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5-1 mid 4
Another homer for Aggy. 6-1. We are getting dominated. Again. Three homers for Aggy today after four on Thursday.
What in the $#@!? How did Thom not score on that?
Sac fly RBI and two-run HR by Hoagland. 6-4 aggy, bot 5
$#@! yeah!!
Torie Schmidt caps an amazing comeback. 7-6 HORNS WIN
hell yes. nice job horns! hook em!
$#@! yes! Way to go!!
geesh, was that aggy pitcher the most fake looking broad you've ever seen?
Last edited by TwiceHorn; 04-28-2012 at 03:54 PM.
Well who goes tomorrow? they've seen all 4 of our pitchers...Fox was most effective, but i dunno
I'd start Fox. Luna has been trash the last 2-3 weeks.
Agree. Fox has been the ace the last few weeks
This game tomorrow might actually decide the whole lonestar showdown... good luck ladies!
Don't see how you can't not start Fox today. Actually a good move by Clark.
$#@!ty baserunning again
8th HR for the Aggies this weekend
score?
1-0 A&M'
Bot 3
Wow! Hoagland with the 2-run homer!
Horns now up 2-1, bot 3rd
BW hit by pitch.
1 on first, 1 out, and Lexy (batting .405 currently) is up
Wild throw by A&M after a single by Nadia. Runners on 2nd and 3rd. 2 outs for the horns. Still bot 3rd
any updates??
horns win 4-3 taking the softball series 2 games to 1.
Why has CBS sports tracker sucked balls all day? It still says 2-1 Texas in the 5th inningOriginally Posted by sidis
Good win. Fox had a good weekend. Luna did well in relief.
12 homers total for both teams on the weekend
All time series now 20-20 with Texas winning 4 of the last 6.
Fox was presented the LSS trophy, as she should be. Phenomenal weekend for her.
I hope we aren't going to overlook Baylor with OU up after that.
#4 Oklahoma vs #8 Texas - Friday, Saturday & Sunday (5/4 7pm, 5/5 2pm, 5/6 12pm Central, Norman, OK)
The Sooners have six conference games remaining, including three with last place Iowa State, and lead the league by 1.5 games over Texas who has this series and two with Baylor. Unless something unexpected happens between OU and Iowa State, Texas will need to sweep OU to stop the Sooners from winning the Big 12 – a tall order. OU is 40-7 overall and has only lost two consecutive games once this season. They have a country-best staff ERA of 1.01 led by both Keilani Ricketts and Michelle Gascoigne. These two teams are first and second in the conference in hitting. The Longhorns are hitting .337 while OU has a .316 team batting average. The Sooners have hit 70 home runs in 46 games. Texas pitching has been struggling a bit and if the Longhorn staff, specifically Blair Luna, cannot control the prolific Sooner lineup, the crew from Norman will capture the Big 12 Championship.
Good article on Cat...
Softball has been Cat Osterman's ticket to some of the world's biggest stages and grandest destinations. Her ability to make a ball dance, dive and deceive provided passage around the globe, from Olympics in Athens and Beijing to pro leagues in the United States and Japan. What Abby Wambach is to soccer or Candace Parker is to basketball, Osterman is to softball as one of its most marketable names.
So how did Osterman, who remains arguably the best pitcher on the planet at 29 years old, find herself riding a bus for 10 hours this spring through the bleak, boundless landscape of West Texas?
For starters, a friend asked if she would.
Which is not to say that the most famous pitching coach in Division II softball didn't ask herself the same question as mile after mile of unending Lone Star State landscape rolled past the window of the St. Edward's University team bus en route to Oklahoma's Panhandle State University and a pair of Heartland Conference doubleheaders.
"I didn't bring my headphones, I'd watched the two movies they had played and I was just like, 'Can we please find a donor that wants to give us a private jet? This is not OK,'" Osterman joked. "But no, it's all worth it. The athletes are still out competing the same as a Division I team, and I think we've done a good job of creating an atmosphere where they're responsible for their actions and their play.
