Sooners vs Liberty

[White River]

Bottom post of the previous page:

[sybil]

anymore updates?

[OU_Tom]

Thanks @White River for the game thread

[waddy's ghost]

after 2 games OUr D sucks as does OUR wealth of bats . On the plus side pitching has been OUtstanding. Curious how the rest of the games play OUt this weekend . Hopefully this is a wakeup

[portalball]

Way too early any panic, yeah they most likely not gonna be as good as last year.
They will take some losses this year but at the end I would almost bet they will be
in the running for the big 12 title

[Sooner Cal]

after 2 games OUr D sucks as does OUR wealth of bats . On the plus side pitching has been OUtstanding. Curious how the rest of the games play OUt this weekend . Hopefully this is a wakeup

You must be new to OU softball. Back in the seasons before Alo and even in her first couple of seasons, Sooner bats took awhile to warm up. I think it is from practicing all fall and winter against the same pitchers. The past 2 season spoiled us. Not to worry and certainly no reason to say anything sucks.

[White River]

The two games yesterday haven't dampened my outlook for the season or changed my expectations in any way. Grace Lyons hasn't forgotten how to play defense at SS. Coleman, Jennings, Sanders and the others haven't forgotten how to hit the ball. Every team has games where they struggle and for OU in years past, early in the season is where they are most likely to have those types of games. In past years we've lost early games where we played just like this. These were quality teams and the Sooners found a way to win. Anytime you don't play up to your expectations and you manage to get the victory, count your blessings and move on. There was some rust and there are plenty of opportunities for improvement, but this is still the team with the highest ceiling in the game and they will improve! Even if they drop a game before the end of the weekend, that doesn't change my expectations for the season. If they are still playing like this a month from now, that's a different issue.

[1KCSoonerFan]

White River,

Thanks for covering the game(s) now and in the past. I really enjoy the inning by inning updates!

I agree with your points about interpreting this performance in historical terms. Was it last year we 'only' beat LMU, an un-ranked team, 5-0 in the first game? Looooong way to go from here to OKC. I don't know WHY we have slow starts for sure...but what program in the country would complain about where we end up later?

This team is very different than last year's team - even though they may have a higher ceiling. Four transfers (three upper classwomen and a Sophmore) on top of a fresh crop of newbies. It might take a little extra time to gel? The starting batting order was a little different than what many expected, too, which tells me Patty is in major 'tinkering mode' at the moment.

We also saw some veteran leadership move on in Alo and Elam....and don't forget Hansen was recovering from an appendectomy and not in the dugout.
This goes to the "Different Team, Different Year' theme.

They say Defense Travels, and ours certainly did (despite a couple uncharacteristic bobbles)! May and Bahl pitched gems, IMO!

The Team showed GRIT and passion throughout these games. They may not talk about it, but they are well-aware of the high expectations of all us old duffers that would be laid up for a week after one practice session. Ha! Just kidding around.

The Stanford and Washington games will give us more to see and think about, but most importantly, it will give the Team some more iron to sharpen themselves against going forward.

[MsProudSooner]

Maybe the team read too many press clippings

Liberty was an NCAA tournament team last year. They beat Georgia in their first game in the tournament.

[portalball]

Maybe the team read too many press clippings

Liberty was an NCAA tournament team last year. They beat Georgia in their first game in the tournament.

I can't recall the coach and it wasn't about softball, but a coach said best way to be Oklahoma is to tell them how good they are

[The Far Journey]

Maybe the team read too many press clippings

Liberty was an NCAA tournament team last year. They beat Georgia in their first game in the tournament.

So true. Liberty is probably top fifteen. Most of their position players are returnees and we saw their pitcher. Two years ago when JMU made their big run in the WCWS, Liberty was in the Tennessee regional with them. They too knocked off Tennessee and barely lost to JMU to get to the series. After Patty, Dot Richardson is among the four or five best coaches in the country, and this may be her best team.

[EMan]

A definite high point from yesterday was Nicole May. Hopefully, this is the year she comes into her own (not that previous years were disappointments!) While Jordy will still be considered the ace, May could be Option 1A, and be OU's silent assassin. So happy for her and looking forward to a stellar season in the circle.

As far as the "slow start' goes, it may take a while for the team to fill in the voids of losing Alo et al. Not just on the field or at the plate, but from a leadership role as well. Let's be honest, you don't lose the NCAA GOAT hitter and not fall back just a tad. At least in the beginning. It'll take a little adjusting to not having Alo's daunting presence in the lineup. Jennings is fully capable of putting up Alo power numbers, but Jocey had a presence at the plate like no other player before her. She intimidated pitchers and coaching staffs and teams game planned around her plate appearances. In time, this year's team should be equally intimidating with the power that's stacked up and down the lineup. One of the things I've always marveled at with Patty is how she's able to get her teams to peak at the right time. They almost always seem to be playing their best ball as the season winds down. That's an incredible advantage, and what makes Patty the superior coach that she is. There may be a few growing pains to start the season but come conference time I'd expect them to be rolling once again.

And of course, it won't hurt to get Kinzie back as well!

[waddy's ghost]

after 2 games OUr D sucks as does OUR wealth of bats . On the plus side pitching has been OUtstanding. Curious how the rest of the games play OUt this weekend . Hopefully this is a wakeup

You must be new to OU softball. Back in the seasons before Alo and even in her first couple of seasons, Sooner bats took awhile to warm up. I think it is from practicing all fall and winter against the same pitchers. The past 2 season spoiled us. Not to worry and certainly no reason to say anything sucks .Not new to Sooner softball and my memory is that this shaky offensive beginning is most definitely NOT the norm. I did in fact lokk at start of OU seasons going back to 2018 and the only slow start was 2020,