Shocker SB at Norman Regional

[flyingMoose]

Friday at 8pm on ESPN against the Sooners. The first game is Tulsa v Ole Miss. Oklahoma is the #3 National Seed.

The RPIs last Monday for these teams were:

4 - Oklahoma
27 - Ole Miss
41 - Tulsa
50 - Shockers

During the presentation show, the statement was made that Louisville was the last team in. Their RPI is 46.

However, Illinois at 48 and BYU at 49 are in. Kansas at 48 is out.

Caveat: Those are not the current RPI. If new RPI are published tomorrow, I will update the numbers - mostly for curiosity's sake, of course.

[KBShocker]

3 of us will be there. Go Shocks!

[flyingMoose]

Friday at 8pm on ESPN against the Sooners. The first game is Tulsa v Ole Miss. Oklahoma is the #3 National Seed.

The RPIs last Monday for these teams were:

4 - Oklahoma
27 - Ole Miss
41 - Tulsa
50 - Shockers

During the presentation show, the statement was made that Louisville was the last team in. Their RPI is 46.

However, Illinois at 48 and BYU at 49 are in. Kansas at 48 is out.

Caveat: Those are not the current RPI. If new RPI are published tomorrow, I will update the numbers - mostly for curiosity's sake, of course.

3 - Oklahoma
30 - Ole Miss
39 - Tulsa
48 - Shockers


46 - Louisville (in)
47 - Illinois (in)

49 - Kansas (out)

51 - BYU (in)

Baylor has an RPI of 13 but did not get a National Seed.

[boyshocker]

KU Non-conference schedule killed them while OSU went out and played a very touch schedule. I have the feeling there was no at-large berth if we don't win the tournament. Get tix asap, it will sell out. Nice thing it is prime time Friday night on ESPN!

[Kel Varnsen]

KU Non-conference schedule killed them while OSU went out and played a very touch schedule. I have the feeling there was no at-large berth if we don't win the tournament. Get tix asap, it will sell out. Nice thing it is prime time Friday night on ESPN!

Where can I buy tickets? Not having much luck right now.

EDIT: Never mind. On SoonerSports.com.

[1972Shocker]

That's a very tough draw for the Lady Shocks. OTOH what an opportunity. Chances of the Shocks advancing are very slim but if they happened to pull the upset it would be monumental.

[flyingMoose]

That's a very tough draw for the Lady Shocks. OTOH what an opportunity. Chances of the Shocks advancing are very slim but if they happened to pull the upset it would be monumental.

HCKB was quoted in the Monday article that she thought the Shocks might get a #3 seed in some pod. This is just likely volleyball though - the National Seeds are determined and geography (to a large extent) takes over. The Columbia Regional was the other probability for the Shockers. There we have Missouri (RPI of 12) v BYU (51) and Nebraska (34) v Louisville (46). Even swapping with BYU probably only gets a #4 seed in the pod.

Getting at least one win in the Regional is the realistic goal. I think doing that is more easily accomplished in Norman, especially if we play a Tulsa team we are comfortable playing. Getting two wins would be gravy. Winning the thing is a pipe dream, but that is why they play the games.

[1972Shocker]

HCKB was quoted in the Monday article that she thought the Shocks might get a #3 seed in some pod. This is just likely volleyball though - the National Seeds are determined and geography (to a large extent) takes over. The Columbia Regional was the other probability for the Shockers. There we have Missouri (RPI of 12) v BYU (51) and Nebraska (34) v Louisville (46). Even swapping with BYU probably only gets a #4 seed in the pod.

Getting at least one win in the Regional is the realistic goal. I think doing that is more easily accomplished in Norman, especially if we play a Tulsa team we are comfortable playing. Getting two wins would be gravy. Winning the thing is a pipe dream, but that is why they play the games.

I would take 1 win. You need to start somewhere. This is only the Shockers 3rd trip to an NCAA softball regional in school history and they have yet to register a win although they have played well.

