Shocker SB at Texas Classic

[flyingMoose]

The Shockers return to Texas this weekend as they play in the Texas Classic in Austin. Other teams at the Classic are IPFW and Colorado State.

Brittany and Cacy led the Shocker offense this past weekend with Brittany earning MVC Player of the Week honors. The pitching was spotty.

The Mastodons of IPFW are members of the Summit League where they were a preseason pick for sixth of seven teams. They lost five all-conference players and eight starters from last year's second place team and have a new head coach. IPFW opened their season last weekend at the Mercer Invitational in Georgia where they lost all five games against the likes of Jacksonville State and Valparaiso, four of the losses by run-rule.

Colorado State is picked fourth of nine teams in the Mountain West Conference. The Rams return five starters with Holly Reinke being the mainstay in the circle, having twenty wins last year and pitching in two-thirds of their games. Colorado State opened their season last weekend in Las Cruces at a tournament hosted by New Mexico State. They had wins over Texas Tech and Montana with losses to 18/20 Nebraska, UTSA and New Mexico State. Reinke was roughed up this past weekend, getting the starts against the stronger teams, but Trinity Harrington did pitch well. Haley David had seven hits with a .389 average in the tournament.

Texas is the pick for third in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma and Baylor. They were RV/25 in the preseason national polls. The Longhorns return seven position players with substantial playing time, led by outfielder Lindsey Stephens. Tiarra Davis is the top returning pitcher. Texas opened their season in Tempe at the Kajikawa Classic, one of the better early season tournaments. They run-ruled UCSB, were run-ruled by 2/2 Oregon, beat Northwestern but lost to Stanford and closed the tournament by defeating host 16/16 Arizona State.

Stephens earned NFCA National Player of the Week honors with an 8-17 weekend including three home runs, two of which were grand slams. Erica Wright had the best weekend stat-wise in the circle for the Horns.

Currently there is no Tournament Central, but this post will be updated when it is available. The Shockers have their first game of the tournament against Colorado State at 1pm on Friday with their second game scheduled for 630pm against Texas. On Saturday, they play the Longhorns again at 4pm with a game against IPFW at 730pm. The Shocks close out their part of the tournament with another matchup with the Mastodons at 1pm on Sunday.

All of the games of the tournament will be on the Longhorn Network.

[flyingMoose]

Well, I can find out more than I care to know about parking at this tournament, but not much else. Here is the tournament writeup from our Web site.

First game for the Shockers is at 1pm today against Colorado State. The Rams beat IPFW 9-1, another run-rule loss for the Mastodons, earlier to start the tournament. LiveStats are here, but I think they will disappear shortly after the game ends. The same link seems to be used for all the games of the tournament. If your subscription includes it, these games are available on the Longhorn Network.

[flyingMoose]

Kelsey Sterneker gets the start for the Shocks. Cacy is back at first and Layne, Ashley and Kennedy are in the outfield. The infield remains the same with Paige, Mackenzie and Kelli and Melanie behind the plate. Larisa Petakoff, their number two starter, is in the circle for the Rams.

[luvthoseshox]

Well, really rough start....

Down 6-1 bottom of 1. No outs. Brooks just came in for Sterneker after a 4 run homer.

[flyingMoose]

Brittany continued her torrid hitting with a homer in the top of the first. But Kelsey had nothing in the circle and never recorded an out. Two walks, her own error and three hits, the last being a grand slam homer, yielded six runs before Jenni came on in relief. She gave up two singles to the first two batters, but escaped with no further damage.

Shocks trail 6-1 after one complete.

[flyingMoose]

Both teams had runners in scoring position in the second and third innings, but no more runs were scored. Macklin entered the game for Kennedy in the top of the fourth for a more offensive-minded lineup.

Shockers still trail 6-1 after three complete.

After an error and a walk to Macklin, the Rams brought in their pitcher who did so well in the relief role last weekend who completed the inning with no runs across for the Shocks. The score remains 6-1 after four complete innings.

[1972Shocker]

Could be I am just too dumb to figure it out but the Live Stats are pretty meager. I would expect more from the mighty Longhorns.

[flyingMoose]

A single by Mackenzie and a ground out got another Shocker in scoring position in the fifth, but to no avail. In the fourth and fifth innings, Jenni has allowed only a single.

Still 6-1 after five complete innings.

[1972Shocker]

Brittany continued her torrid hitting with a homer in the top of the first. But Kelsey had nothing in the circle and never recorded an out. Two walks, her own error and three hits, the last being a grand slam homer, yielded six runs before Jenni came on in relief. She gave up two singles to the first two batters, but escaped with no further damage.

Shocks trail 6-1 after one complete.

So Jenni has now pitched 5 innings of 4-hit shut-out softball today. That's at least somewhat encouraging.

[WuDrWu]

Shocks plate 4 in the 6th on one single.

That's right, 1 single, 4 runs. Still batting, bases empty.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks plate 4 in the 6th on one single.

That's right, 1 single, 4 runs. Still batting, bases empty.

I'm scratching my head over the description of Cacy's at bat. She singled up the middle, advanced to 2nd on a throwing error by 3B, scored.

Here is my guess as to what happened. Cacy singled to Center (perhaps a little to right center) with Kelli Spring scoring. Kelli drew a throw from the OF (CF or RF) which was cut-off by the 3rd basemen. Cacy rounded 1st and drew a throw from the 3B who threw wildly down into the RF corner with Cacy scoring all the way from 1st.

[flyingMoose]

In the top of the sixth, the Shockers use three errors by the Rams to score four unearned runs. Cacy's single was the only hit of the inning, and only two of the four runs had a RBI behind them. Jenni had another three-up three-down inning, and we go to the seventh with the Shockers behind, 6-5.

[flyingMoose]

I'm scratching my head over the description of Cacy's at bat. She singled up the middle, advanced to 2nd on a throwing error by 3B, scored.

Here is my guess as to what happened. Cacy singled to Center (perhaps a little to right center) with Kelli Spring scoring. Kelli drew a throw from the OF (CF or RF) which was cut-off by the 3rd basemen. Cacy rounded 1st and drew a throw from the 3B who threw wildly down into the RF corner with Cacy scoring all the way from 1st.

Sounds right to me.

[WuDrWu]

Shocks get the leadoff runner aboard in the 7th needing 1 to tie.

[flyingMoose]

Liz leads off the seventh with an infield single, and the Rams bring on their #1. Melanie singles and Macklin follows with a sac bunt. Erin pinch hits for Layne with runners and second and third and singles, scoring Hunter Hogan who had pinch run for Liz with the tying run. Ashley's fielders choice ground ball out scores Melainie with the lead run. Kelli follows with a double to put runners at second and third. Cacy singles and two more runs score.