In my opinion Miller has earned the tournament start so I’d go with him. Everybody hits , no coaching blunders running the bases into unforced outs, error free defense and the Dawgs will be 1-0. We absolutely have to begin with a win.
Gotta score runs. - just that simple. Our pitching over the last month has been competitive apart from ODU series. Our run production other than the LSU game has hovered around 3-4 runs per game. That will need to be around 6 to have a chance to win tournament. Our 6-9 hole hitters have not been very productive down the stretch even against LSU 10/14 hits were from top 5 in lineup.
A hot offense can even survive the losing bracket path. We really need to win game one with Miller & have Leal for the second round against likely USM. From there it’s all hands on deck.
Coaching stupidity...
happened to catch the last inning of the Notre Dame-Wisconsin softball playoff game last night. ND led 4-0 with Wis batting in the bottom of the 7th, last 3 outs. The ND starter was visibly tired, their bullpen was active, two relievers warming up. She had pitched a great game to that point. AND!!! at that point, if you're ND you gladly exchange 3 runs for 3 outs! Just finish it off. But....nope!!! ND, I assume because of coaching decisions, decided to give Wis 5 outs. Led to a two-out 3-run HR, Wis won 5-4.
Whoever that ND coach is should be readily dismissed, and go back to the little leagues to learn Baseball (softball) Coaching 101. STUPID!!!!!!!!!
I post this here as a reminder of what the Diamond Dawgs have to overcome...
Speaking of Wisconsin softball....that team is weird. Wisconsin's left fielder dropped an easy pop fly out yesterday against OU. Just plump. She was a little worried about the fence, but it ultimately did not come into play. She just dropped it.
You don't see that very often at the college level.
Later, in the same game, I saw one of the weirdest plays I've ever seen in softball/baseball. OU has the bases loaded, and their batter hits a fast one right back to the pitcher. Instead of throwing the ball to 3rd base for the easy out (runner was off bag), the pitcher throws it to the catcher (big mistake) instead. The catcher then runs down the 3rd base line and fails to make the tag or to throw it to the 3rd baseman to make the tag in the 3rd base runner. Meanwhile the runner that was on 2nd base was already standing on 3rd base, and the 1st base runner on 2nd. At one point, the 2nd base runner and the 3rd base runner are standing within 3 feet of each other around 3rd base. And despite all this, all 3 OU base-runners ran back to their previous posts and all made it safely.
I know.....it's hard to follow what I just wrote. But the play was just that big of a screwup. And the Wisconsin girls on defense acted like they didn't have a clue what to do with the ball in live play. OU won that one 4-0 (I think).
Discussion of softball in a baseball thread...
Only two guys who think WBB is a relevant sport would do that.
I agree. Not many fans can make the 1st game anyway. Things look good weather wise so far...https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USMS0033:1:US
Real fans will be out there