Scouting Cleveland St

[AustinTXSooner]

The Vikings had a 22-24 record this year and got to the tournament by winning the Horizon League Tournament. They tied for third in the regular season. I don't recognize any of their opponents being NCAA Tournament teams. They are coached by Amy Kyler in her 6th year. She was one of the best pitchers to ever play for Cleveland St. They only have one assistant listed on their website, Erin Pond in her first season.

Let's start with pitching.

#	Player	Yr	App	GS	ERA	HR	GO	FO	W	L	SV	IP	K/BB	K/7IP	WHIP	OBP	SLG	OPS
61	Holzopfel, Melissa	Jr	30	11	1.77	5	163	200	19	9	2	193.3	2.6	7.06	1.18	.287	.267	.555
21	Jenkins, Torrie	Sr	31	27	6.00	9	100	80	3	9		77.0	1.6	3.45	2.00	.405	.511	.916
24	McDonald, Katie	Fr	13	7	10.02	2	26	23		4		21.7	1.0	4.20	2.54	.478	.538	1.016
20	Staffan, Dakota	Fr	4	1	12.83	2	8	8		1		6.0	0.3	1.17	3.33	.556	.765	1.320
2	Watts, Jenna	Sr	3		21.00	1	3	4		1		3.0	0.0	0.00	4.67	.667	.786	1.452
-	Totals	-			3.86	19	300	315			2	301.0	2.0	5.74	1.57	.350	.379	.729

In a strange twist, the pitcher with nearly 2/3 of their total innings, only has 11 starts. I'm not sure how to interpret that. She's really their only decent pitcher. Her numbers are actually pretty good. Just over a strikeout per inning, low WHIP, impressive OPS against. It looks like she plays 1B when she's not pitching. The other pitchers look like they throw batting practice.

Maybe there's more to get excited about with their hitting.

#	Player	Yr	BA	OBP	SLG	AB	R	HR	BB	RBI	K	GO	FO	OPS
2	Watts, Jenna	Sr	.385	.357	.692	13	5	1		3	3	2	4	1.049
26	Gilkerson, Emma	So	.353	.458	.580	119	14	6	23	20	11	27	40	1.038
15	Albaugh, Brooke	Jr	.349	.420	.557	149	36	3	6	27	12	48	37	.977
61	Holzopfel, Melissa	Jr	.326	.348	.504	135	25	4	4	31	20	41	27	.852
12	Hurosky, Becky	Sr	.315	.348	.457	127	9	4	6	29	10	39	37	.805
10	Spellman, Sophie	Jr	.239	.244	.368	117	12	4	1	15	25	26	42	.612
23	Deang, Jenna	Sr	.270	.314	.297	148	30		8	7	24	55	31	.611
18	Gorsuch, Kylie	Fr	.241	.318	.293	116	9		11	10	13	45	32	.611
11	Mueller-Stenz, Peyton	So	.193	.272	.301	83	9	2	9	7	14	30	24	.573
9	Frascone, Kiera	Sr	.241	.285	.267	116	15		6	6	13	45	29	.552
20	Staffan, Dakota	Fr	.133	.188	.133	15	1		1	1	6	5	2	.321
3	Sieger, Alexa	Sr	.095	.174	.143	21				3	5	7	8	.317
33	West, Haley	So	.105	.171	.132	38	3		2		10	12	12	.303
-	Totals	-	.276	.331	.395	1,205	175	24	78	160	171	382	326	.726

OK, they've got a few good hitters. Not a lot of power, 24 HR as a team. Team SLG is underwhelming. They don't take a lot of walks. Their batting average is not good. And all of this against teams that aren't in the tournament. They're going to enjoy their trip. They'll get to experience the nicest college stadium and fans. They'll play two games and then they'll go home.

[1KCSoonerFan]

It would be interesting to see how the recent upsurge in interest in women's softball will affect Cleveland St. in the future.

I hope OU crushes them and continues their momentum into the WCWS. At the same time, I have a whimsical affection for these kinds of teams.

Thanks for the write-up AustinTXSooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

From "AustinTXSooner':
In a strange twist, the pitcher with nearly 2/3 of their total innings, only has 11 starts. I'm not sure how to interpret that. She's really their only decent pitcher. Her numbers are actually pretty good. Just over a strikeout per inning, low WHIP, impressive OPS against. It looks like she plays 1B when she's not pitching. The other pitchers look like they throw batting practice.

It looks like Boston U lists another pitcher as the starter, Torrie Jenkins, most games and then replaces her often before the first inning to pitch Melissa Holzopfel in the game. Holzopfel will be listed as the 1B and the eventual 1B (Hurosky) is at DP. Then everything changes to where Holzopfel is at P, Hurosky is at 1B. Jenkins could be at the defensive specialist or be removed from the starting lineup, but since she was a starter, she can re-enter.

I am not sure of the purpose, but it seems to be a consistent thing.

[TropicalSooner]

Well done Austin. Thanks for the write-up.

[SwampSooner]

I looked at Cleveland St on a softball website. They played no one in the top 50 (they did have a game against North Carolina St canceled) and were 0-6 against teams in the top 100. All their victories were against teams ranked 200 and below.

They were 18-23 in the regular season and went 4-1 in their conference tournament to earn their bid.

Could not help but wonder about Siena (Texas' opponent) if Cleveland State is ranked ahead of them.