I haven’t watched much of either but I know SC has some quality wins, I hope SC fights them tooth and nail!
It would not surprise me if SC won. They are out hitting OK .372 to .352 but behind in ERA 2.11 to 1.26. However, SC has played a more difficult schedule. Flip a coin.
I've seen probably 8 or 9 of their games. I was very skeptical of their early wins. They were very fortunate to beat Virginia twice coming back in the last or extra innings. I was under the impression this was a rebuilding year with a new coach and many new players. But seeing them sweep Duke in a dominate manner, leads me to say they are legit. I too hope they challenge OU.
Sandman, you are the man! I was pissed ESPN+ didn't post it as a replay. I am watching it now! Thank you my friend!!
I've seen some of OU's games while surfing ESPN replays. I seem to recall a significant number of lesser opponents taking them to the wire - even some extra inning games. I saw somewhere that their preconference schedule was particularly weak.
Oklahoma is only ranked #29 in RPI, South Carolina is #4. Oklahoma's SOS going into tonight's game is #215, South Carolina's is #46. Oklahoma's schedule to this point has been extremely soft and maybe South Carolina can take advantage of that, although the Sooners are still loaded with talent.
I'm excited to see Red and Ava battle it out this weekend. I love Ava's spunk on the mound and love how she rises to the occasion in adverse situations.
Take a look at this link to MaxPreps Top 20 high school recruits for 2024, published 2/15/24: High school softball: Top 20 players in the Class of 2024 I draw your attention to the fact that 4 current Gators are on that list: #3 Gabi Comia, #4 Layla Lamar, #5 Katelynn Oxley and #12 Townson Thomas. Noticeably absent from that list is Taylor Shumaker. Now look at this list for the same class put out by Extra Innings Softball/Perfect Game, published 10/6/22: Rankings News: Perfect Game Softball Debuts List of 2024 Top 50 High School Prospects - Extra Inning Softball Comia is #3, Lamar is #5, Thomas is #17. They list their Top 50 and neither Oxley nor Shumaker are on that list. Of course, there was more guessing going on with this list in October 2022 than the MaxPreps list in 2/24. But still... I think I remember some discussion of these lists on this thread, maybe a couple hundred pages back (I'm not looking it up because the discussion might have been on another thread entirely!) and somebody was adamant that Taylor Shumaker was going to be the best of the group. Pretty sure that person was @rickjs1. Somebody else said that Comia was overrated and would be nothing more than a utility player, or something close to that position. I don't recall who said that. At this early stage, it seems that Gabi is going to be an excellent player for the Gators, as is Oxley, and I can't wait until Lamar and Thomas have their chances to shine because I think all 5 of these players are going to be exceptional softball players and that class could go down as one of the best, if not THE best, in Gator history. It just goes to show that while recruiting services often do a pretty good job of telling us about future potential stars, they can and do miss out on some players and have their evaluations totally wrong. Just fodder for discussion and it's always interesting to look at the past and see where people got their predictions right or wrong. I would say that, at this point, these 2 recruiting services seem to have made one of the biggest blunders and oversights in softball recruiting history by not including Ms. Shumaker!
That’s why baseball and softball need to work the portal better for pitchers … both are hurting with young and injured pitchers
Softball has two sophomores, a senior, and one of the best freshman in the country. Baseball has quite a few arms too. I'm sure both are willing to take a few more top transfers if you'd like to buy them though.
I ain't buying nothing but tickets and soda. I'm not telling anyone how to fill their roster either though.
