Softball season is just around the corner

[ChiBears]

Baylor was picked 6th this year, which I think is reflective of both the strength of this conference, and the uncertainty surrounding the health of our ace, Whitney Canion.

If she is healthy and returned to the form of her freshman year, watch out. We could certainly finish higher than 6th.

Our pitcher last year was pretty good, as well, and now with a year's experience, she and Canion could be a good 1/2 punch.

Also noticed on the roster, Coach Mulkey's daughter, Makenzie is listed. She's supposed to be pretty darn good.

Anyway, getting ready to "play ball..."

[ChiBears]

Going to get a first look at the softball team this weekend while in town for Lady Bears b-ball games. All indicators are that Canion is back and strong as ever. Looking forward to seeing how they match up with ranked Illinois.

Going to be a bit cool. Have blankets and handwarmers to protect against the elements....

[Bball Girl]

This is where I break with the Big 12 and go with my Alma Mater -- Arizona! Am looking forward to softball season.

[carolann]

Softball will be my retirement sport when I take my little stadium seat out to the ballpark on warm spring afternoons. Texas is supposed to have a promising roster. The team has a highly regarded freshman pitcher who may be able to provide a little depth at the position. Blaire Luna was great as a freshman last year. And the team is supposed to have some hitting.

[ChiBears]

One of my new goals is to make the softball World Series and to follow the Lady Bears out to the West to that tournament they go to every couple of years where the ballparks are scaled replicas of famous major league baseball parks. I think maybe it's in Palm Springs...I think it would be cool to rent an RV and stay in the parking lot and just stroll and watch the games that are intriguing.

Carol Ann, just saw the sports clip on the Longhorn softball game and the freshman apparently pitched the game for them yesterday in their tournament. She gave up one run and had 8 strikeouts. UT won handily.

[ChiBears]

Apparently, Canion cannot pitch back-to-back days yet, so the new freshman pitcher is in the circle today. According to the coach, she's an extremely talented thrower, but consistency is an issue...never sure what you're going to get. I won't get to see her today, as softball's first game is at the same time as the basketball game, but hopefully she'll do well.

Am walking over to see the second game. Hope it's a good one.

Sic'em

[CowgirlsFreak]

OSU just defeated Georgia 1-0!!! Very nice win by the Cowgirls!

Edit: According to Oklahoma State Athletics FB page, UGA was #1!!! Even better!

[ChiBears]

Congratulations, Cowgirls! I wish there were more sites on which to follow softball. I am looking forward to the upcoming year. It seems the Big 12 should be a powerhouse conference this season!

[CowgirlsFreak]

Congratulations, Cowgirls! I wish there were more sites on which to follow softball. I am looking forward to the upcoming year. It seems the Big 12 should be a powerhouse conference this season!

Agreed. There are 6 teams currently ranked, and Baylor is just on the outside of the Top 25. There are currently 4 undefeated teams, Baylor being one of those.

Oklahoma's lone loss is to #8 Arizona State, but they have a run rule win over #1 (according to ESPN) Arizona. These were in Tempe, AZ.

OSU has losses to #8 Arizona State (1-0) and #23 Houston (3-2). Both losses were pretty much home games for the victors.

Nebraska's loss is to #1 Arizona 6-1.

This should be a very interesting season in the Big 12.

[CowgirlsFreak]

According to Graham Hays, this was the first time UGA has been shutout since May 7, 2009. Kat Espinosa, OSU starting pitcher, had the flu & was throwing up in the dugout between innings. Gutsy performance.

"@grahamhays Okla St. pitcher Kat Espinosa was sick with flu, throwing up in dugout, and still handed UGA its first shutout since May 7, 2009 about 2 hours ago"

[spooky]

Agreed. There are 6 teams currently ranked, and Baylor is just on the outside of the Top 25. There are currently 4 undefeated teams, Baylor being one of those.

Oklahoma's lone loss is to #8 Arizona State, but they have a run rule win over #1 (according to ESPN) Arizona. These were in Tempe, AZ.

OSU has losses to #8 Arizona State (1-0) and #23 Houston (3-2). Both losses were pretty much home games for the victors.

Nebraska's loss is to #1 Arizona 6-1.

This should be a very interesting season in the Big 12.

Its been a good start so far, and the conference is looking to be as deep as it's been in a while. It'll be interesting to see which of the undefeated teams stay strong and which ones fold as competetion heats up. Baylor won two early against ranked teams, as did Tech, but haven't played too many other top teams. Texas and Kansas' schedule so far hasn't looked that tough either.

We might not know for real about Tech for awhile - they only have 4 teams with winning records on their schedule until conference starts. We'll find out alot more about Baylor when we head to Tucson for a 3 game series.

