Game Thread Lady Vols Softball Team NCAA Regionals

[gule]

the way Abbott was used here? Good God! you peeps are ridiculous

She was given the opportunity to earn a college degree, pitch at the highest level, become the top pick in the pro draft, and became the best pitcher in the history of the sport.

WTF do you have to gripe about?

 

[Westtntransfer12]

I would say that Auburn has a very good pitching staff but wouldn't say any of the pitchers are completely dominant. As a matter of fact it showed last night in the OU game that reliance on a dominant pitcher in a series can be dangerous. Moss is solid, Morrison is being developed and I believe that Arnold was signed because she was a high level recruit (top 3 were UT, FSU and UW) based on what I've heard. Her stats are comparable or better than most of the HS stats of the current studs pitching in the WCWS. I will reserve judgement based on what I see and have to believe that Karen and Marty will have the staff ready for next season.

 

[sccshortstop]

Here is my thinking for last night. I know Paige was worn out or so it appeared. If she and/or her parents did not want her to pitch this blows up my thinking. When OU took a 7 run lead no doubt in my mind I would have brought her in and tried to get through as many inning as possible. I would venture to say Awbarn will not score over 7 runs tonight with her pitching. If she was unavailable then Gasso ( in hindsight which is 20/20) should have gotten her some rest during the tournament. I still pick OU but who knows the way both teams has thrown the ball around on defense. Should be a great game.

 

[sccshortstop]

I would say that Auburn has a very good pitching staff but wouldn't say any of the pitchers are completely dominant. As a matter of fact it showed last night in the OU game that reliance on a dominant pitcher in a series can be dangerous. Moss is solid, Morrison is being developed and I believe that Arnold was signed because she was a high level recruit (top 3 were UT, FSU and UW) based on what I've heard. Her stats are comparable or better than most of the HS stats of the current studs pitching in the WCWS. I will reserve judgement based on what I see and have to believe that Karen and Marty will have the staff ready for next season.

I do as well. I heard Meyers tell HR night before last that his son had a plan with the pitchers and they were sticking with it. That was in reference to bringing in someone that had got scored on and was he second guessing himself.
Our pitching has got to get better , even if and a big if Erin gets the medical RS. But just as much so if not more the hitting has got to pick up and defense has to shine.

 

[WVU05UT09]

the way Abbott was used here? Good God! you peeps are ridiculous

She was given the opportunity to earn a college degree, pitch at the highest level, become the top pick in the pro draft, and became the best pitcher in the history of the sport.

WTF do you have to gripe about?

Don't shoot the messenger. Not necessarily saying it is my opinion. I'm just saying that a knock exists on Tennessee at the high school/U-18 level around pitching development and specifically our past development and/or use of pitchers.

 

[2Alum4EverVol]

I think that's probably a pretty accurate list. Those top 5 are probably in the top 10 in the country. But, never say never. The Weekly's just need to raise their game.

I had to think about that for a second. Who else can we include in the top 10 conversation? Patty Gasso for sure. Carol Hutchins for sure. Mike White & Kelly Inouye-Perez perhaps from the Pac 12, but White and especially I-P seem a notch below the top 5 from the SEC. Is Mike Candrea still one of the very best in the game? There are some doubters out there you know. Maybe Lonnie Alameda from ACC.

Michael Lotief has done wonders for ULL program, but I wouldn't put him ahead of either the Weeklys or Torina.

I think you're correct. 95-6% of softball recruits dream of playing for any one of top 5 SEC coaches, and we'll continue to see the very best players from all over the country playing in the SEC for years to come. SEC football has created a monster...

 

[2Alum4EverVol]

Don't shoot the messenger. Not necessarily saying it is my opinion. I'm just saying that a knock exists on Tennessee at the high school/U-18 level around pitching development and specifically our past development and/or use of pitchers.

I'm not surprised. Even an amateur onlooker like myself has some issues with the way the Weeklys use their pitchers, you know. Hopefully, the Weeklys have learned some valuable lessons going forward, and will be better prepared when the BIG Stage/moment arrives and stares them in the face.

 

[DeerPark12]

You may be right but that was not the tone Mowins was making those statement in. She was saying they were not heavily recruited but developed into starters.
No mention of scholarships at all.

Yeah, that's not completely accurate.