In 1989 the Shocks traveled to Stillwater and lost to host OSU twice 0-2 and 1-3. Not sure what the regional structure was in those days that resulted in playing OSU twice.

In 2005 the Shocks were at Norman as an at-large team and went 2 and que again losing 0-2 to host OU and 2-3 in 8 innings to Oregon.

Despite not winning a game I don't think either one of those showings is anything to be ashamed of. I will say those two teams had a stud pitcher (or two) that we really do not have this year. In 1989 Patty Bautista lead the Shockers with a 1.32 ERA and in 2005 Margo Pruis leasd the way with a 1.52 ERA and Lindsay Craig, who had a career ERA of 1.84, was also on that team I believe.

The strength of this Shocker team is their offense but at this level it is really tough for the offense to carry the load against the quality of pitching they will see.

The Shocks have proven they can play with the likes of Tulsa and even Ole Miss is a team they should be able to stay with if they pitch well enough.

:poster_shocks:

[wsunet]

I took a look at the box score from the WSU-OU game from April 6th and Jenni OR Katie did not pitch in the 10-1 loss. So OU has not had any reps at the plate against them so that is positive spin on Fridays matchup. As long they can keep the Shockers in the game great things can happen when you can hit.

[1972Shocker]

I took a look at the box score from the WSU-OU game from April 6th and Jenni OR Katie did not pitch in the 10-1 loss. So OU has not had any reps at the plate against them so that is positive spin on Fridays matchup. As long they can keep the Shockers in the game great things can happen when you can hit.

On the other hand our regular lineup of position players was in that game and only managed 1 run on 3 hits in that 5-inning game. Maybe the Shocks best hope will be that OU will come in over-confident and under-focused. After all they are on a 22-game winning streak and they are 45-7 lifetime against the Shocks including 32 in a row.

[flyingMoose]

In 1989 the Shocks traveled to Stillwater and lost to host OSU twice 0-2 and 1-3. Not sure what the regional structure was in those days that resulted in playing OSU twice.

In that year, twelve teams played in eight Regionals. The Shockers happened to be in a two-team regional with the Cowgirls. This was before the SEC played, before the Southwest Conference played (although Texas A&M had a team), before the Big 10 played and before the ACC played (although South Carolina had a team). In fact, that year the Shockers were the representative of the Gateway Conference.

Michelle Smith, the Olympian and current ESPN commentator for softball, was a star for Oklahoma State.

[1972Shocker]

@flyingMoose: do you know where on can find the season stats on OU softball? I went to OU's athletic web site but I am not finding them.

[1972Shocker]

I did find the following from the Big 12 web site:

For the season OU has a team ERA of 2.15 and I calculated a WHIP of 1.04. Offensively they have team BA of 0.359 with 59 home runs in 54 games. I calculated on OBA (excluding hit by pitches which weren't reported on this site) of 0.428 and a slugging percentage of 0.553 for an OPS of 0.981. OU also lead the Big 12 in fielding % at 0.984.

By comparison Jenni and Katie have combined season ERA of 3.77 and a WHIP of 1.57. A team BA of 0.310 with 58 home runs in 54 games. I calculated an OBA (excluding hit by pitches for comparison purposes) of 0.392 with a slugging percentage of 0.487 for a team OPS of 0.879. The Shocks fielding % is 0.970.

OU average 6.9 runs per game and the Shocks averaged 5.9 runs per game.

Not that it means anything but only 7 Big 12 schools play softball. TCU, WVU and KSU do not field teams. All 10 Valley teams do field teams.

[WuDrWu]

Maybe the Shocks best hope will be that OU will come in over-confident and under-focused. After all they are on a 22-game winning streak and they are 45-7 lifetime against the Shocks including 32 in a row.

That would seem to me to be ample reason to be as confident as they want to be.

[1972Shocker]

That would seem to me to be ample reason to be as confident as they want to be.

That it does. Maybe it is not possible for OU to be over-confident based on their record against the Shocks but under-focused maybe. In any case, a Shocker win against OU would be an upset of monumental proportions. USA olympic hockey over USSR monumental.