Sooner Softball –Fall Ball Stats thru the 4th Battle Series Game

[OUBeliever56A]

Prior to the final Fall Ball Softball Game on Thursday night against NCTC, I thought I would provide the team’s stats thru the 5 previous ‘games’ this Fall.

OFFENSE:

Team – BA - .352, OB% - .430, Slug% - .634 – 65 runs, 64 RBIs, 12 doubles, 2 triples, 22 HRs, 34 walks, 6 HBP, 33 Ks, 7 SB, 6 CS.

Catchers:
Hansen – BA - .450, OB% - .522, Slug% - 1.000 – 2 doubles, 3 HRs, 8 RS, 7 RBIs, 3 W, 2 K
Erickson – BA - .300, OB% - .333, Slug% - .650 – 1 double, 2 HRs, 4 RS, 4 RBIs, 1 W, 2 K
Nugent – BA - .286, .474 OB%, .357 Slug% - 1 double, 3 RS, 1 RBIs, 5 W, 5 K
(Lee)

First Base:
Sanders – BA - .476, OB% - .522, Slug% - 1.048 – 4 HRs, 8 RS, 7 RBIs, 2 W, 1 HBP, 2 K
(Erickson – Lee - Green)

Second Base:
Jennings – BA - .350, OB% - .409, Slug% - 1.150 – 1 double, 5 HRs, 5 RS, 10 RBIs, 2 W, 2 K
Lilio – BA - .353, OB% - .421, Slug% - .529 – 1 HR, 1 RS, 5 RBIs, 2 W, 3 K
(Bahl)

Shortstop:
Lyons – BA - .455, OB% - .500, Slug% - .727 – 1 HRs, 2 RS, 2 RBIs, 1 W, 2 K
Hodge – BA - .200, OB% - .333, Slug% - .200 – 3 RS, 3 RBIs, 3 W, 1 HBP, 3 K

Third Base:
Brito – BA - .278, OB% - .350, Slug% - .444 – 3 doubles, 4 RS, 2 RBIs, 2 W, 1 HBP, 2 K
Torres – BA - .400, OB% - .429, Slug% - .600 – 1 double, 1 HR, 1 RS, 3 RBIs, 1 W, 1 HBP
(Lilio)

Left Field:
Coor – BA - .333, OB% - .333, Slug% - .333 – 3 RS, 3 RBIs, 3 K
(Lee – Lilio – Erickson – Bahl)

Center Field:
Coleman – BA - .421, OB% - .500, Slug% - .579 – 1 HR, 5 RS, 3 RBIs, 3 W, 1 HBP

Right Field:
Boone – BA - .500, OB% - .545, Slug% - .650 – 1 double, 1 triple, 3 RS, 3 RBIs, 2 W, 1 K
(Lee – Lilio – Erickson – Bahl – Coor – Green)

Utility:
Lee – BA – .316, OB% - .409, Slug% - .684 – 1 double, 2 HRs, 5 RS, 7 RBIs, 3 W, 1 HBP, 2 K
Bahl – BA - .296, OB% - .321, slug% - .519 – 1 double, 1 triple, 1 HR, 8 RS, 3 RBI, 1 W, 2 K
Green – BA - .143, OB% - .294, Slug% - .357 – 1 HR, 2 W, 1 RBI, 3 W, 2 K

PITCHING:

Team – ERA – 4.82, IP – 68.1, Hits – 81, Runs – 50, Earned Runs – 47, W – 29, HB – 5, K – 46, 2B allowed – 7, 3B allowed – 2, HRs allowed – 20

Deal LHP – ERA – 1.70, IP – 12.1, Hits – 11, Runs – 3, Earned Runs – 3, W – 6, K – 2, 2B allowed, 2. HRs Allowed – 2.
Bahl RHP - ERA – 3.20, IP – 15.1, Hits – 13, Runs – 8, Earned Runs – 7, W – 4, K – 13, 2. HRs Allowed – 1.
Geurin LHP - ERA – 5.48, IP – 7.2, Hits – 10, Runs – 6, Earned Runs – 6, W – 4, HB – 1, K – 2, 2B allowed – 1. HRs Allowed – 2.
Storako RHP - ERA – 6.13, IP – 16.0, Hits – 21, Runs – 15, Earned Runs – 14, W – 8, HB – 1, K – 20, 3B allowed – 2. HRs Allowed – 9.
May RHP - ERA – 7.00, IP – 17.0, Hits – 26, Runs – 18, Earned Runs – 17, W – 7, HB – 3, K – 10, 2B allowed – 4. HRs Allowed – 6.

