shocker]

Shocks MVC schedule this year is pretty front-end loaded.

We have played SIU (picked 3rd) and Illinois State (picked 1st) so far and get UNI (picked 2nd) next weekend.

The pitching staff competed reasonably well this weekend against ILS. ILS Sr. Jordon Birch pretty much dominated the Shocks when she was in the circle and she pitched 16 of the 21 innings in the series allowing only 4 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 2 hit batters and 20 K's. The Shocks managed 5 htis and 3 runs in the 5 innings pitched by two other Redbird pitchers.

UNI is 6-0 in Valley playing sweeping Evansville and Indiana State the 2 teams selected to finish behind the Shocks in the presesason poll. Would like to see us take 1 from UNI.

[Quick Pitch]

Actually you want your strongest arm in right field. Your weakest arm should be in left field.

[flyingMoose]

Actually you want your strongest arm in right field. Your weakest arm should be in left field.

Because the right fielder has the throw to third and the left fielder does not have an equivalent throw. However, the right fielder may have fewer throws to home to prevent a run scoring than a left fielder, depending on the opponent's hitting tendencies. Thus, that circumstance may dictate putting Sydney and her shoulder issues in right field.

And we can hope Coach B does not come on here and tell us to stop providing a scouting report for our opponents. :)

Speaking of which, UNI is actually the preseason pick for second place in the Valley.

[Shock watch]

Like the above poster, I am new to this post but not new to softball. I watched the Illinois State games and parts of the SLU games over the web broadcasts. I have not seen all of the games this season but also have received reports from those who did watch. Some of the Shocker losses were because of lack of scoring. Some because the Shocks did score and then pitchers could not hold onto the lead. For the last 15 games Katie and Sloan are one win and twelve loses with combined pitching time of 89 innings. The Sunday game was another example of a game suddenly getting out of control. The coach put in the freshman pitcher, Katherine Johnson, who has approximately 7 innings of experience, and I cannot tell you how impressive she was, not even considering her lack of playing time. Even the Illinois State announcer was impressed with how effectively she shut down the Illinois State batters after scoring four runs in one third of an inning. After her performance yesterday, I expect that we will be seeing a lot more of her.

[flyingMoose]

The pitching staff competed reasonably well this weekend against ILS.

Since posts keep coming in on this thread, I'll offer the following. Coach Fischer noted in her post-game comments on the Sunday broadcast that the Shockers seem to be using more offspeed to keep the Redbird hitters off balance. I hope so - given the other tools this staff has, using a lot of offspeed to destroy the hitter's timing is crucial. All IMO, of course.

[Shock watch]

Yes. I agree. Thinking back on past games, there have been a number where where opposing teams came in and scored runs against the Shocks, even multiple Home runs in single innings, to beat the Shocks where no adjustment was made. These might have been wins if all tools had been employed. Consider the strategy of Illinois State game 2. They trailed much of the game and the coach used three pitchers to allow them to hold off the Shocks offense and gave their hitters the chance to come back and win the game. I really think the shocks have more wins in them.