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Hard to express how devastating this was...
Posted on: March 14, 2018 at 22:34:10 CT
bluetiger_ MU
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And I've always cautioned others from reading too much into a single loss or a few bad games.
But Illinois is a mediocre team, at best, who isn't getting close to the NCAA tournament this year. And these games weren't even close, they dismissed us without breaking a sweat. As you say, their average offense shelled our two best pitchers. And their #2 pitcher, who came in with an ERA of over 5 runs a game (which is awful in DI softball), shut us down on just 2 hits for the first 6 innings, until we scored a few runs in the bottom of the 7th to make a complete beat down appear close in the box score.
If we were going to make a run at making the NCAA field this year, we had to sweep the 7 non conference games remaining against Illinois, SEMO, Omaha, and Western Illinois, and at least split on the road against a good Wichita State team. After the performance today I'm not even confident we can sweep an 11-9 SEMO team on the road next week. I see at least 12 non conference losses (we are at 9 and counting now), and with 21 games left in the SEC, I'm not sure there is going to be a path left to end up with a winning record which would qualify (but not guarantee) us for getting an NCAA bid. We got one last year, barely, with a 29-25 regular season record, and ended up 29-28.
We are at the exact halfway point of the season now, and I think the picture should be clear by a week from Sunday, after the Arkansas series. Miss State and Arkansas are the two best bets we have for winning a series in SEC play. And both are much, much better teams than Illinois. If we don't go at least 6-2 in the next 8 games, taking 2 from SEMO and 4/6 from Miss State and Arky, then there is probably not a path left for a .500 record this year, much less an NCAA bid. Not with 15 games left against Florida, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, and SC.
I said before that the awful situation EE left us in with regards to the pitching staff as a whole meant we were going into a gun fight in every SEC game armed with a knife. After seeing the way Tennessee and then (jeez) Illinois trashed us for an average of 8 runs a game, I'll revise that knife to a slingshot.
I'll be there Friday night, weather permitting, to cheer the girls on against Miss State. And on Saturday and Sunday too. But my confidence is pretty much shot after what happened today in St Charles.
Edited by bluetiger_ at 22:34:41 on 03/14/18
But Illinois is a mediocre team, at best, who isn't getting close to the NCAA tournament this year. And these games weren't even close, they dismissed us without breaking a sweat. As you say, their average offense shelled our two best pitchers. And their #2 pitcher, who came in with an ERA of over 5 runs a game (which is awful in DI softball), shut us down on just 2 hits for the first 6 innings, until we scored a few runs in the bottom of the 7th to make a complete beat down appear close in the box score.
If we were going to make a run at making the NCAA field this year, we had to sweep the 7 non conference games remaining against Illinois, SEMO, Omaha, and Western Illinois, and at least split on the road against a good Wichita State team. After the performance today I'm not even confident we can sweep an 11-9 SEMO team on the road next week. I see at least 12 non conference losses (we are at 9 and counting now), and with 21 games left in the SEC, I'm not sure there is going to be a path left to end up with a winning record which would qualify (but not guarantee) us for getting an NCAA bid. We got one last year, barely, with a 29-25 regular season record, and ended up 29-28.
We are at the exact halfway point of the season now, and I think the picture should be clear by a week from Sunday, after the Arkansas series. Miss State and Arkansas are the two best bets we have for winning a series in SEC play. And both are much, much better teams than Illinois. If we don't go at least 6-2 in the next 8 games, taking 2 from SEMO and 4/6 from Miss State and Arky, then there is probably not a path left for a .500 record this year, much less an NCAA bid. Not with 15 games left against Florida, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, and SC.
I said before that the awful situation EE left us in with regards to the pitching staff as a whole meant we were going into a gun fight in every SEC game armed with a knife. After seeing the way Tennessee and then (jeez) Illinois trashed us for an average of 8 runs a game, I'll revise that knife to a slingshot.
I'll be there Friday night, weather permitting, to cheer the girls on against Miss State. And on Saturday and Sunday too. But my confidence is pretty much shot after what happened today in St Charles.
Edited by bluetiger_ at 22:34:41 on 03/14/18
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Hard to express how devastating this was... - bluetiger_ MU - 3/14 22:34:10
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