Sooner Softball Regional, 5/17-19: OU begins their Pursuit of #4

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners were awarded the #2 Seed for the NCAA Tourney and will host a Regional this weekend on May 17-19. The teams that are coming to Norman to play in Love's Field are; Oklahoma (49-6) #1 seed for the Regional, Oregon (28-19), #2 Seed, Boston University (52-4-1), #3 Seed and Cleveland State (22-24). #4 Seed.

First thing the schedule. The website below is your friend. Use this as a quick reference for the games for OU.

https://soonersports.com/sports/softbal ... h=softball

Friday' Games:
Game #1 - Oregon vs Boston U - 4:30 PM on ESPN+
Game #2 - Oklahoma vs Cleveland State - 7:00 PM on ESPNU

Saturday's Games:
Game #3 - Winners from Game #1 and #2 - 2:00 PM
Game #4 - Losers from Game #1 and #2 - 4:30 PM
Game #5 - Loser from Game #3 and Winner from Game #4 - 7:00 PM

Sunday's Game(s):
Game #6 - Winners from Game #3 and #5 - Time TBD.
IF game: Game #6 Teams playing once again if the Game #5 Winner wins Game #6.

Note: The games for Saturday and Sunday will be televised on a combination of ESPN channels (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews and ESPN+). You will have to watch the schedule page above and the social media links to know where the game will be televised. Because of the 'game windows' for the games being shown on the family of ESPN channels, taping games will be tough due to games moving to other open channels at times when games extend beyond the 'window' provided.
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The first game - Oregon vs Boston U:
Oregon arrives in Norman after a Tie for 3rd Place in the PAC 12 regular season and a defeat in the opening round of the PAC 12 Tourney to Utah. They are 28-19 on the season and 13-10 in the PAC 12. Oregon is a solid team and is coached by former Sooner Associate Head Coach, Melissa Lombardi who took the Head Coaching job at Oregon job before the 2019 season.

[Edit Addition: - I should have mentioned that Sydney Romero (former Sooner 3B) is an assistant coach for Oregon in her first season there after being at Duke as an assistant coach in 2023.]

In the circle they have five capable pitchers but do not really have an "ace". The best pitcher is probably Elsie Sokolsky with a 2.41 ERA in 72.2 IP. She has the best strikeout ratio and the best hits-to-IP ration as well. All five pitchers will likely be used during the regional. The Ducks have a Team ERA of 3.15 The Oregon defense is fairly good as they have 34 errors and have allowed only 25 unearned runs all season. The Ducks pitching staff has only 7 CGs and 7 shutouts this season.

The Duck offense is lead by Ariel Carlson who plays CF. Carlson's hitting line is .366 BA/.451 OB%/..766 Slug% and has 123 doubles and 15 HRs. Kai Luschar hits .423 but does not provide much power or additional walks. Alyssa Daniell is also a dangerous hitter as she hits .308 but has 10 doubles, 3 triples and 10 HRs and plays 1B. A midseason injury to Hanna Delgado hurt Oregon as she was hitting .374 with a .470 OB% and 15 EBH. Oregon starts 5 players with an OPS under .825. Oregon had stolen 86 bases against 18 caught steals.

Boston University arrives in Norman as the undefeated Patriot League Champions and the League Tourney Champs. Boston has the best W/L Record in the nation with 52 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie. Do not under estimate the Terriers. they have defeated 4 Power-5 teams plus 2 wins over Charlotte, a #2 seed in the Georgia Regional. Their four losses are to Northwestern, South Carolina, Duke and Dartmouth. Impressively, they have given up more than 4 runs only 5 times this year. (The Sooners have given up more than 4 runs, 6 times this year.)

The Terriers are good because of their pitching. Their Team ERA is 1.26. Their team BAA is only .168. The pitching staff has tossed 32 CGs and 28 shutouts this season. Kasey Ricard leads the way for Boston with a fine 27-3 record and an ERA of 1.20. She has 23 CG and 15 individual shutouts and 2 saves this season in 204.2 IP. She gives up less than 1 hit every two innings. She walks a hitter every 4 innings and she strikes out 5+ batters every 4 innings. She allows a .142 BAA. I know nothing about her stuff. But whatever she does, she does it very well. Their other two pitchers have ERAs of 1.09 (Avery - 51.1 IP) and 1.41 (Boaz - 134.1 IP). Both of them have good splits for stats. As a team, Boston has only allowed 14 HRs this season.