- - - - -

My thoughts: OFFENSE

- I think we can say that Hansen is back to being fully healthy this fall. It is amazing how good she is when healthy. I think Erickson is the backup but Nugent or Lee can do the job well also,
- Sanders has impressed. She probably starts at 1B unless she is at the DP spot at times. Erickson may be better defensively at 1B though. But she is the backup for now.
- Jennings is simply great. Lilio is capable as well as maybe Bahl is.
- Lyons is simply great. Hodge is ready defensively to play SS.
- I am not sure anyone has won the 3B job at this point. Both Brito and Torres seems able to do the job there. Maybe Lilio has a chance also.
- LF seems to be wide open. The default would be Brito if she does not play 3B. If Brito does play 3B, the LF job is wide open. Maybe players could fill that spot.
- Coleman may have a breakout year with 15 HRs this season as she has added strength it looks like. She owns CF defensively.
- Boone has done everything she can do to earn the RF job. She is very good.
- As for who fills the DP spot outside of the starters, I would say that Lee and Erickson are the leaders of the pack to fill that spot.

The batting order could be so good that the first 6 hitters will hit 120+ HRs with everyone hitting at least 15 HRs. The 7th and 8th spots could also hit 15 HRs each between the players that fil the spots. At the 9th spot will be a .400 hitter that is a great defensive player.

My thoughts: PITCHING

Bahl will lead the staff in starts and innings.
Storako will be a power pitcher in the #2 spot and could be very good if she limits the EBH.
May will be strong as the #3 RH-pitcher for the Sooners and will deliver important innings that the Sooners need.
Deal will be a the LH-pitcher in the #3 spot opposite of May. Deal may not start much, but she will be an important LH in relief for the Sooners.
Geurin will be used as a spot reliever or get innings in lopsided games and will do her part in her freshman year.

Boomer Sooner!

[TropicalSooner]

And also, I wanted to thank you for your detailed pitching analysis over on another site.

[OUBeliever56A]

And also, I wanted to thank you for your detailed pitching analysis over on another site.

Here is what "TropicalSooner' referred to.

Sorry 'Incsooner' I was "off-the-grid" for a while last week and I did not see your question. As I have said, I think most of the offensive damage the Sooner hitters have inflicted on the Sooner pitchers this fall in the 4 Battle Series game was due to pitchers working on new or alternate pitches or things similar to that. I think applies to Storako especially and Bahl somewhat. As for May, I sill comment on that later. Deal and Geurin are holding their own this fall against the very talented Sooner hitters. Here are some numbers to justify these thoughts.

2020 Fall - This is when the Sooners played 7 intrasquad games against each other in the latter stages of the Covid shortened season. The Sooner Pitchers: Saile, Vestal, Rains, McAdoo, Thiede, May.

ERA vs OU Hitters - 5.31
82 IP - 75 Runs - 72 Earned Runs
EBH Allowed - 19 doubles, 1 triple 27 HRs - 218 Total Bases
BA Against - .304, OB% Against - .387, Slug% Against - .546
2.65 bases allowed by hits per inning.
0.57 EBH allowed per inning
In the 2021 Season that followed, the Sooners offense was record-breaking. The Sooner offense produced these numbers against the opposing pitchers.

