A Quick Refresher on Stanford===And The Pitchers We Didn't See

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TropicalSooner
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A Quick Refresher on Stanford===And The Pitchers We Didn't See

Post by TropicalSooner »

Edit: I began this earlier this morning, but in the meantime ' 56 posted up a very very good analysis of how we must approach Stanford and their pitcher, as well as what to expect on Saturday. I thought about deleting this but decided to go ahead and finish what I started.



Thought some folks would have posted up some notes about our first competitor by now. Or maybe they think we've been there and done that.
Anyway, here are just a few refresher crib notes on the Cardinal. Or it is the Trees now? I don't know.

First of all, there are eight of us left standing at this point and everyone has good reason to be here. Just ask the teams who aren't here.
At the beginning of the season when we were all trying to guess who the final 8 standing in OKC would be, Stanford was not on my radar at all. Do you know who was? Clemson. They were my #8 pick.
But how has Stanford come to be the one we are now facing? With a pitching staff that has become a force to be reckoned with. Back in February when we faced each other in the Mark Campbell Tournament, Stanford threw Regan Krause, Tatum Boyd, and Kylie Chung at us, and we walked it off 10-1 in 6 innings. But don't underestimate your opponent. They have come to OKC on a pitching staff we didn't see back then.

To recap: The Cardinal is a veteran staff. Only one freshman in their starting lineup of Jr's, Sr's, and Grad's, and that's River Mahler who leads the team in BA at .367. 5 Starters are hitting over .300. But as a team, they are .285 with 72 2B's, 15 3B's, and 24 HR's. They've walked 144 times and struck out 240 times. RS is 267 so they ave a little over 4 1/2 runs per game. They won't overpower you with their bats. They don't need to.

Pitching:
Here's where the rubber meets the road.
#1 NiJaree Canady 16-1 0.48 era, 9 CG, 55 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 19 BB, 193 SO, 7 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, .138 BA, over 116.1 IP.
#2 Alana Vawter 20-8 1.83 era, 17 CG, 168 H, 55 R, 47 ER, 27 BB, 147 SO, 13 2B, 5 3B, 10 HR, .243 BA, over 179.2 IP
The remainder of innings largely goes to Regan Krause, 82.1 IP who we faced back in Feb. Tatum Boyd has 4 IP.
NiJaree Canady is this year's TUCCI/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year. Sort of this year's version of Jordy Bahl. Do NOT underestimate her.
Their pitching staff has allowed 96 runs that averages 1.65/ game, which along with their 4.5 rpg their offense scores works just fine for them.

Our offense has matured as we have gone through our season, and now seem much more disciplined at the plate. We have to continue this. I don't know what kind of pitches Canady has in her arsenal, or what her out pitch is. But whether we win or not will be dependent on scoring at least one run, preferably a lot more--and to do that will take discipline at the plate. I think our own pitching staff can hold the Cardinal at bay, which will be great, but we still have to figure out a way to put runs up on the board. I have read elsewhere (prior to '56's post) that Canady is a hard thrower. If we can connect on just a few of those, we should be able to clear the fence a few times.

I have said on another thread that my choice to pitch would be to start with May. I think her movement is really good, and Stanford, like I pointed out above, is not going to overpower you with their bats. I would not be opposed to going with Storako. I think she could throw her rise balls all day long against Stanford.
But........as much as I would go with May, the first game is really important and to nail down that first win, I expect to see Bahl in the lineup to start. If we are fortunate enough to get a really comfortable lead, then I would expect Storako or Deal to take over. With a win, we get a day of rest, and that may be good enough for Bahl.

My thought for the lineups:

Stanford
2B Mahler
CF Gindlesperger
C Kaneshiro
SS Young
DP Chung
1B Schultz
RF Lim
3B Steele
LF Eck
P Canady

Sooners
CF Coleman
2B Jennings
DP Lee
C Hansen
3B Brto
1B Sanders
RF Erickson
SS Lyons
LF Boone
P Bahl

Boomer!!
aka Crimson47
OUBeliever56A
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Post by OUBeliever56A »

As always "TropicalSooner' is spot on the lineups in my opinion.Stanford's lineup is exactly what I expect. It matchups really determine things for OU, I would expect Torres to start against maybe Canady. As I think she is a high ball hitter as opposed to Erickson. But I am sure both play somewhere at some time in the game.
TropicalSooner
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Post by TropicalSooner »

OUBeliever56A wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 4:55 pm As always "TropicalSooner' is spot on the lineups in my opinion.Stanford's lineup is exactly what I expect. It matchups really determine things for OU, I would expect Torres to start against maybe Canady. As I think she is a high ball hitter as opposed to Erickson. But I am sure both play somewhere at some time in the game.
You have a good point about Torres. I put Erickson in to have another lefty vs Canady, but i could be overthinking it too.
aka Crimson47
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