"They've come a long way. The season started off slow, but the last two-thirds of the season we've turned it around."
Currently the lone year-round paid assistant coach at St. Edward's University, a private liberal arts school of around 5,000 students, Osterman, of course, is more famously attached to the other softball program in Austin, the state capital that St. Edward's shares with the University of Texas. It was with the Longhorns that Osterman set the NCAA career strikeout record (since surpassed by Monica Abbott) and made three appearances in the Women's College World Series, a run of collegiate dominance interrupted only by a year's sabbatical that saw her win gold with the Unites States in the 2004 Olympics.
Sizable though the 6-foot-2 lefty's shadow was even before she started piling up records, she wasn't the only player who helped softball gain a foothold in Austin. A junior when Osterman arrived, Lindsay Gardner was part of a World Series team the following season that came within a win of playing for the national title. She remains Texas' all-time leader in hits and is second in career batting average. In addition to her own stint with the national team, she played professionally alongside Osterman with the Rockford Thunder of National Pro Fastpitch. After a two-year stint as an assistant coach at St. Edward's that followed the end of her playing career, Gardner left college coaching and took a job in sales. But when the St. Edward's head-coaching position came open after last season, she felt compelled to put her name in the mix. It was the only college job she had applied for since leaving St. Edward's, and she soon found herself in possession of a program and in need of an assistant.
The two former Longhorns were not a package deal for St. Edward's. Osterman likes to joke she was her friend's last choice for a pitching coach, the one part of the program the former hitting star felt she needed to entrust to someone else. In truth, it was more that Gardner didn't know the other was a choice at all. After a three-year stint as an assistant coach at DePaul, Osterman returned to Austin with little interest in seeking another coaching gig. The profession still appealed to her in the long run, but the grind of holding down a full-time coaching job, staying in shape to continue her own career (coming off an injury in last season's championship series, she'll join the NPF's USSSA Pride for the beginning of that league's season) and fulfilling the sundry appearance and endorsement obligations took a toll on her in Chicago.
It was only as Gardner's search stretched on that Osterman dropped hints to mutual friends that she'd be open to pitching in, so to speak. Home for a few days during a break in the NPF schedule last summer, Osterman got an offer from Gardner. It took her less than a day to accept.
There isn't glamour in taking a Division II job, certainly no trips to the World Series in Oklahoma City or games on national television, but there is a chance to build something with a friend -- and a boss.
"I think it broadens our relationship that we had," Gardner said. "We try to tell our kids that if one of us wasn't playing well, we were the first ones to get on each other's case about it and try to pump each other up. It wasn't always just 'Oh, we're great friends and we played together and we never fought.' We definitely test each other out.
"I think the level of respect for each other, with our knowledge of different aspects of the game, we know what we're doing is the right thing, and it's just kind of stepping back and letting both of us coach what we know how to coach. I try not to step on any toes with pitching and vice versa."
As was the case at DePaul, Osterman still draws plenty of attention and autograph requests at each stop. As was also the case with the Blue Demons, it doesn't take long for the awe factor to wear off for her own pitchers. Great players in just about every sport have a sometimes turbulent relationship with coaching. The more a player was able to do herself or himself, the thinking goes, the less capable she or he is of teaching those less skilled. None of Osterman's pitchers at St. Edward's are going to be able to make a ball do what she can make it do, to an even greater degree than at the Division I schools to which she's accustomed, but if awareness of that is half the battle, she may be the exception to the rule.
"The biggest thing is no matter what level I've played at, there is something I can bring to them," Osterman said. "And they know I didn't hold expectations for them like I do for myself. But I also tell them I'm not going to lower the expectations I do have for them because we're playing Division II. They all have the ability to be better and be a pitcher who could pitch pretty decently for a Division I team."
