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The Shockers open their 2016 campaign this weekend in College Station at the Aggie Classic. Other teams in addition to the host RV26/24 Texas A&M are 7/7 UCLA and Colorado State - a stout field to begin the season.
The Shocks open the tournament at 10am Friday against Colorado State. Their other Friday game is at 515pm against A&M. Saturday games are a second game against the Rams at 10am and then UCLA at 1215pm. On Sunday they have their second game against the Aggies at 1215pm.
Tournament Central is here. LiveStats are here (although it appears the same link is used for all the games of the tournament). If you get the SEC Network at your house, the A&M games should be available.
Colorado State are a preseason pick for seventh among a tightly bunched 6-7-8 in the nine-team Mountain West Conference. Fresno State is the perennial power in the MWC. The Rams finished 8-16 in the conference last year, good for seventh place. Infielder Haley Hutton is a returning all-conference honoree who had an OPS of .851 last year. Infielder Savannah Clark and catcher Jaelyn Manzanares are other returning offensive threats. Holly Reinke returns and led the pitching staff with 28 starts last year.
UCLA are a preseason pick for second of the nine teams playing softball in the Pac-12. Seven of the nine are ranked in at least one of the polls. The Bruins return six starters and three pitchers (although they graduated the vast majority of their innings in Ally Carda) from a team that advanced to the WCWS last year. Both outfielder Allexis Bennett and infielder Delaney Spaulding are on the preseason Player of the Year watch list. Bennett was a first-team All-American last year and Spaulding was a second-teamer.
Texas A&M return eight starters from a team that finished 12-12 in the SEC last year. They are picked ninth of the thirteen teams in their conference. Tori Vidales hit 20 homers last year with an OPS of 1.276. Cali Lanphear with nine home runs is another returning offensive threat. Katie Marks should lead the pitching staff.
The Shockers, 16-11 in the Valley last year, are the preseason pick for first this year with four other teams not far behind. They have three preseason picks for the all-conference team in Brittany Fortner, Cacy Williams and Mackenzie Wright. Katie Malone should lead the pitching staff.
For me, the most interesting thing to watch early in the season is the impact of the new pitching coach, Ryne Stefankiewicz, a grad assistant at WCWS Auburn last year. Auburn shared their innings close to equally among three pitchers last year. They kept the ball down and away and were not reluctant to change pitchers if the one in the circle was not hitting her spots. From watching a few fall games, it appears the philosophy will be the same for the Shocks regarding location. Is the talent of the Shocker staff sufficient to use the same pitcher-change approach? As I said, it will be interesting to watch.
The Shocks open the tournament at 10am Friday against Colorado State. Their other Friday game is at 515pm against A&M. Saturday games are a second game against the Rams at 10am and then UCLA at 1215pm. On Sunday they have their second game against the Aggies at 1215pm.
Tournament Central is here. LiveStats are here (although it appears the same link is used for all the games of the tournament). If you get the SEC Network at your house, the A&M games should be available.
Colorado State are a preseason pick for seventh among a tightly bunched 6-7-8 in the nine-team Mountain West Conference. Fresno State is the perennial power in the MWC. The Rams finished 8-16 in the conference last year, good for seventh place. Infielder Haley Hutton is a returning all-conference honoree who had an OPS of .851 last year. Infielder Savannah Clark and catcher Jaelyn Manzanares are other returning offensive threats. Holly Reinke returns and led the pitching staff with 28 starts last year.
UCLA are a preseason pick for second of the nine teams playing softball in the Pac-12. Seven of the nine are ranked in at least one of the polls. The Bruins return six starters and three pitchers (although they graduated the vast majority of their innings in Ally Carda) from a team that advanced to the WCWS last year. Both outfielder Allexis Bennett and infielder Delaney Spaulding are on the preseason Player of the Year watch list. Bennett was a first-team All-American last year and Spaulding was a second-teamer.
Texas A&M return eight starters from a team that finished 12-12 in the SEC last year. They are picked ninth of the thirteen teams in their conference. Tori Vidales hit 20 homers last year with an OPS of 1.276. Cali Lanphear with nine home runs is another returning offensive threat. Katie Marks should lead the pitching staff.
The Shockers, 16-11 in the Valley last year, are the preseason pick for first this year with four other teams not far behind. They have three preseason picks for the all-conference team in Brittany Fortner, Cacy Williams and Mackenzie Wright. Katie Malone should lead the pitching staff.
For me, the most interesting thing to watch early in the season is the impact of the new pitching coach, Ryne Stefankiewicz, a grad assistant at WCWS Auburn last year. Auburn shared their innings close to equally among three pitchers last year. They kept the ball down and away and were not reluctant to change pitchers if the one in the circle was not hitting her spots. From watching a few fall games, it appears the philosophy will be the same for the Shocks regarding location. Is the talent of the Shocker staff sufficient to use the same pitcher-change approach? As I said, it will be interesting to watch.
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