Softball

[Redbird60451]

They held it together. Funny how there were 5 runs in the first inning and half. Then goose eggs the rest of the way. SIU had to go 9 innings to get their win. Maybe they will be tired. Have not faced them this year so who knows how this will go.

 

[Dmills]

1 pm against SIU at Marian Kneer. ESPN+

 

[Redbird60451]

Not to be harsh, Ok I am. If you see SIU's softball uni's. They are ugly. The players number is on the front and back, if they didn't have the dog on their upper left of the front, you could turn the shirt around and it would look exactly the same. I guess it's trying to be a football uni. LETS ROLL BIRDS. 1-0 going into the 4th.

 

[Redbird28]

Abby Knight comes through and drives in DB for the 2nd run of the game in the 6th. The hit chased the MVC Pitcher of the Year from the game.

Now let's pour it on Birds!!

Also, totally agree on the uniforms the Egyptian Dogs are wearing @Redbird60451. Awful. Ours on the other hand, are simply a classic, clean look.

 

[Redbird28]

Paige McLeod just worked out of a serious jam in the bottom of the 6th. Freshman Ella Boyer with an ultra heady play backing up Standish and then diving in to tag the bag ahead of SIU's fastest runner for the 3rd out. The Birds are 3 outs away from the title game with a 2-0 lead.

 

[Redbird28]

...and the Birds go down on a walk off Grand Slam in the bottom of the 7th. Heart breaking loss to the #1 seed.

 

[Redbird60451]

...and the Birds go down on a walk off Grand Slam in the bottom of the 7th. Heart breaking loss to the #1 seed.

I went into my treatment up 2-0 came out and saw that. They were able to chase the Pitcher of the year in the MVC from the game. Sounds like her and her sister are a package deal so they maybe around next year. It should be fun to see her and Paige duel in the future. The sad thing is, if the birds win, I believe SIU goes to the tournament with an at-large anyway.

It's good we had them on the ropes all day long. It will be hard to replace our Starting CF and 3B with as good as they were this year. But as is standard protocol in this situation. We gotta wait till next year now.

 

[cubird]

Why don't they have double eliminatation like the OVC is having in Peoria at Louisville Slugger Field?

 

[Redbird60451]

Why don't they have double eliminatation like the OVC is having in Peoria at Louisville Slugger Field?

So the color announcer (an old SIU coach) did say something about it during one of the games. Basically she eluded to the teams have less to lose with one loss. Had SIU lost to ISU or UNI in the finals, they likely make the tournament based upon record and stats (they have like the #2 ERA in DIV I softball and Maddia Groff is the real deal, SIU did a wonderful job recruiting her, hope she stays because it can only raise the level of the Valley).

Say they lost twice to either of those teams, or lost once to each of them, it gives the committee more opportunity to boot the team. I'm also going to guess since there's not as much 'Money' involved, this tournament is more about getting good exciting games and matchups. So having 2 MVC teams in the tournament is not like having 2 in a basketball tournament (they probably exit the first round anyway).

The top 10/15 teams in Softball end up where they are supposed to be, the pitching and hitting is at a different level. You can only throw so many 150 pitch gems back to back, and with double elimination, your #2 better be as good as your #1 because your likely to play twice in one day.

 

[cubird]

Understand the explanation, but they play 3 games series all year long. OVC giving their student athletes a better experience at the end of the season. Hurts a team that gets hot at the end of the year. It's great that ISU plays a hard nonconference season, but have to win some of those games which apparently SIU did.

 

[isuquinndog]

The MVC changed from double elim for both baseball and softball a while ago. Do the big conferences to double elim?

 

[Redbird60451]

SEC, Big 10, Big 12, PAC 12 all do single elimination tournaments. I bet it also has to do with how many games a team is allowed to play in a season. A single elimination allows them to play an extra round robin earlier in the season.

Of the 25 non conference games they played this year, 7 of them were against teams in the Women's College World Series. Yes they lost them all, but that explained part of the non-con record. Conversely SIU played 2 of 19 against tournament teams and it was the same team twice.

 

[topiarydan]

I think we played four true Frosh at end of the year along with some other underclassmen. We could be darn good next year.

 

[Redbird28]

I think we played four true Frosh at end of the year along with some other underclassmen. We could be darn good next year.

Main underclassman players in the lineup
Boyer SS - Freshman
Hopkins - Freshman
McLeod P - Freshman
Brown - Pinch Runner in a few games I watched - Freshman
Meshnick - Sophomore - Pitcher #2
------
We should return other solid upperclassmen regulars too.
Bryant - 2B - Junior
Masching - Junior
Wilkerson - C - Junior
Knight - 1B - Junior

So yeah, we should be solid, but the biggest thing is returning the primary battery (McLeod/Wilkerson) + Meshnick. Having 6 regulars from the batting order return is a solid starting point as well. Standish and Chval are big losses for different reasons, but the program is still in a good spot.