I'm quietly optimistic about our prospects this year. Canion going down last year was a death blow. we've got more depth behind her this year, but still probably won't survive if she can't stay healthy. Offensively, we're more balanced than last year. Hopefully we can fix the problem with stranding runners. Last year, we were near the top in batting average, but near the bottom in runs scored. We have to be more clutch to move up in the standings.

[TTU79]

Texas Tech is off to its' best start in school history with a record of 11-0. Tech is currently ranked 19th by ESPN.com/USA and 21st by NCFA/USA Today. There are no seniors on the team. We have 11 juniors, 7 sophomores and 3 freshmen. 11 of the players are from Texas, 1 from Ariz., 2 from Wash. (state), 1 from Calif., 1 from Ala., 2 from Okla., 1 from Colo. and 1 from Utah. The team batting avg. is .397 so far and a pitching era of 2.46. Coach Hayes has brought this team a long way in a relatively short period of time. I'm enjoying watching them play. The home games are available via Texas Tech's AllAccess site.

[ChiBears]

Canion put up good numbers yesterday in game she pitched and is looking to be headed back to being even better than she was prior to the injury. Repka was helped by the experience of last year. Just got my first look at Liz Paul, the freshman pitcher. She's got a lot of potential and is pretty good for 3rd pitcher, as is.

Seem to have more power in lineup and a little more versatility, defensively. For a team early in the season, we look exciting and excited.

If we can knock off Houston tomorrow, we'll get some more attention coming our way. I think if people start paying attention, we'll get enough votes to break into top rankings.

Well, first we have to get past Lousiana Monroe, so...

Sic'em and good luck tomorrow against Houston.

[Waylontheman]

KU hasn't played much of anyone but we are 14-1 under 2nd year head coach Megan Smith. We are so young its ok we schedule cupcakes to get confidence up! Kristen Martinez is a 6-0 frosh from Texas and she is going be NASTY when Big 12 season rolls around. We will make some noise I do know that!

[CowgirlsFreak]

OSU got a nice performance out of freshman pitcher Simone Freeman. She threw a 4 hit shutout against Tulsa. I am not really sure how good Tulsa is, but that is a nice compliment to star pitcher Kat Espinosa.

Bedlam this weekend! Non-conference game tho.

[ChiBears]

Well, we lost that game to Houston 1-0 in a pitcher's duel that was decided by an error in the field, essentially.

BUT, after two easy wins against Prarie View A&M, we take a gem of a game against UCLA in the Campbell/Cartier Classic.

"Baylor (17-1) used 10 hits and a 14-strikeout, complete-game performance from Whitney Canion to upset No. 6 UCLA (14-4) 5-1 late Friday night at the Campbell/Cartier Classic in San Diego, Calif."

"Canion (7-1) struck out 14 batters, allowed three hits, one run and three walks in 7.0 innings. The lefty had a no-hitter through 5.2 innings."

UCLA's pitcher was 5-1 prior to the loss last night (early this morning CT!)

* I had my laptop set up by the bed with the link already up ready to press and was determined to stay awake to listen to it. Alas, it didn't start until after 11 p.m. and this old folk was already sawing wood by then...:oo

[CowgirlsFreak]

OSU won 1-0 over Illinois Chicago in "The Preview featuring Bedlam". This first game was in Stillwater. OSU now travels to OKC/Hall of Fame Stadium to play Auburn, going on right now, and Oklahoma at 6pm. And then will finish The Preview by hosting Auburn tomorrow morning.

[ChiBears]

This is setting up to be some kind of conference race this year!

BTW, we followed up our "gem" with a "stinker" of a game. Couldn't hit (really, we got no-hit), couldn't field (had like 5 or 7 errors) and Repka had no groove (gave up 10 hits and 5 earned runs).:eek:

As good as we were Friday, we were doubly bad last night. Hopefully, that will provide a good learning experience for this team and the game won't be a total waste. Just need to bring it every game, especially when they reach conference!

[CowgirlsFreak]

OSU went 2-2 on the weekend, losing to Oklahoma & Auburn. Winning against UIC(post above) and Auburn. Oklahoma went 4-0.

[ChiBears]

Y'all play some BALL up there in Oklahoma!

Hope all the conference teams keep racking up wins. That will help the rest of the nation understand how tough this league is and why some things shake out the way they do, once conference rolls around.

Bears rebounded from their bad loss with two wins, one against a ranked team, albeit, 23 in only one poll. Right now, I think this team is looking for some consistency and what their identity is going to be this year.

With Canion, they are such a different team than last year and they have a couple of freshmen that will be contributors this year in whatever success we have. They just need to get a few games under their belt so when they say, "We have to go out and play our game," they're all on the same page about what, exactly, that is. It'll come...