I have no doubt that Myers has said something to that effect and there's no doubt that he and his staff improved some existing players, but a look at the lineup from game 2 shows it's just not true:

Players in bold are those Myers inherited from the previous staff

LF- Howard, Sr. - Highly recruited out of high school and was a star as a freshman for Tina Deese, starting 48 games with a .310 average.

3B - Cooper, Jr. - Also a prized recruit and the star of Myers' first recruiting class. Had already committed to play for Deese and has been an absolute star.

2B - Carosone, Sr. - Deese got her to sign with Auburn over a couple of Florida schools by giving her more scholarship money than they were offering, so I know she's not one he's talking about. She was Auburn's best player in her only season under Deese, starting all 53 games with a team-leading .389 average, 14 doubles and 35 RBI.

C - Wallace, So. - She was one of the top catching prospects in the country two years ago.

1B - Rhodes, Sr. - She was not a good overall player when she came in, but her power bat had schools after her in the recruiting process. She has slowly improved her consistency at the plate to be a full-on star this year. Still, this is the first season of her four years where she has hit over .300.

DP - Fagan, Jr. - Transferred in from South Alabama after being the Jaguars' best player as a freshman. USA has been a feeder program for D1 programs with connections to the Fagan family (see: Mizzou).

RF - Gipson, So. - Perfect player for D1 softball. She's in-state and was the top student in her high school and had an academic ride to anywhere she wanted to go. Every program has to have a player like this on the roster as a "walk-on" to make the scholarship dollars go farther. Good player, saw extensive action as a freshman before redshirting last year. Alabama was after her hard as well, so were a couple of other out-of-state schools that lined up academic money for her.

SS - Jordan, So. - Third-string SS after Bogards and Fagan tore their ACLs. Almost certainly a walk-on that had to contribute because of injury. But make no mistake, if Fagan or Bogards could play short, she would be a pinch runner.

CF - Draper, Jr. - Walk-on that they taught to slap well enough that she has developed into a solid 8-9 spot hitter.


Now, coaches are notoriously secretive about who is actually getting scholarship money to prevent other schools from poaching kids that are walk-ons. Now, I know Gipson is an academic scholarship, and from what I've been told, Cooper is as well. Both of those being in-state really helped. Courtney Shea, who split C/DP time with Wallace before Fagan came back, is a walk-on because, well, her family flies to her games on their private plane.

The only two players in their starting lineup that fit the narrative of "non-recruited walk-on we developed" would be Jordan and Draper. I give them complete props on Draper, though they were the ones that brought her in. Again, Jordan is a pinch runner if both SS ahead of her aren't injured.

I'm not taking anything away from Myers, clearly he has done an amazing job turning Auburn around and both recruiting and developing players. But for him to say that he's done it relying on barely-recruited walk-ons is disingenuous on his part.

 

[DeerPark12]

Here is my thinking for last night. I know Paige was worn out or so it appeared. If she and/or her parents did not want her to pitch this blows up my thinking. When OU took a 7 run lead no doubt in my mind I would have brought her in and tried to get through as many inning as possible. I would venture to say Awbarn will not score over 7 runs tonight with her pitching. If she was unavailable then Gasso ( in hindsight which is 20/20) should have gotten her some rest during the tournament. I still pick OU but who knows the way both teams has thrown the ball around on defense. Should be a great game.

Gasso played her pitching matchups the same way she did in the 2013 series against us, starting her #2 in game 2 so she would have her ace if game 3 was needed.

When asked why she did that in 2013, going with Gascogne instead of Ricketts, she said after the experience of 2012, she would always handle the series that way. In 2012 against Alabama, Ricketts won game one and started game 2 and got shelled. She then wasn't sharp the next night in the deciding game that gave the Tide the championship.

Gasso really was backed into a corner this year, though. With the rainout of the evening session Thursday, OU was playing (and Parker would have been pitching) for the fifth straight day. Normally, a winning team in the WCWS would have Saturday off, but the schedule change prevented that. So going back to the 2013 strategy seemed like an even more natural decision.

If Oklahoma had taken the lead in the top of the 6th, 7th or 8th, you would have seen Parker in the bottom of the inning. But with the game tied, she stuck to her guns and has a fresh pitcher for the deciding game tonight.

 

[sccshortstop]

Yeah, that's not completely accurate.