There are differences between the world the two coaches played in at Texas and the one they now occupy. Some are monetary, whether in the form of more limited scholarship money or less ostentatious training and playing facilities (or those bus rides). Others are philosophical. Academics are rarely marginalized in Division I softball, but sport and school are left to find a happy equilibrium as equal commitments, especially in-season at major programs. At the Division II level, softball's place is more clearly secondary, a relationship Osterman admits sometimes "irritates" the part of her that invested such a degree of time and effort into perfecting her own craft. The challenge is creating an environment that embraces the surroundings without using them as an excuse.
"It's not that they can't do the things that we could do; I think it's more their expectations of themselves," Gardner said. "That was a huge thing for me -- I expect them to do specific things, I expect them to play with a certain intensity and passion for the game. When we as coaches coach with that intensity and passion, I think it's going to come out through their play. And being that it is only our first year here, we haven't even had a full year with all of these kids. It's not that they can't do the things we could do; we haven't had a ton of time to teach them all the things we know."
With a chance to win the regular-season conference championship this past weekend by winning two of three at home against St. Mary's University of San Antonio, St. Edward's instead lost three in a row and had to settle for second place. The Hilltoppers, as St. Edward's teams are known, get a chance for redemption next weekend when they host the conference tournament. The games won't draw thousands of fans, and the results won't resonate even within the world of college softball, but that reality won't change anything about the way Gardner and Osterman approach their jobs this week.
The most recognizable pitcher in the world may currently work far off the beaten path, but the program she continues to help Gardner mold is the center of her softball universe for now.
http://espn.go.com/espnw/college-spo...d=2012_espw_ob
Every article about Cat is a good one :)
Exactly as I assumed, Hoagland and Aggie Nicole Morgan co-Big 12 POW.
Hoagland hit .625/.800/1.750 on the weekend. 5-for-8, 3 HR, 2 singles, 2 BB in 3 games.Big 12 Co-Players of the Week
Taylor Hoagland, Texas, Jr., Flower Mound, Texas, RF
Leading the Longhorns to a 2-1 series victory over Texas A&M, Hoagland batted .625 over the weekend, hitting three home runs and driving in five RBI. The junior opened with a 2-for-3 performance on Thursday in College Station, then hit her first homer of the series on Saturday in Austin. Down 1-0 in the finale, Hoagland knocked a two-run home run to put UT ahead for good. She followed with her third home run of the weekend for a three-RBI day. The Flower Mound,Texas-native has 14 home runs this year, one shy of the single-season record which she set in 2011.
Also someone tweeted me this video. Good watch, Taylor has really represented UT well on our team as well as the national team.
Texas exacts revenge on Baylor in Waco, 7-3. 40-8 (14-6) on the season.
TEX 7-10-2
BAY 3-7-0
Fox got the start, went 4 IP, 7 H, 3 R (1 ER), 2 BB and 2 K.
Luna came on in relief and picked up the win (17-3), going 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3K
Big 6th inning propelled Texas to the victory. Trailing 3-2 in the top of the 6th with 2 outs, Thom singles and Hoagland launches her 15th HR out of the park to give Texas a 4-3 lead. Washington follows that up with a single and Bennett hits her 9th HR of the season to give the Horns a 6-3 lead, all with two outs. We tacked on another in the 7th on an RBI single by Thom and Luna put the Bears down in order.
Offensively, Hoagland (15) 1-3, 2BB, with 2 RBI and Bennett (9) 1-3 with 2 RBI; Craig (back from concussion) 2-4 with 2 RBI and Thom 2-3 with 1 RBI.
Records: Hoagland's 15th HR ties the single season record she set last year; Bennett's 2 RBI gives her 51, a new single-season record; Washington stole her 63rd career stolen base, a new UT record.
Next up: OU Friday (7pm), Sat (2pm), Sun (Noon). The series with Baylor finishes up Sun, May 13th in Austin, to end the regular season.
Last edited by js; 05-01-2012 at 09:17 PM.
My correction: Fox's 3 runs were all earned.
