ESPN article on the 8 teams in the Women's CWS http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s.../2012-women-college-world-series-sizing-field they have the teams nationally ranked as follows: #1 California (56-5) #2 Alabama (55-7) #3 Arizona State (51-9) #4 Oklahoma (50-8) #7 Tennessee (52-12) #11 Oregon (44-16) NR LSU (39-23) NR South Florida (50-12) for LSU, they named Fico, Mack, and Heyward as the players to watch and explained why as for the team, they wrote: Two storylines for the Tigers All the runs they need. Last time we saw an offense with numbers like LSU brings to Oklahoma City, Virginia Tech went 0-2 with Angela Tincher in 2008. That's the bad news for the Tigers. The good news is Virginia Tech nearly won both of those games, losing 0-1 to Texas A&M on a run in the sixth inning and 0-2 in nine innings against Florida. Neither Fico nor Mack is Tincher, but the combination of the two is at least a reasonable facsimile. LSU needs only one or two runs to have a chance, and it has proved more and more capable of providing that the past two weeks. The encore won't be easy. Beth Torina is making life difficult for herself. What is a coach supposed to do for an encore after leading a team to the WCWS in her first year? Torina's energy was a good fit this season for a team that could easily have turned on itself or simply given up amid all the tough losses and offensive woes of the final month of the regular season and conference tournament.
these are the players in the Women's CWS that made the Top 25 Finalists for the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Cal --Valerie Arioto (California) – Senior – Utility – Pleasanton, Calif. --Jolene Henderson (California) – Junior – Pitcher/First base – Elk Grove, Calif. --Jamia Reid (California) – Senior – Outfield – Buena Park, Calif. Oklahoma --Lauren Chamberlain (Oklahoma) – Freshman – Infield – Trabuco Canyon, Calif. --Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma) – Junior – Pitcher – San Jose, Calif. --Jessica Shults (Oklahoma) – Junior – Catcher – Valencia, Calif. Alabama --Kayla Braud (Alabama) – Junior – Outfield – Eugene, Ore. --Jackie Traina (Alabama) – Sophomore – Pitcher/Designated player – Naples, Fla. Tennessee --Raven Chavanne (Tennessee) – Junior – Third base/Outfield – Thousand Oaks, Calif. --Ellen Renfroe (Tennessee) – Sophomore – Pitcher – Jackson, Tenn. Arizona State --Katelyn Boyd (Arizona State) – Senior – Shortstop – Phoenix, Ariz. LSU --Rachele Fico (LSU) – Junior – Pitcher – Oxford, Conn. South Florida --Sara Nevins (South Florida) – Sophomore – Pitcher – Pinellas Park, Fla. Oregon --none
NCAA stats as of May 27, 2012 for the teams in the Women's CWS Team ERA #1 in NCAA -- Oklahoma (1.15) #2 in NCAA -- South Florida (1.18) #3 in NCAA -- Cal (1.21) #9(t) in NCAA -- LSU (1.51) #9(t) in NCAA -- Tennessee (1.51) #29 in NCAA -- Arizona State (2.12) #32 in NCAA -- Alabama (2.12) #94 in NCAA -- Oregon (2.81) Team Batting Average #5 in NCAA -- Arizona State (.333) #8 in NCAA -- Oklahoma (.321) #10 in NCAA -- Cal (.318) #12 in NCAA -- Alabama (.316) #16 in NCAA -- Oregon (.311) #29 in NCAA -- Tennessee (.302) #155 in NCAA -- South Florida (.262) #265 in NCAA -- LSU (.221)
LSU is in the same bracket as Cal, Oklahoma, and South Florida. it'll be double elimination until there there is one team left, and that team will go to the best-of-three champion series vs the winner of the other bracket (Alabama, Tennessee, Arizona State, Oregon) LSU's first game vs Cal is Thur, 2:30 pm on ESPN2 (and ESPN3.com) LSU's second game will be vs Oklahoma or South Florida either on: --(if we win game 1) Friday at 6pm on ESPN2/ESPN3.com, or --(if we lose game 1) Sat at 11am on ESPN2/ESPN3/com
Two good pitchers are all you need to win in softball and we have that. The hitting needs to step it up a little for this team to make a run in the CWS.
One good pitcher is all you need to win the WCWS. Two are nice but there's one ball, one circle, ya know? Last year, it was Arizona State's long ball that fueled that team. UCLA had a Sr. in the circle the year before, but it was run production that pushed them past UGA into the finals. My opinion: You need one good pitcher and an offense that can put at least four runs on the board against upper level competition. And, based on that, it's the Sooners that catch my eye.
I'm very glad for them/us. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be there long but at least we've upped the bar some. In addition to the lack of hitting I'm afraid they'll have that "glad to make it" mentality. Maybe next year "making it" won't be enough. Correct. In the line-up as well. They can come out and re-enter one time, I believe. I know it's like that for high school.
Lady Tigers were up on Cal 2-1 in the 3rd inning, and the two were tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the 6th (only 7 innings in softball), but then Fico gave up two hits, and was pulled so a fresh Mack could take the mound (with 1 out, runners on the corners). Mack gave up back-to-back RBI singles, then hit the 3rd batter she faced with a pitch, and then gave up an RBI to the 4th batter she faced... Cal got 3 runs in the inning and went up 5-2... LSU got 1 run off a single and a double in the top of the 7th, but it wasn't enough the good news is LSU got 8 hits off Cal's ace Jolene Henderson, who is the 2-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year (2011, 2012) and is currently #5 in the NCAA with a 1.10 ERA. ... in the last 27 games, LSU has hit more than six hits a grand total of 2 times, including today next game: Sat at 11:00 am on ESPN -- elimination game vs South Florida, who lost to Oklahoma, 1-5 South Florida's ace is Sara Nevins, who is #4 in the NCAA with a 1.03 ERA LSU's ace, Rachele Fico, is #1 in the NCAA with a .92 ERA
