Ongoing UF Softball Commentary

That strike zone last night also contributed to the high scoring.... both sides had to throw it down the heart to get a strike.

 

Possibly. I was watching on my phone stuck in a hotel room . I seem to remember a few pitches he called strikes for them that we weren’t getting

 

That's what I thought. It looked like she fumbled the ball in her glove and didn't have a good grip so didn't take the chance of a bad and hurried throw.

 

Two for the ages in one season with this incredible team:

First the 13-12 loss at Mississippi State was a game I thought we wouldn't see again for many years.

The 15-13 win at FSU tops that in run production and because UF won against one of our biggest rivals. It's too bad we don't schedule a weekend series home/away in alternating seasons. Either that or add a third game in Jax like we do in baseball.

I had to record and watch later in the evening, so I fell asleep on the last 3 innings. I'll watch the last 3 innings this morning.

Comment on the plate ump - This is an ump we've seen before. Strikes are called up and down from the knees to just above the belt. Any pitch inside or outside even a fraction is called a ball, no strikes if it is in the river. What I watched was the same strike zone for both teams.

JMO, both teams lacked in the pitching and defense departments. Both teams have potent offenses, but both teams need to tighten up on pitching and defense if they are to advance to the CWS.

I'm happy to see the Gators have worked through their hitting slumps although I still don't see Wallace fully back to her normal self, getting close.

Last, what a night Falby had, recall her stats showed 5 hits in 6 at bats. I can't wait to see the 1st pitch homerun.

 

Is the scorer part of the umpiring crew or is it someone hired by the home team? If the latter, perhaps there is some pressure not to take a hit away from an FSU player if the scorer is employed by FSU.

 

After beating FSU, UF is 14 in the Warren Nolen RPI. In the KPI, UF rose from 11 to 10:

Faktor (faktorsports.com)

If we take care of business this weekend against aTm, the Gators could be a top 8 team before the start of the SECs. Sweep the aggies and take a spot in the top 8.

Insofar as the SECs are concerned, I'm looking forward to a showdown with toothless wonders from UT. The best two teams in the SEC should meet before the CWS.

 

For what it is worth which is probably nothing. I was listening to a softball podcast and the supposed expert said Gators had no chance of a top 8 seed no matter how they finish because of their nonconference SOS was in the nineties. He predicted they would be seeded from 10 - 13.

 

Absolutely agree. After UF finishes strong, the SEC record will be too great to ignore.

My thought is there will be two SEC teams hosting regionals and supers, UF and UT. Ark is the fly in the ointment if they finish strong by winning the SECs. I can't see more than 2 hosting supers this season with so many other good teams. The Big 12 is likely going to have 3, the SEC 2, the PAC 12 2 and the ACC 1. Currently my top 8:

Texas
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Duke
Oklahoma State
UCLA
Stanford
Florida

Arkansas is right there at 9. We're going take care of 10 aTm this weekend so it'll come down to how the Gators do in the SECs. If UF makes the final, it looks like a top 8 to me.

I don't know if it has been discussed in the game thread, but CTW played the game at FSU as a must win game by going with Rothrock for most of the game and then returning to Rothrock to try to get the win. I felt like FSU did the same. The win at FSU was crucial for UF to get a shot at hosting through to the CWS. It's in the Gators hands now. It wouldn't have been that way with a loss at FSU.

 

I hear what you are saying ET but doesn't the selection committee put a great deal of emphasis on RPI? LSU is currently #3 & GA is #4. Hardly seems fair that those two teams which we beat could get a better seed than the Gators.

 

During the last at Georgia game, the ESPN announcers stated the committee has moved away from the RPI to the KPI which is more accurate. As of this morning, UF is 11 in the KPI with an opportunity to beat up on 10 aTm. I like our chances a lot. Every game means something to UF the rest of the way, no margin for poor play.

 

Home team provides the official scorer. In our case I think it is Herb Brooks although not positive of that. I think questionable scoring is at least a factor of two...some home team bias and just a general lack of competence.

 

It is the home team’s employee for sure. I’ve read on here many times of Walton walking out and instructing the scorer to change a call to or from an error.

 

As of yesterday, before the FSU game, this was the D1Softball projection for the Gators:

 

uf was 12 kpi and 16 rpi before the game, now 11&14. d1 softball should have uf higher after the win at fsu.

 

Would rather UCF go to Tally, they are battle tested with a very tough schedule. They have lost most of their ranked opponent games, but played a lot of them close (15 of the losses are 1 or 2 run). Winning last night may push us ahead of FSU in seeding and give them the tougher 2 seed......but still too many games left to really know

 

These are only projections and I posted for discussion. I agree that winning last night should move us up and if we do well against Texas A&M, we should even move up further.

 

That camera angle made it difficult to really tell

 

Yes, I understand they are projections....but rest assured UF and FSU are hosting and some of those Florida schools are going to end up in Tally and Gainesville, that is inevitable

 

Crazy that ranking really elevated fsu after they beat us... but we return the favor and only moves us one.

 

Kendra Falby. If this young lady doesn't play an inning this weekend she still deserves the player of the week award. What she did last night was incredible.