Blurb from ESPNU
Texas at Oklahoma: Fresh off taking two of three in its final meeting with rival Texas A&M, Texas will look to make its move toward a Big 12 title in a rivalry that isn't ending anytime soon. Anything short of a three-game sweep probably won't get it done for the Longhorns. (The Sooners finish with three games at cellar-dwelling Iowa State next week, while the Longhorns play one more game against Baylor.) Sooners ace Keilani Ricketts has pitched just 10 1/3 innings against Texas in her career, all last season, allowing 10 hits and six earned runs.
Preview
No. 8/10 Texas (40-8, 14-6) vs. No. 4/3 Oklahoma (40-7, 14-4)
May 4-6
Where: Norman, Oklahoma (7 p.m., 2 p.m. Noon)
Television: Sunday only - ESPN - Pam Ward (PxP), Michele Smith (color)
Gametracker Live Stats: TexasSports.com
Texas' All-Time Record Against: The series between Texas and Oklahoma is tied at 21-21 (H: 9-7, A: 5-9, N: 7-5)
Current Streak: Texas has a one-game win streak against Oklahoma
LONGHORNS NOTABLES
A BIG (12) SERIES AHEAD...This weekend's Texas-Oklahoma series not only will decide the Big 12 Conference title, but also hold postseason implications. Oklahoma is in first place with a 14-4 mark while Texas is second with a 14-6 record. The Sooners have a three-game road series next week at Iowa State while the Longhorns have one lone home game against Baylor. Both teams are playing for a national seed for the NCAA Tournament. Texas had a No. 4 RPI rating nationally in the latest report.
OKLAHOMA NOTES...Oklahoma is 40-7 on the season. Head coach Patty Gasso is in her 18th season. The Sooners are batting .316 as a team with a 0.99 staff ERA. Keilani Ricketts is batting .385 (45-for-117) with 12 home runs and 32 RBI while holding a 25-6 record in the circle with a 0.97 ERA (195 2/3 IP, 103 H, 33 BB, 305 SO, .150 opponents' batting average). Lauren Chamberlin is batting .357 (50-for-140) with 22 home runs and 58 RBI. Texas has won three of the last five meetings against Oklahoma. Oklahoma swept a two-game series in 2008 (8-0, 8-0) against Texas in the last meeting in Norman.
BAYLOR RECAP...Texas scored five unanswered runs, including four in the sixth inning Tuesday, for the 7-3 win at No. 25 Baylor. Taylor Hoagland, the reigning Big 12 Co-Player of the Week, gave the Longhorns the lead for good with her 15th home run of the season in the sixth. She tied her own single-season record of 15 homers, set last year. Lexy Bennett set a new UT single-season record for RBI (51), breaking the old record of 50 (Loryn Johnson, 2009). Brejae Washington set a new Texas career mark with her 63rd stolen base, snapping the old record of 62 (Desiree Williams, 2005-09). Blaire Luna (17-3) picked up the win for the Longhorns, by throwing three no-hit innings in relief. Luna and Texas starter Rachel Fox combined to no-hit the Bears in the final 4 1/3 innings.
QUICK STATS...With Tuesday's win at Baylor, Texas recorded 40 wins in a season for the fourth straight year and 10th overall in the program's history...Texas is 9-1 this season in one-run games...Taylor Hoagland has four home runs in her last three games...Torie Schmidt is batting .467 against ranked opponents this season.
NATIONAL LEADERS...As of April 29, Texas is sixth in the nation for batting average (.338), ninth in scoring (6.49 runs per game), 10th in slugging percentage (.535) and 20th in stolen bases (1.70 per game). Lexy Bennett is second in the nation in sacrifice flies (five) and 24th for RBI (1.04 per game). Blaire Luna is fourth in the nation for strikeouts per seven innings (10.2 per game). Taylor Hoagland is 21st nationally for runs scored per game (1.0 per game) and 30th for home runs (14). Brejae Washington is 21st for triples (four) and 35th for stolen bases (0.51 per game).
