NCAA Softball Selection -- Does the committee love the B1G?

[trojansc]

Jun 6, 2021 18:15:24 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Rain delay is finally over. Apparently if Florida State wins, both deciding games will move to tomorrow. That would be a big break for James Madison, as I have to imagine Alexander will be more effective with a night of rest instead of having to pitch twice in one day.

Did someone tell Florida State? Have to think that changes their mentality of pitching their #2 right now.

[bbg95]

Jun 6, 2021 18:22:41 GMT -5 trojansc said:

Jun 6, 2021 18:15:24 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Rain delay is finally over. Apparently if Florida State wins, both deciding games will move to tomorrow. That would be a big break for James Madison, as I have to imagine Alexander will be more effective with a night of rest instead of having to pitch twice in one day.

Did someone tell Florida State? Have to think that changes their mentality of pitching their #2 right now.

Shouldn't they be using their best available pitcher anyway, since they have to win this game or go home? Or are you talking about Alabama?

[trojansc]

Jun 6, 2021 18:25:09 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Jun 6, 2021 18:22:41 GMT -5 trojansc said:

Did someone tell Florida State? Have to think that changes their mentality of pitching their #2 right now.

Shouldn't they be using their best available pitcher anyway, since they have to win this game or go home? Or are you talking about Alabama?

No, I'm talking about FSU. Both teams started #2 though.

Arnold is 10-6 1.73 ERA
Sandercock is 25-3 1.16 ERA

Maybe they were thinking if they throw Sandercock they have no chance in the IF Necessary. So see what you can get of Arnold and hope it's good enough to at worst come in for relief, close it out, and start the next game. But, they were planning on playing 2 today, not 1, so maybe it's changed. We'll see what happens.

Alabama probably thinks they won't hit Fouts regardless, so they'll take their chances with #2 and get their ace even more rested for the Finals. A little risky, maybe, given that they know they only have to win once and it's only one game for them today.

[bbg95]

Jun 6, 2021 18:29:07 GMT -5 trojansc said:

Jun 6, 2021 18:25:09 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Shouldn't they be using their best available pitcher anyway, since they have to win this game or go home? Or are you talking about Alabama?

No, I'm talking about FSU. Both teams started #2 though.

Arnold is 10-6 1.73 ERA
Sandercock is 25-3 1.16 ERA

Maybe they were thinking if they throw Sandercock they have no chance in the IF Necessary. So see what you can get of Arnold and hope it's good enough to at worst come in for relief, close it out, and start the next game. But, they were planning on playing 2 today, not 1, so maybe it's changed. We'll see what happens.

Alabama probably thinks they won't hit Fouts regardless, so they'll take their chances with #2 and get their ace even more rested for the Finals. A little risky, maybe, given that they know they only have to win once and it's only one game for them today.

Oh, I see. Yeah, I can see the logic of what FSU is doing. It's probably riskier to win this game but would give them a better chance to win the second game.

[bbg95]

With the bases loaded and two outs, Florida State draws a walk to go ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth. 

[Kingsley]

No drowsiness for FSU. Nice.

[bbg95]

Florida State wins 2-0 to force the deciding game.

[trojansc]

Jun 6, 2021 20:16:43 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Florida State wins 2-0 to force the deciding game.

They set a new WCWS record for winning elimination games. They won the 4 in 2018 en route to winning the Championship, and now have won three this year. They are one win away. (but, to be fair, they didn't make it WCWS in 2019)

I'm sure James Madison *has* to be thrilled.

Both of the underdogs will be the 'road' team tomorrow: JMU and Florida State.

[mikegarrison]

I did not realize they play the second games tomorrow. It didn't used to be that way, did it?

[bbg95]

Jun 6, 2021 20:55:17 GMT -5 mikegarrison said:

I did not realize they play the second games tomorrow. It didn't used to be that way, did it?

There was a two-hour rain delay during the FSU/Alabama game. If it wasn't for that, they would have played all the games today. ESPN also said during the broadcast that if Alabama won, the second James Madison/Oklahoma game would have likely been played tonight.

[mikegarrison]

Jun 6, 2021 20:56:35 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Jun 6, 2021 20:55:17 GMT -5 mikegarrison said:

I did not realize they play the second games tomorrow. It didn't used to be that way, did it?

