www.soonertimes.com

Delightful, aren't they?!!?

I was looking on the Big 12 site yesterday and they had OU with a 13-0 conference record and with a 3-0 win over UT .Only thing I can think of is we got credit for oSu's 3-0 Saturday win over UT .

Sooners are picking up momentum heading into the Texas series!

Bats seem to be popping well.

Pitching seems solid.

Defense is on point.

Just keep doing what they have been doing for the most part, and the team will play very well, IMO.

Watched some of their series with OSU. Their fielding is still very suspect. Definitely an area the Sooners have a distinct advantage.

TN Sooner wrote: ↑Sun Mar 31, 2024 1:25 pm https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/ ... -cheating/

Yeah, Mike White is a piece of work. He is likeable in his interviews, but some of the things he does are definitely bad conduct. Don't be surprised.

This is the series I have dreaded as it is in Austin and from the beginging of the year texas has looked really good. This weekend took a little shine off of them as I expected them to pretty much dominate osu with maybe osu sqeaking one win out. texas now appears very beatable which I like, but playing in Austin is going to be the biggest away game challenge we face. I really want to win all 3 - but we may not match up super well with them for a 3 game set - I'm not sure just yet. I feel like we can beat them with Maxwell and May, not sure about Deal (although I'm super excited to see how she handles it). We may see more of Keeney in Austin and not sure about that either. This series will show who and how much confidence our coaches have in our pitching staffs.

I would be fine with winning 2/3 down there, but really would love to see us take all 3. I think we can - just will depend on how our pitchers are pitching I think. I think we'll be able to hit texas - can we just keep them from scoring? I think so, osu did and I'm not 100% convinced they have a better pitching staff than us (although I do think they are good). Of course being home gave osu a pretty good advantage and osu was definitely more motivated I'm sure with all the 'texas is leaving us in the big12' resentment that the cowpokes feel.

I firmly believe the team is ready for this series. The seniors came out this past weekend and sent a message to KU (and quite frankly, the rest of the league) that they are still the dominant team in the conference. They jumped all over the Jayhawks all three games, putting crooked numbers on the scoreboard in the first inning of every game and never looking back. I think they've been building to this series and are primed for it.

Texas and OSU are the only quality teams besides OU in the big 12 so this will be a good test.

If anyone is in Austin and would like to meetup for a beer, let me know

I am in Buda, just a bit south of Austin. You wouldn't know of anyone who has tickets for any of the games this weekend, would ya?
I was hoping to go to one or more of the games with my son (a KState alum) and my grandson (a freshman at UT), but apparently all tix are sold out/at a premium...

I don't have any tickets, but I'll meet up for a beer. Send me a private message.

Before the season started I had thought we would probably lose a game to Texas...and then after the loss to Louisiana, maybe even lose two. But now, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't sweep them. The only thing for them now is that Kavan is going to be at home in front of a friendly crowd and that may prove to be a big help to her. When she's on, she's tough. Gutierrez was also throwing well against the Cowgirls.

May had an excellent game last year throwing 5.1 innings with 8 K's (Bahl finished the last 2 outs). Last year, Maxwell struck out 9 in a losing effort because her Cowgirl offense couldn't help her out, losing 2-3. Likewise, Paytn Monticelli is very familiar with Texas, pitching 4 innings in a losing effort last year giving up 4 runs on 6 hits, striking out 4 and walking 2. Wisconsin's tepid offense couldn't help her out either though. Texas has not seen Deal pitch. To my knowledge, they also have not seen Keeney pitch. (They also have not seen Geurin.)

I have two concerns:

1. We bunch runs together too much. Either in the first couple of innings and then we go cold, or in the last couple of innings after we've seen their pitcher a couple of times through the lineup. Texas's pitching staff is deep enough that the last option can be neutralized.

2. Do we not have anyone that wants to be a closer? Friday's game with Kansas was nearly perfect, but the ending to Saturday's game was not encouraging. Thankfully May came back to her closing form from years past to end the game. Way too many times recently we have won games that were made way too close at the end because whoever we are trying out to be a "closer" has struggled to close out the last inning or two. We won't have that luxury against Texas. If our starter is having a good game, we've got to leave her in there, like last year.

Totally love your comments Tropical. Agree about the closer role. Against texas we will see if Patty/Jenn feel like calling the game loose or conservative. I highly doubt we see the merry go round of players in Austin that we have seen up to this point. I figure unless our starter pitcher starts having trouble after seeing the lineup for the 3rd time, they will stay in and so will all of our starters (for fielding and batting).

I'm just as anxious to see how the coaches call the game as I am to see how our players respond. One thing I'm really starting to appreciate this year is the shear experience of excellent players like Jayda, Tiare, Alyssa, Kinzie, Torres and even Maxwell and May. I think having that senior experience is what is going to really make the difference this year. Hoping to be proven right in Austin.