Houston Game 1: Beginning of a Sooner Surge?
Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2024 10:19 am
I listened to the game on the radio, however, I missed the first three innings. I was glad when I tuned in that the Sooners already had a lead and were holding the Cougars to zero. (The last couple weeks had me a bit anxious to jump in the middle of a game and hear the squad was behind. In the past, even if another team was ahead by a couple runs, I knew it would probably not be enough to win - our bats and defense would eventually prevail....and usually they did....especially against the "weaker" competition.)
Merited or not, this year, I don't have the same amount of confidence when we are playing a weaker team. It's understandable when playing a powerhouse that it could go either way; their pitchers could hold us down, their bats can score some runs, and it could be a tight finish. Anything can and DOES happen all the time. I think dropping those two games to teams that should not be able to carry OU's cleats put some question marks in my Sooner psyche.
Did the win in Game 1 answer any questions for you? Create more questions? For me, Games 2 and 3 will give me a better feel, however, I was very glad to see a couple of good signs.
The pitching, especially with Maxwell, is looking good. Combined with Deal's terrific performance against Tulsa, I am feeling more confident about the staff. Keeney came in and came through. If May can get it going consistently, I will be feeling really confident.
OU finally got the hit to close out the game with a run-rule win! Jayda did it - and good for her! Hansen is hot! Torres is hot! Brito is warming up again! Jennings seems to fade in and out at the plate lately - her defense is holding solid game-to-game.
I was so glad the team was able to complete the run-rule-shut-out! That is a good sign to me that the bats are trending in a good direction. For awhile there, it seemed iffy if we were going to coast on in with a 7-0 win, or hammer in the last nail like we meant it. We brought the hammer this time.
Our offense, though potent, is the part of the team where we still need some work, IMO. The bats need to be good enough to pick up the pitching and defense when needed. I was glad to see the offense came through and ate the last French fry on the plate in Game 1.
Merited or not, this year, I don't have the same amount of confidence when we are playing a weaker team. It's understandable when playing a powerhouse that it could go either way; their pitchers could hold us down, their bats can score some runs, and it could be a tight finish. Anything can and DOES happen all the time. I think dropping those two games to teams that should not be able to carry OU's cleats put some question marks in my Sooner psyche.
Did the win in Game 1 answer any questions for you? Create more questions? For me, Games 2 and 3 will give me a better feel, however, I was very glad to see a couple of good signs.
The pitching, especially with Maxwell, is looking good. Combined with Deal's terrific performance against Tulsa, I am feeling more confident about the staff. Keeney came in and came through. If May can get it going consistently, I will be feeling really confident.
OU finally got the hit to close out the game with a run-rule win! Jayda did it - and good for her! Hansen is hot! Torres is hot! Brito is warming up again! Jennings seems to fade in and out at the plate lately - her defense is holding solid game-to-game.
I was so glad the team was able to complete the run-rule-shut-out! That is a good sign to me that the bats are trending in a good direction. For awhile there, it seemed iffy if we were going to coast on in with a 7-0 win, or hammer in the last nail like we meant it. We brought the hammer this time.
Our offense, though potent, is the part of the team where we still need some work, IMO. The bats need to be good enough to pick up the pitching and defense when needed. I was glad to see the offense came through and ate the last French fry on the plate in Game 1.