I have no doubt that Myers has said something to that effect and there's no doubt that he and his staff improved some existing players, but a look at the lineup from game 2 shows it's just not true:

Players in bold are those Myers inherited from the previous staff

LF- Howard, Sr. - Highly recruited out of high school and was a star as a freshman for Tina Deese, starting 48 games with a .310 average.

3B - Cooper, Jr. - Also a prized recruit and the star of Myers' first recruiting class. Had already committed to play for Deese and has been an absolute star.

2B - Carosone, Sr. - Deese got her to sign with Auburn over a couple of Florida schools by giving her more scholarship money than they were offering, so I know she's not one he's talking about. She was Auburn's best player in her only season under Deese, starting all 53 games with a team-leading .389 average, 14 doubles and 35 RBI.

C - Wallace, So. - She was one of the top catching prospects in the country two years ago.

1B - Rhodes, Sr. - She was not a good overall player when she came in, but her power bat had schools after her in the recruiting process. She has slowly improved her consistency at the plate to be a full-on star this year. Still, this is the first season of her four years where she has hit over .300.

DP - Fagan, Jr. - Transferred in from South Alabama after being the Jaguars' best player as a freshman. USA has been a feeder program for D1 programs with connections to the Fagan family (see: Mizzou).

RF - Gipson, So. - Perfect player for D1 softball. She's in-state and was the top student in her high school and had an academic ride to anywhere she wanted to go. Every program has to have a player like this on the roster as a "walk-on" to make the scholarship dollars go farther. Good player, saw extensive action as a freshman before redshirting last year. Alabama was after her hard as well, so were a couple of other out-of-state schools that lined up academic money for her.

SS - Jordan, So. - Third-string SS after Bogards and Fagan tore their ACLs. Almost certainly a walk-on that had to contribute because of injury. But make no mistake, if Fagan or Bogards could play short, she would be a pinch runner.

CF - Draper, Jr. - Walk-on that they taught to slap well enough that she has developed into a solid 8-9 spot hitter.


Now, coaches are notoriously secretive about who is actually getting scholarship money to prevent other schools from poaching kids that are walk-ons. Now, I know Gipson is an academic scholarship, and from what I've been told, Cooper is as well. Both of those being in-state really helped. Courtney Shea, who split C/DP time with Wallace before Fagan came back, is a walk-on because, well, her family flies to her games on their private plane.

The only two players in their starting lineup that fit the narrative of "non-recruited walk-on we developed" would be Jordan and Draper. I give them complete props on Draper, though they were the ones that brought her in. Again, Jordan is a pinch runner if both SS ahead of her aren't injured.

I'm not taking anything away from Myers, clearly he has done an amazing job turning Auburn around and both recruiting and developing players. But for him to say that he's done it relying on barely-recruited walk-ons is disingenuous on his part.

Thanks DP, I was only going by what they were saying. I am aware of the full academic ride that certain in state recruits get . I am thinking that there are maybe a couple an this years team for us. I know for a fact that one on the incoming freshman class is full academic because she was the valedictorian of her class.

 

[sccshortstop]

Gasso played her pitching matchups the same way she did in the 2013 series against us, starting her #2 in game 2 so she would have her ace if game 3 was needed.

When asked why she did that in 2013, going with Gascogne instead of Ricketts, she said after the experience of 2012, she would always handle the series that way. In 2012 against Alabama, Ricketts won game one and started game 2 and got shelled. She then wasn't sharp the next night in the deciding game that gave the Tide the championship.

Gasso really was backed into a corner this year, though. With the rainout of the evening session Thursday, OU was playing (and Parker would have been pitching) for the fifth straight day. Normally, a winning team in the WCWS would have Saturday off, but the schedule change prevented that. So going back to the 2013 strategy seemed like an even more natural decision.

If Oklahoma had taken the lead in the top of the 6th, 7th or 8th, you would have seen Parker in the bottom of the inning. But with the game tied, she stuck to her guns and has a fresh pitcher for the deciding game tonight.

Well that is understandable and she like Myers stand by there convictions. I as a former HS softball and baseball coach would have really been tempted to let her go, again if parents/player permission.
Thanks again!

