The Elephant in the Room

Forum to discuss the best softball team in the country
1KCSoonerFan
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Post by 1KCSoonerFan »

Bottom post of the previous page:

The stats are great!

The wins are terrific!

This is an Historic Run and Moment in all of sports!

No arguments with any of that. However, the stats feel a little hollow right now, to be honest. Not because the stats are meaningless, but because they don't matter anymore for the Ultimate Goal of the Team.

Game 3 with OSU was a reminder of how tough OU can be when they are on their game. Games 1 and 2 was a reminder of how vulnerable OU can be when they aren't. As much as I loved the vibe and electric surge of emotion when Parker hit one out, there will not be a Redemption Game 3 in the postseason, unfortunately. If it were a best of 7 games, it would make for a whole different dynamic, eh?

Hats off to Texas and OSU as teams that took two out of three from our stat-toting ladies. Maybe they helped us see a blueprint of how it is possible to win two out of three against the Sooners....and the team can use that blueprint to plan a strong counter for the future. Or, maybe we got beat because the other team was better that play, that inning, that game, that series ....that happens, too.

Whatever it is that knocks our senior-laden team of All-Americans off the surfboard at times, I'm hoping the Sooners can catch a huge wave of momentum on in to the beach. My honest hope for the team is that they can play free, with focus, and with joy - and love each other all the way.
Personally, I think they have been doing that, and giving their All every game. AND, sometimes, this year, their best is not enough to win. Two things can be true at the same time.

It's gonna be a nail-biter from here on in, IMO. The margins are thin for the win this year. Four-peats in softball deserve no less of an historic long-shot to glory perhaps. We CAN win it all. At the same time, I also feel it is up for grabs. OU is very good. Will they be great? That is the question.
Brisket
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Post by Brisket »

OUBeliever56A wrote: Mon May 06, 2024 3:19 pm C'mon fans.

Reality is this.

The Sooners still have the 2nd best record in D1 Softball at 46-6!
Let me type that again. THE 2ND BEST RECORD IN D1 SOFTBALL AT 46-6.

The Sooners are in the #2 position in the RPI.

The Sooners are currently holding these places in team stats:

Batting:
2nd in BA
1st in OB%
2nd in Slug%
2nd in OPS
3rd in Runs Scored
3rd in HRs hit
1st in Walks
16th in Doubles
8th in hits

Pitching:
10th in ERA
5th in BA Against
6th in WH/IP
8th in OB% Against
20th in Slug% Against
T-1st in Shutouts
4th in Runs Allowed
7th in Earned Runs Allowed
27th in Total Ks

Let's just stop all the madness and saying or typing out loud things that we "think" with a wild imagination that could be causing what ever deficiencies the team might have at the moment.

The Sooners are still a very good team and have as good a chance to the win a 4th Natty in four years which is unprecedented since a ball was invented and someone hit with a stick.

C'mon. We have better things to do!

Sorry.....but we are SPOILED. No were a so SPOILED we have turned ROTTEN!

Be thankful you have the best softball program in America in the last decade plus a couple of years. What other Oklahoma sport can say that? None, not even women's gymnastics, but that are close.

If you want to be negative and speculate their are other sports which you can comment on.

Sorry, for my rant. But some perspective is required at times.

Boomer Sooner!
Several things can be true at once.

Yes, OU is still a very, VERY good team.
Yes, on the season OU has put up top-tier statistics.
Yes, OU has to be considered one of the favorites to make it to OKC & win a 4th consecutive national championship.
Yes, OU fans have gotten spoiled by historic, unsustainable levels of elite play from teams over the past several years.
Yes, OU's performance has been deteriorating down the stretch - particularly against their toughest competition, UT & OSU.

I did a little statistical analysis comparing OU's season vs. conference stats, and then compared those numbers to how they performed against UT & OSU. As you play better, higher caliber teams, you should expect some drop-off in statistics, but the differences between OU's season & conference average stats and how they performed vs. UT & OSU are pretty shocking.

Here's the comparison between the season stats & conference stats compared to the averages from the 6 games against UT & OSU:

Batting
Season BA: .364. Conference: .344. UT/OSU: .243
Season OBP: .473. Conference: .469. UT/OSU: .345
Season SLG: .656. Conference: .634. UT/OSU: .387
Season OPS: 1.129. Conference: 1.103. UT/OSU: .732
Season Avg Runs/Game: 8.12. Conference: 7.815. UT/OSU: 3.33
Season HR/Game: 1.88. Conference: 2.074. UT/OSU: 0.833
Season BB/Game: 5.365. Conference: 6.074. UT/OSU: 3.33
Season Hits/Game: 9.404. Conference: 9.222. UT/OSU: 6.667

Pitching
Season ERA: 1.85. Conference: 2.48. UT/OSU: 3.333
Season BA Against: .191. Conference: .205. UT/OSU: .228
Season WH/IP: 1.009. Conference: 1.093. UT/OSU: 1.421
Season OBP Against: .304. Conference: 0.322. UT/OSU: .319
Season SLG Against: .308. Conference: 0.358. UT/OSU: .437
Season OPS Against: 0.612. Conference: 0.680. UT/OSU: .756
Season RA/Game: 1.788. Conference: 2.296. UT/OSU: 3.333
K/Game: 5.846. Conference: 5.556. UT/OSU: 5.667

The pitching did very well against UT, only giving up 2 runs in each game. Pitching only performed well in 1 game vs. OSU. Hindsight being 20/20, it was probably too big a mental hurdle for Maxwell to face her old team.

The bats, though, really didn't do much at all in either series unless they were facing the backend of the opposing pitching staffs. It's a less-than-ideal time for the bats to be in a team-wide slump.
OUBeliever56A
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Post by OUBeliever56A »

I appreciate the time and effort that you spent to develop the stats and to post them. Many kudos to you.

What you stats indicate are that the two series against Texas and Oklahoma State are statistical anomalies. They just happened to happened against them.

It is true that any team's stats will digress against good teams. But so should their stats. That happened to Texas and it did not against OSU because OU faltered on both sides of the field.

But your point is not dismissed by me. OU needs to play better in the circle and in the batters box to regain their form.

I hope that they do just that.

Boomer Sooner!
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