On offense, Boston is respectable. Thy score 6 runs a game ( a half a run more than Oregon). As a team the hitting line is .325 BA/.390 OB%/.472 Slug%. They have four hitters that hit between .407 and .373. Four hitter have a Slug% of better than .560%. There only weak hitter is their catcher.

It is interesting that Boston starts 8 players that are Seniors or Grad Students. They have experienced which can never be discounted.

I actually think Boston U has about a 65-70% chance to defeat Oregon in the first game of the Norman Regional. I know that Boston does not play in a strong league. But when they played 'up' they played well and did not get blown out at all. Their pitching has held up against everyone. If they pitch well, they win usually. The Sooners know better than most to not underestimate the Boston pitching (2018). I am anxious to see Ricard pitch and will be there to watch.

Second Game: Oklahoma vs Cleveland State:
Yes, Cleveland State has a 22-24 season record. But they have won 7 of their last 10 games. They won the Horizon League Tourney to advance to the NCAA Tourney.

What Cleveland State has is a good two-way player in Melissa Holzopfel a Senior Pitcher/1B/DP. Holzopfel is the Vikings pitching staff. She has a 1.77 ERA and has pitched 193.1 innings. She has average splits but she does limit HRs as she has only allowed 5 HRs all season. Her ERA does benefit from 31 unearned runs scored against her which is high. The Vikings defense has made 65 errors for 51 unearned runs. The second pitcher for Cleveland State is Torrie Jenkins has a 6.00 ERA in 77.0 innings. She has a .351 BAA. There is little behind Holzopfel in the circle for the Vikings. The three remaining pitchers for Cleveland State has an ERA of 11.64.

One fact that is different is that Cleveland State has scored 3 fewer runs than they have allowed. That is not unexpected with a losing record but it is different and probably the only team in the tourney that has scored less than they have allowed.

On offense, the Vikings have four good hitters. They are Gilkerson (.353 BA/.580 Slug%), Albaugh (.349 BA/.557 Slug%), Holzopfel (.326 BA/.504 Slug%) and Hurosky (.315 BA/.457 Slug%). After that, there is not a great deal of offensive firepower for Cleveland State.

The Sooners will face Holzopfel in the circle. The Sooners will have to handle the top four hitters. If they can solve Holzopfel in the circle and handle the four hitters the Sooners should win easily on Friday night. But, you never underestimate a successful pitcher (Holzopfel is 19-9) that you have never faced before. To be 19-9 on a team that is 22-24 is very tough.

Yes, the Sooners should win the game against the Vikings easily. It might be considered an upset if the game is not a run-rule game. To me, the only question is who the Sooners start in the circle.

With a game played late Friday night (7 PM) and than a game on Saturday at 2 PM (if you win) or a 4:30 PM followed by a 7 PM game (if you lose) it is important to have a plan for your pitchers. I am sure the Sooner coaches will have a plan that works. But I wonder what that might be.

Will they start Maxwell and hope for short outing of maybe 3 innings with relief to follow? Or will they choose either Deal or May to start the first game and save Maxwell for the Saturday 2 PM game against the winner of the other half of the bracket?

If Maxwell starts the first game on Friday, she should be able to come back and start a game on Saturday. But it would be nice to just play one on Saturday with a rested Maxwell starting that game.

I have confidence in Deal or Keeney and that they will pitch well against Cleveland State. I think one of them will start game #1. It is nice to have choices. I think May will be the first pitcher out of the bullpen in the Regional as much as the Sooners need her. If that is the plan, that saves Maxwell to pitch the 2 PM game on Saturday against Boston U, if my feeling about that game is correct, or maybe Oregon.

The lineup will be much the same as it was in the Big 12 Tourney. Coleman, Parker, Jennings, Brito, Hansen will be repeated as the top 5 hitters. the last four may jumble a bit. Torres and Pickering could hit 6th or 7th or flip the spots, I think. Sanders is probably in the 8th spot and Boone in 9th.

The Sooners need to continue the good hitting they had in the Big 12 Tourney and continue the pitching that they had. It is playoff time. It is time to show the best the Sooners have.

Boomer Sooner!

[RefriedBeans]

Thanks.

[TN Sooner]

An additional note - Syd Romero is an assistant coach for Oregon.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I’m glad Lombardi and Romero get to play in Love’s. They helped build it!

[inconnu]

Former(especially graduates)Sooners shouldn't have to play against the Sooners.

