Our pitchers are getting shelled, and we aren’t scoring any runs. Are we just in a slump on both ends right now? The competition is only going to get tougher. We seem to have very good physical talent. They have the physical coordination of young men.
I don’t see the offense for this team.They don’t appear to near as good as the last few yrs…The pitching problems have been a shock to me bc Delce and Herron have great stuff
The past two games have been ugly all around. In both of the run rules (A&M and Wichita State), what has been most alarming, to me, is the slow starts.
Arkansas was down 7-1 before the third inning was over Sunday, then had fallen behind 8-1 before the Razorbacks could escape the first inning last night. For a team that isn’t going to hit at the rate it did last year (which is to be expected…that team was historically good), early deficits like that feel like trailing by 3+ touchdowns before halftime. The team is built around what was expected to be strong pitching and defense.
In the loss to UCA and Game 2 loss to Texas A&M, it was poor hitting. The two most recent losses have been a combination of poor hitting and pitching.
Simply getting more experience might be the thing that gets the Razorbacks out of a slump in both departments, but if they don’t break out of it before this weekend, things might get ugly in Tuscaloosa.
21 runs to 3 over past three games is rough understanding softball is a long season with a many games but the pitching seems less formidable this Spring. Do you hear anything related the quality of our pitching this year compared to last year. I am struck by both A&M and Wichita hitting with such apparent ease through their lineups. UCA was a wake up but they had ac pretty fair record. Delce added pitches last year and her all performance seemed to drop a bit as did that. Is she still experiencing the same type problem. Thank you and I appreciate your reports as you share them.
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Deifel has a lot of confidence in her pitching staff. I just think the entire group is in a funk right now. Each have shown they can really step up and be lights out over extended time in the circle, but the problem against A&M and Wichita State was letting one mistake pile up into many mistakes.
Delce had a rough outing against A&M on Sunday, but aside from that had been solid since the Clearwater Invitational. Freshman Robyn Herron is very talented and has been a strikeout machine. She kept the team in the game on Saturday, but the bats never woke up.
Really, aside from the past two games, the problem has been the hitting. Last year’s team could erase a 4-run deficit with a couple swings of the bat. That’s just not the DNA of this group. I think Courtney hates to lose more than she enjoys winning. She hasn’t sugarcoated her disappointment in the performances recently.
I’d expect a better showing this weekend.
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You know, you can talk about less hitting all you want, but the other day–before the opponent got their third out in the first inning and before the Hogs had come to bat, they were behind 8-0, I think. Are you really sure that indicates less hitting on our part?
Man, I saw that score and came to the conclusion that pitching must be a HUGE problem, but maybe it’s hitting after all.
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Oh, for sure. Like I said earlier in the thread, the past two losses have been poor hitting and pitching. Anytime you get run-ruled, the pitching has to be an issue in those games.
I was just saying as a whole this season, pitching has generally been the strong suit. When it’s bad though, like the past two games, you can’t count on the bats to get you back into things. And things get ugly.
As you noted earlier the series this weekend coupled with the A&M games is a make or break, at least a large portion of season. As we saw with the women’s basketball its hard to make early losses in the SEC, particularly for teams trying to blend new players. Let’s hope we see those bats this weekend.
The bats came alive just enough to support solid pitching. Feels like that was a huge series to steal, especially after dropping game one and being on a 4-game skid. It will be interesting to see if the momentum can carry into this weekend at Bogle Park, with another heavyweight showdown looming against Florida.
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SEC standings are weird right now because some teams, like Bama, have only played one SEC series and others have played two. Hogs are in sixth place right now at 3-3. Tennessee is 6-0, Kentucky and Moo U are 3-0, Georgia is 5-1, Florida is 2-1. Bama is tied for ninth at 1-2. It’s probably been a very long time since Bama was ninth in the SEC in softball at any point.
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Right…BAMA is the Holy Grail and it was nice to see this young Razorback team gain confidence in this series. Gators will want to revenge that late season loss from last year.
That was the first series win at Alabama. So whatever you guys were worried about, they answered the call in Tuscaloosa.
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