.405 BA, .491 OB%, .778 Slug% with 110 doubles, 10 triples, 161 HRs.
The opposing pitchers allowed an ERA of 15.04 for the season.
The opposing pitchers allowed 3.79 bases by hits per inning.
The opposing pitchers allowed 0.85 EBH per inning.
The Sooner pitchers allowed only 35.3% of the offense based upon ERA that the Sooner offense created during the 2021 season.
The Sooner pitchers allowed only 69.9% of the bases allowed by hits per inning vs the Sooners offense created during 2021.
The Sooners pitchers allowed only 67.1% of the EBH allowed per inning vs the Sooner offense created during 2021.
The difference for the Sooner Pitching in 2021 vs pitching to the Sooners in the 2020 Fall Games.

The Sooner pitchers in 2021 improved to have a 1.94 ERA during 2021 in 357.1 IP.
The Sooner pitchers allowed 1.12 bases by hits per inning.
The opposing pitchers allowed 0.21 EBH per inning.
The Sooner pitchers allowed only 36.5% of the offense based upon ERA in 2021 vs what the Sooner offense created during the 2020 Fall Games.
The Sooner pitchers allowed only 29.6% of the bases allowed by hits per inning in 2021 vs what the Sooners offense created during the 2020 Fall Games.
The Sooners pitchers allowed only 24.7% of the EBH allowed per inning in 2021 vs what the Sooner offense created during the 2020 Fall Games.
The Sooner Pitching in the 4 Battle Series Games in the Fall of 2022 has allowed these stats.

ERA vs OU Hitters - 5.52
58.1 IP - 49 Runs - 46 Earned Runs
EBH Allowed - 7 doubles, 2 triple 19 HRs - 145 Total Bases
BA Against - .325, OB% Against - .393, Slug% Against - .613
2.49 bases allowed by hits per inning.
0.48 EBH allowed per inning
If you compare the 2022 Fall stats to those numbers for the 2020 Fall Ball numbers you find this;

The BAA, OB%A and Slug% A are a bit higher in 2022 than what it was in 2020. (+.21 BAA, +.06 OB%A and +.067 Slug% A)
The ERA is slightly higher by 0.21 a run in 2022 vs 2020.
The Bases allowed and EBH allowed per inning are down in 2022 vs 2020.
Here are my thoughts about May that I hinted about earlier.

In the Fall of 2020 as a freshman, May was the best pitcher against the Sooners. She has a 3.57 ERA in 31.1 IP. She did give up 2 doubles, 0 triples and 12 HRs though.
May followed that up with an ERA of 2.37 in 85.2 IP and allowed 6 double, 1 triple and 11 HRs during the 2021 Season. At times she was the best OU pitcher as a freshman.
As a sophomore in 2022, May had an ERA of 1.30 in 91.2 IP and allowed 10 doubles, 1 triple and 6 HRs.
This Fall in 2022, May has an ERA of 7.00 and has allowed 4 doubles, 0 triples and 6 HRs in 17.0 IP. I attribute the higher ERA for May this fall to the familiarity of the Sooner hitters with her and her pitches. May will be an important 3rd pitcher for the Sooners in 2023. I expect her to pitch as effectively as she pitched in 2022 but the 'book' is out there for hitters. I do not think May has added any pitches the fall and she has not thrown as many change-ups this fall. I think when the change-up is used, May will be fine.
Going forward:

It is my opinion that the hitters for the Fall of 2022 Sooners are a better group of hitters than they were in the Fall of 2020 or 2021,. With that said, and by looking at how well the 2020 Fall Pitchers performed in 2021 (with Juarez added, especially late) I think the Sooner pitching will be just fine in 2023. With the schedule being released for 2023, I will also say that I do not think the Sooners can reproduce their 1.05 ERA produced in Soring of 2022 during the 2023 season. When you think about it, the 1.05 ERA in 2022 in today's softball may have been a greater feat, than what the Spring of 2021 Sooner offense produced. But, I do expect the Sooner pitchers to post an ERA between 1.50 and 1.75, in 2023.

So to paraphrase what 'SoonerinLondon' said that Mr. Coleman and Mr. Alo said, "Yes, the Sooner pitching will be just fine in 2023 and the offense (if you compare 2020 Fall to 2022 Fall.) may in fact be better than the 2021 Sooner Offense".I will post the Sooner Fall 2022 Stats tomorrow.

Boomer Sooner!