OU takes game 1 5-2 on a walk-off three-run HR in the bottom of the 8th.
Luna had a decent game up until the 6th, giving up 2 solo HR to tie it and then the HR in the 8th.
OU wins on a walk off homerun. That just about wraps up the Big 12 title for OU
edit: beaten by js
Just gotta focus on winning the series right now. Luna was back to being Luna with 10 K and both those solo shots in the 6th game with 2-strike counts. She just has to finish those and this is a whole different feel.
Never say never, if we can take the series, take care of business against Baylor at home, and then pray Iowa State can take one versus OU next weekend, we can tie for first.
Last edited by js; 05-04-2012 at 09:26 PM.
Gee, do you think Luna might have gotten fatigued like she has been doing the past 3 weeks? We have the absolute WORST head coach for a so-called "elite" program in the nation. If you watched earlier, Clark called a $#@!ing DOUBLE STEAL in a 2-2 game in the top of the 7th with runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs. Gabby Smith was thrown out at third by about 10 feet. Can anyone defend that kind of incompetence? We deserve better than this kind of crap.
Last edited by DesertDog2K; 05-04-2012 at 09:28 PM.
I agree man. You have the winning run on 2nd, your best hope is a single to knock her in. The double steal was stupid.
Plus you have someone at the plate who had singled last time. Way to take the bat out of Ogle's hands. Just plain idiotic.
Exactly, we weren't getting it done against Ricketts so you take the bat of of the hands of someone who did manage to get a hit off her? Makes no sense. Same with not relieving Luna. She hasn't had a long outing like this in a while, after the leadoff got on the 8th, I would have relieved her.
Blown out today 9-3. Might get the broom tomorrow. 8-8 in last 16 after 32-2 start.
I don't care if she's just 29 years old, bring in Osterman as HC.
I asked her about coaching at her alma mater, and she said she "would not necessarily" be interested in that.
Luna has 8 walks today for God's sake. Even though we were up 4-1 today, I figure the sweep is imminent.
Luna was pitching way too scared. Can't do that. Thankfully the offense responded in kind.
Texas avoids the sweep with a 12-5 win. 12 runs on 15 hits were season-highs against OU pitching this year.
Last game next Sunday against Baylor.
Some thoughts on the weekend:
-OU was the better team and took advantage of less than stellar pitching to win the series THIS WEEKEND and we would have taken this series at home.
-Texas had the opportunity to win that first game, and while they didn't, for 7 innings, that was the Blaire Luna we need to see (2 ER, 10 K). The Sunday Blaire Luna was the Luna we are all afraid to see (8 BB and 4 ER), as was 8th inning Luna on Friday.
-The decision not to bring in Fox in relief was our undoing on Friday night. Fox coming in after the 4th or 5th inning has really helped Luna who tends to struggle to go the distance. Her whole offseason focus needs to be conditioning. Fox coming in the 6th or 7th or even for the 8th would have been huge.
-Bruins, who I think is a competitor and I love, at this point, is not a Big 12 starting pitcher. She just doesn't have what it is going to take to succeed in this conference. She is just getting shelled when she comes in to pitch.
-Whatever got into Ogle's brain needs to stay...she had 6 hits on the weekend, by far her best little stretch in a while. I think the reshuffled lineup is good, though I still like Lexy in the three hole versus the two hole.
I think we can take care of business against Baylor, and with an RPI in the 6-10 range, I can see a 7 or 8 overall seed. The committee doesn't really look at rankings so much as RPI and we've fluctuated between 3 and 7 all year.
Final RPI of the season came out last night with Texas and OU flipping spots at 5 and 4, respectively.
Barring an upset against Baylor (RPI #36), Texas should be looking at the 5th overall seed in the tournament. As of right now, we'd be matched up in supers against the #12 overall, which is Louisville (50-3).
When does the firing squad happen?
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