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

[trojansc]

May 21, 2021 15:32:44 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Looking at the scores, it seems that it's been all chalk so far at least in terms of the seeded teams. Virginia Tech is up 3-0 on ASU, though.

Yep. That's a #2 vs. #1 seed though - as VTech/ASU is a day ahead of everyone else. BYU/SIU vs. ASU in an elimination game tonight would be fun.

I wouldn't count out some of the other 4-seeds today. Long Beach State is better than their RPI indicates, but UCLA will probably be too much. McNeese, EKU, St. Francis (PA), and Kennesaw State could all pull an upset. I don't see any of the other 4-seeds left making some noise.

South Florida-Florida by far was the tightest, but that was also not a terrible surprise. South Florida was an at-large bid as well. Northwestern and Southern Illinois, gave good fights, also both at-large teams as #4 seeds.

[bbg95]

May 21, 2021 16:00:29 GMT -5 trojansc said:

May 21, 2021 15:32:44 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Looking at the scores, it seems that it's been all chalk so far at least in terms of the seeded teams. Virginia Tech is up 3-0 on ASU, though.

Yep. That's a #2 vs. #1 seed though - as VTech/ASU is a day ahead of everyone else. BYU/SIU vs. ASU in an elimination game tonight would be fun.

I wouldn't count out some of the other 4-seeds today. Long Beach State is better than their RPI indicates, but UCLA will probably be too much. McNeese, EKU, St. Francis (PA), and Kennesaw State could all pull an upset. I don't see any of the other 4-seeds left making some noise.

South Florida-Florida by far was the tightest, but that was also not a terrible surprise. South Florida was an at-large bid as well. Northwestern and Southern Illinois, gave good fights, also both at-large teams as #4 seeds.

Yeah, that's true. Virginia Tech is RPI 19, and ASU is RPI 12. Speaking of Kennesaw State, they have an early 1-0 lead on FSU.

[jayj79]

May 21, 2021 16:00:29 GMT -5 trojansc said:

Northwestern and Southern Illinois, gave good fights, also both at-large teams as #4 seeds.

SIU was the AQ from the MVC, not an at-large. (or perhaps I misinterpreted what you were saying)

[bbg95]

Kennesaw State got out of a jam in the second. With runners on first and second and one out, the pitcher induced FSU into an easy double play ball, but after the third baseman stepped on the bag for the force out, she airmailed the ball into the stands. The pitcher then get the next batter to pop out.

[trojansc]

May 21, 2021 16:55:28 GMT -5 jayj79 said:

May 21, 2021 16:00:29 GMT -5 trojansc said:

Northwestern and Southern Illinois, gave good fights, also both at-large teams as #4 seeds.

SIU was the AQ from the MVC, not an at-large. (or perhaps I misinterpreted what you were saying)

You're correct. I keep thinking Northern Iowa was the AQ, not SIU, probably because Northern Iowa swept them 3-0 the last week of the regular season. Of course, SIU avenged that loss. SIU did have a chance at an at-large bid for much of the season, so I think that's part of why I get it mixed up too.

[trojansc]

May 21, 2021 17:03:39 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Kennesaw State got out of a jam in the second. With runners on first and second and one out, the pitcher induced FSU into an easy double play ball, but after the third baseman stepped on the bag for the force out, she airmailed the ball into the stands. The pitcher then get the next batter to pop out.

LOL, I saw that. I was like, wow routine double play. Then, *cringe*. They were very fortunate to get out of that.

[bbg95]

Kennesaw State now up 2-0 after FSU booted a ground ball.

Also, out of curiosity, I was looking into breaking balls in softball because they seem to break less than in baseball. I came across this compilation of nasty softball pitches, and one in particular caught my eye at 0:09 of the video. Lisa Fernandez threw a pitch that broke the way a baseball curve would. I'm not sure if that is the softball version of a curveball or another kind of pitch, but it was easily the most ridiculous pitch in the video.

[bbg95]

FSU has the bases loaded with no outs after the Kennesaw State pitcher made an error, and then a bunt was popped up but wasn't caught.

[trojansc]

May 21, 2021 17:37:32 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Kennesaw State now up 2-0 after FSU booted a ground ball.

Also, out of curiosity, I was looking into breaking balls in softball because they seem to break less than in baseball. I came across this compilation of nasty softball pitches, and one in particular caught my eye at 0:09 of the video. Lisa Fernandez threw a pitch that broke the way a baseball curve would. I'm not sure if that is the softball version of a curveball or another kind of pitch, but it was easily the most ridiculous pitch in the video.

What a freakish turn of events in the KSU/FSU game.

Collision by two infielders, then an error by the pitcher, THEN a popped up bunt somehow falls, bases loaded...

Also, there was a Hofstra pitcher who almost made the WCWS some years ago. They won the UCLA regional (a very rare occurrence) and she had a nasty knucklecurve. Very rare pitch as well. Olivia Galati.

[bbg95]

May 21, 2021 17:49:51 GMT -5 trojansc said:

May 21, 2021 17:37:32 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

Kennesaw State now up 2-0 after FSU booted a ground ball.

Also, out of curiosity, I was looking into breaking balls in softball because they seem to break less than in baseball. I came across this compilation of nasty softball pitches, and one in particular caught my eye at 0:09 of the video. Lisa Fernandez threw a pitch that broke the way a baseball curve would. I'm not sure if that is the softball version of a curveball or another kind of pitch, but it was easily the most ridiculous pitch in the video.

What a freakish turn of events in the KSU/FSU game.

Collision by two infielders, then an error by the pitcher, THEN a popped up bunt somehow falls, bases loaded...

Also, there was a Hofstra pitcher who almost made the WCWS some years ago. They won the UCLA regional (a very rare occurrence) and she had a nasty knucklecurve. Very rare pitch as well. Olivia Galati.

What exactly is the pitch that Fernandez threw in that video?

[bbg95]

FSU has now tied it at 2-2 after a bases loaded walk.

Edit: Now FSU has a 3-2 lead after another bases loaded walk. They end the inning up 4-2 after they score a run on a groundout and then the trailing runner gets thrown out at the plate. A really crazy inning that could have seen zero runs score or like 7+.

[trojansc]

May 21, 2021 17:51:00 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

What exactly is the pitch that Fernandez threw in that video?

I think it was a knuckle-change.

[bbg95]

The announcers in the BYU vs. Southern Illinois game are talking about how terrible the strike zone last night was. Justifiably so.

[bbg95]

I really like this Violet Zavodnik for BYU, who was the WCC Player of the Year after leading the conference in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage (.412/.524/.831). She just golfed a low pitch into deep right center to drive in a run from first base and put BYU up 1-0.

[trojansc]

May 21, 2021 18:14:36 GMT -5 bbg95 said:

I really like this Violet Zavodnik for BYU, who was the WCC Player of the Year after leading the conference in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. She just golfed a low pitch into deep right center to drive in a run from first base and put BYU up 1-0.

Rylee Jensen, leadoff hitter for BYU is also a special talent. But yeah, Zavodnik for a freshman.. incredible. I'm not thrilled to see her 3 more years as a fan of a fellow WCC program.

Intersting, BYU has opted to go with their ace against SIU, Moffat-Korth. Their #2 pitcher (Paulson) was actually their ace in 2019, so there's not a huge difference between them. Interesting to see if they get past this what they opt to do against Arizona State. Going back-to-back definitely happens in softball and I imagine a lot of teams in the first elimination game would rather pitch their ace, you have to actually get into the next game to even think about who you'll start then, anyways.