[OUBeliever56A]

This is how I am guessing that the Sooners handle their pitching staff this weekend.

Oklahoma's first game vs Cleveland State. With the Vikings having lefty hitters in the #2, #4 and #9 spots in the lineup, I think that Kierston Deal will start game against Cleveland State. I think it is important that the Sooners try to get both Keeney and maybe Monticelli into the game on Friday to get them back in the circle. May could be the "bullpen" finisher also. I would never say never, but I am not concerned about the Sooners not being able to win their opening game on Friday.

I think Oklahoma will play Boston U in their second game at 2 PM on Saturday. Ricard will be pitching her second game in less than 24 hours probably. Maxwell will get the start for the Sooners. I do not think the plan will change if they play Oregon in their second game.

With a win, the Sooners play on Sunday against the team emerging from the loser's round. I think that will be Oregon. i think the Sooners will send Deal or Keeney back to the circle to start this game. The plan could be Deal for 3 innings followed by Keeney for 2 or 3 innings and May for 1 or 2 innings.

If the "IF" game is required on Sunday, Maxwell will start the final regional game.

With a potential loss in the 2 PM game on Saturday, the Sooners have to have a plan if that happens. They will play at 7 PM. If my scenario is correct that Boston U wins the opening game against Oregon, this game will be against Oregon. Having use both Deal and Maxwell, I think that Keeney will get the call to start this game. Pitching to Carlson and Daniel has to be handled well and keeping the ball down in the zone is a good idea. Thus, Keeney gets the call. May and Deal/Maxwell could be used in relief 'if or when' needed. In this scenario, the Sooners will be playing Boston U in the regional finals. The Sooners would go with Maxwell in the first game on Sunday and then the "IF" game probably goes to Deal or May/Keeney to start.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the Norman Regional.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/5/12 ... -may-17-19

Boomer Sooner!

[SoonerGirl1201]

This is how I am guessing that the Sooners handle their pitching staff this weekend.

Oklahoma's first game vs Cleveland State. With the Vikings having lefty hitters in the #2, #4 and #9 spots in the lineup, I think that Kierston Deal will start game against Cleveland State. I think it is important that the Sooners try to get both Keeney and maybe Monticelli into the game on Friday to get them back in the circle. May could be the "bullpen" finisher also. I would never say never, but I am not concerned about the Sooners not being able to win their opening game on Friday.

I think Oklahoma will play Boston U in their second game at 2 PM on Saturday. Ricard will be pitching her second game in less than 24 hours probably. Maxwell will get the start for the Sooners. I do not think the plan will change if they play Oregon in their second game.

With a win, the Sooners play on Sunday against the team emerging from the loser's round. I think that will be Oregon. i think the Sooners will send Deal or Keeney back to the circle to start this game. The plan could be Deal for 3 innings followed by Keeney for 2 or 3 innings and May for 1 or 2 innings.

If the "IF" game is required on Sunday, Maxwell will start the final regional game.

With a potential loss in the 2 PM game on Saturday, the Sooners have to have a plan if that happens. They will play at 7 PM. If my scenario is correct that Boston U wins the opening game against Oregon, this game will be against Oregon. Having use both Deal and Maxwell, I think that Keeney will get the call to start this game. Pitching to Carlson and Daniel has to be handled well and keeping the ball down in the zone is a good idea. Thus, Keeney gets the call. May and Deal/Maxwell could be used in relief 'if or when' needed. In this scenario, the Sooners will be playing Boston U in the regional finals. The Sooners would go with Maxwell in the first game on Sunday and then the "IF" game probably goes to Deal or May/Keeney to start.

Boomer Sooner!

I think one of the interesting lessons learned this year (at least the way I have seen the past few games) is that Deal seems better when starting a game and May may be better when coming in to close a game.

I do think both May and Deal can be very good - so it seems if they are more comfortable in specific roles, I'd say go with it.

[TN Sooner]

I swear - this is the longest 5 days of the season! Can’t wait for tomorrow.

I have recollection of some of the regional games (only 2-3 tho) starting on Thursday? But not this year - Maybe my memory is bad.

[Bricklayer]

Yea…I was just checking for Thursday games as well. You aren’t crazy, they used to have 2-4 of the regionals I believe that started on Thursday.

They must have stopped doing that recently

[OUBeliever56A]

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the Norman Regional with notes about Cleveland State, Boston U and Oregon.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/5/16 ... n-regional

Boomer Sooner!