There was a two-hour rain delay during the FSU/Alabama game. If it wasn't for that, they would have played all the games today. ESPN also said during the broadcast that if Alabama won, the second James Madison/Oklahoma game would have likely been played tonight.

Ah. OK. Now I understand the "JMU must be happy" comment.

[trojansc]

Jun 6, 2021 20:55:17 GMT -5 mikegarrison said:

I did not realize they play the second games tomorrow. It didn't used to be that way, did it?

It's not supposed to be like that. I also strangely spoke this all into existence, I posted about how I dislike the format about having to possibly play a 3 game series in 2 days because of the no-double crossover and not playing the Semifinals over two days, we had a discussion about that, lol.

This all happened because of the events that happened last night and today. Last night, the last elimination game ended at ~230am local because of rain delays.

Today, the games also suffered another day. So the FSU/Alabama game ended at around ~8pm local tonight with TWO more matches needing to be played. In order to avoid playing until 230am again, they decided to move BOTH if necessary games to tomorrow. IF Alabama had won, they would have actually made JMU/Oklahoma play because they didn't want an extra day off for one of the Finals teams if they made JMU/Oklahoma play tomorrow, for example, Alabama would be off.

I imagine they got some pressure. ESPN's commentator posted this yesterday.

[trojansc]

Jun 6, 2021 20:56:35 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Jun 6, 2021 20:55:17 GMT -5 mikegarrison said:

I did not realize they play the second games tomorrow. It didn't used to be that way, did it?

There was a two-hour rain delay during the FSU/Alabama game. If it wasn't for that, they would have played all the games today. ESPN also said during the broadcast that if Alabama won, the second James Madison/Oklahoma game would have likely been played tonight.

Beat me to it. More on this, there is a big push now on twitter and IG about changing the WCWS format and complaints re: gender equality to the CWS. I don't know, I see mixed opinions from fans. Some people prefer the condensed format and being able to actually attend the entire event. Taking 10 days off is not realistic for a lot of people who want to go to the event.

I've always wanted to attend the WCWS. But, Oklahoma City is kind of random for me. I wish it was moved around from multiple sites, but, apparently nobody can/will put up the quality event/site that OKC does.

Also, I'm not sure if it was just that there was a rain delay today. I think the fact that there was a huge rain delay yesterday on top of it makes it compounded and with the pressure they got, they decided to move it.

[mikegarrison]

Jun 6, 2021 21:02:28 GMT -5 trojansc said:

I've always wanted to attend the WCWS. But, Oklahoma City is kind of random for me. I wish it was moved around from multiple sites, but, apparently nobody can/will put up the quality event/site that OKC does.

Yeah, not everybody has a few pool noodles lying around to plug gaps at the bottom of their fences.

[bbg95]

Jun 6, 2021 21:02:28 GMT -5 trojansc said:

Jun 6, 2021 20:56:35 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

There was a two-hour rain delay during the FSU/Alabama game. If it wasn't for that, they would have played all the games today. ESPN also said during the broadcast that if Alabama won, the second James Madison/Oklahoma game would have likely been played tonight.

Beat me to it. More on this, there is a big push now on twitter and IG about changing the WCWS format and complaints re: gender equality to the CWS. I don't know, I see mixed opinions from fans. Some people prefer the condensed format and being able to actually attend the entire event. Taking 10 days off is not realistic for a lot of people who want to go to the event.

I've always wanted to attend the WCWS. But, Oklahoma City is kind of random for me. I wish it was moved around from multiple sites, but, apparently nobody can/will put up the quality event/site that OKC does.

Also, I'm not sure if it was just that there was a rain delay today. I think the fact that there was a huge rain delay yesterday on top of it makes it compounded and with the pressure they got, they decided to move it.

Well, if there wasn't a rain delay, I believe JMU/Oklahoma would have been scheduled to start at 6 PM local, and there should be enough time to get both games in. The Alabama/FSU game didn't get restarted until about 6:15 PM local (the delay was actually more like 2.5 hours). I'm sure the pressure they got from last night is what compelled them to make the decision in conjunction with the delay, but I think both were likely necessary.