 

[DeerPark12]

Thanks DP, I was only going by what they were saying. I am aware of the full academic ride that certain in state recruits get . I am thinking that there are maybe a couple an this years team for us. I know for a fact that one on the incoming freshman class is full academic because she was the valedictorian of her class.

I figured you wouldn't take it the wrong way, but to be clear I wasn't calling your reply out, I just wanted to put the facts out there because I think Meyers has been murky about the topic and media have eaten it up.

It really opens up your roster when you can recruit players that are eligible to get academic money and Tennessee has taken full advantage of that.

Well that is understandable and she like Myers stand by there convictions. I as a former HS softball and baseball coach would have really been tempted to let her go, again if parents/player permission.
Thanks again!

I see her point and agree under these circumstances with playing five (now six) days in a row, but my first thought would always be to just win now. That said, it really backs you into a corner if you don't win the second game.

 

[sccshortstop]

I figured you wouldn't take it the wrong way, but to be clear I wasn't calling your reply out, I just wanted to put the facts out there because I think Meyers has been murky about the topic and media have eaten it up.

It really opens up your roster when you can recruit players that are eligible to get academic money and Tennessee has taken full advantage of that.




I see her point and agree under these circumstances with playing five (now six) days in a row, but my first thought would always be to just win now. That said, it really backs you into a corner if you don't win the second game.

Always a pleasure to hear your input on all things UT!!!

 

[peachstatevolgirl]

The commentators said that 4 walk-ons for Awbarn are starting!

Indeed. Auburn carries one of the largest rosters. 30 I believe. I read that most of them play on partial scholarships, or without one at all, just for the chance to play under Myers. I'd like to know what their roster was before Myers took over to see how many of those 30 were already playing with partials/no scholarships. That would determine if they really wanted to play at AU, or if they wanted to play for Myers. Either way, if I've learned one thing this season, it's that recruiting is all fine and dandy, but it's not the deciding factor. Look at what Myers has done at Auburn in just three years. Again, I'd like to see how many of those players were there before his boarding of the AU train. They were a mediocre program, and now... Well, we see it.

 

[gule]

OU will beat their arses tonight!

 

[GameTime]

The Auburn girls in the dugout put on quite a show.....These games have been extremely enjoyable. Top notch entertainment.

 

[VolnJC]

The Auburn girls in the dugout put on quite a show.....These games have been extremely enjoyable. Top notch entertainment.

It's awesome to see athletes having fun playing a game...we fans might take note of that when we fly off the handle after a loss

 

[gule]

pshaw! We ain't got no flyed off handleers round here.

 

[gule]

lol

 

[LVJeff]

You are right!! However many of the better teams now are young and talented. Most do not have the defensive liabilities we have . Some, like OU and others have a young dominate pitcher as well. Even with a dominate pitcher on the mound in this world series I do not recall any pitcher having a large number of strike outs. We seem to whiff at the ball and miss more than most. Our hitters are not great fundamentally with the bat and had massive problems bunting the ball at all. I am not sure we will be as good of a team next year, unless we get a stud pitcher from somewhere, as we were this year. All 4 of our seniors will be missed. I know the freshmen are good but young. Gregg and Geer must step up. Matty will be fine but the rest of the pitchers is a question mark at this point. Just my 2 cents worth!

I see it differently. Gregg and Geer along with (Overstreet and Gaffin) were the team's best players. I think it unfair and unreasonable to expect them to do much more. If they do, fine. But the players that need to step up are those who didn't perform well this season - McSwain and Lockman in particular. Leach needs to step up her fielding. Moss performed well but she has to really step it up or the team is in some trouble. Geathers, McClain, and Vines played well enough but clearly need to do better. Players that didn't play such as Morrison and Lilley, wouldn't it be great if they stepped up? I think so.

 

[LVJeff]

The beginning of tonight's game is similar to last night's - I see Auburn making mistakes I have never seen them make before. I don't know if it's the pressure of the moment, nerves, Oklahoma's speed, or what, but Auburn was flustered last night and again tonight. Maybe they'll score another 11 runs after falling behind.

 

[VolnJC]

Really like Clint Myers...he's so low key in the biggest game of the year..."we finally learned how to field a grounder"

 

[WarDamnVols]

Well damn

 

[VolnJC]

OU makes two 1st inning unearned runs hold up to win the national championship 2-1

 

[LVJeff]

Nothing to do until basketball season starts.