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The Shockers travel to Tempe this weekend for their second tournament. Other tournament participants beyond host Arizona State are Missouri, South Dakota and Illinois State. As is typical when two teams from the same conference are at a tournament, the Shocks and the Redbirds will not play each other. The Shockers play South Dakota twice, Arizona State and Missouri for their four games. For the second week in a row, the Shocks only play four games in a tournament where all of the other teams are playing five. I suspect HCKB asked to be the "short" team both times since the Shocks only have two pitchers until March when Jenni should be available.
On Friday the Shockers play South Dakota at 1245pm (all times are CT) and Arizona State at 615pm. Saturday's games are South Dakota at 10am and Missouri at 330pm.
The Coyotes of South Dakota are members of the Summit League where they are a preseason pick for fourth of the seven teams. The opened their season with a 1-4 record with games in Long Beach and San Diego (who knows?) including losses to 8 UCLA and 22 Notre Dame. Jamie Holscher is a returning member of last year's All-Tournament team. Ally Weigand pitched about three-fourths of their innings this past weekend, and Shelby Kell with four hits was the only player with more than two hits in their five games. The Coyotes have a new head coach this year.
NR/21 Arizona State is picked eighth among the nine teams playing softball in the Pac-12. (But then five or seven teams in the conference, depending on the poll, are in the Top 25. Lots of softball players in California and Arizona.) The Sun Devils were 7-0 in the Kajikawa Classic they hosted last weekend, but they did not play any ranked teams. The primary sticks after just one weekend are Chelsea Gonzales and Marisa Stankiewicz with Dale Ryndak and Breanna Macha having the most innings. Arizona State also has a new head coach who comes from Fresno State.
17/20 Missouri are picked for ninth among the thirteen SEC teams, nine of whom are in the Top 25. They had no players named to the Preseason All-SEC Team. The Tigers are 4-1 after opening their season at a Charleston Southern tournament, it seems primarily for the opportunity to play 14 James Madison twice. They split. Strangely, there are no Stats to be found for any season. We will all learn together who the studs are. Coach Earleywine was under some scrutiny last year for his "approach," but he is back in the dugout this year.
Illinois State historically plays the most difficult pre-conference schedule in the Valley. They opened at South Florida, going 2-3 in the tournament with losses to 4 Florida, 6 Michigan and 25 South Florida. More about them when conference games get here.
On Friday the Shockers play South Dakota at 1245pm (all times are CT) and Arizona State at 615pm. Saturday's games are South Dakota at 10am and Missouri at 330pm.
The Coyotes of South Dakota are members of the Summit League where they are a preseason pick for fourth of the seven teams. The opened their season with a 1-4 record with games in Long Beach and San Diego (who knows?) including losses to 8 UCLA and 22 Notre Dame. Jamie Holscher is a returning member of last year's All-Tournament team. Ally Weigand pitched about three-fourths of their innings this past weekend, and Shelby Kell with four hits was the only player with more than two hits in their five games. The Coyotes have a new head coach this year.
NR/21 Arizona State is picked eighth among the nine teams playing softball in the Pac-12. (But then five or seven teams in the conference, depending on the poll, are in the Top 25. Lots of softball players in California and Arizona.) The Sun Devils were 7-0 in the Kajikawa Classic they hosted last weekend, but they did not play any ranked teams. The primary sticks after just one weekend are Chelsea Gonzales and Marisa Stankiewicz with Dale Ryndak and Breanna Macha having the most innings. Arizona State also has a new head coach who comes from Fresno State.
17/20 Missouri are picked for ninth among the thirteen SEC teams, nine of whom are in the Top 25. They had no players named to the Preseason All-SEC Team. The Tigers are 4-1 after opening their season at a Charleston Southern tournament, it seems primarily for the opportunity to play 14 James Madison twice. They split. Strangely, there are no Stats to be found for any season. We will all learn together who the studs are. Coach Earleywine was under some scrutiny last year for his "approach," but he is back in the dugout this year.
Illinois State historically plays the most difficult pre-conference schedule in the Valley. They opened at South Florida, going 2-3 in the tournament with losses to 4 Florida, 6 Michigan and 25 South Florida. More about them when conference games get here.
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