SB @ Big Ten Tourney Open Thread
UPDATE: The SB Team has a mercy-rule win over Northwestern 9-0 with a walk off homer from Tera. Now let's keep the mojo going tonight.
The Softball Team is playing round 3 today in the Big Ten Tourney at Ohio State. Game time is set for 3:30pm on the Big Ten Network. We had a first round bye.
Yesterday the team smoked Penn St 16-1 to advance. Today we play Northwestern in the Semis. Northwestern barely defeated #12 Purdue in a close and exciting game 3-0.
If, and only if we win against Northwestern, then the team advances to the Championship against the winner of #10 Iowa / #3 Nebraska. The Championship Game is set for 8:30pm tonight.
Game time temperature is forecasted to be 86F with a 20% chance of showers. The chance of rain increases as the day progresses. So it remains to be seen if the second game or the Championship game gets played today. I would not be surprised if either of the later games gets moved to tomorrow.
Yesterday #10 Iowa beat #2 Minny. Iowa certainly had a disappointing season as they were projected to finish in the top half of the conference. They are the "hot" team and could very well beat Nebraska. I would rather play Nebraska than Iowa if I had a choice.
Today should be some good ball and Nationally televised to boot. So Let's Go Blue and bring home a Tourney Championship.
#10 Florida St is tied with Pitt 2-2 in the ACC Tourney. If Pitt wins, this could possibly eliminate FSU from hosting a Super.
for a first pitch fouled off. Lets Go Blue
Megan gets the first batter to chase a rise ball for strike 3.
better looking for strike 3.
Fastball gets the 3rd batter. Megan strikes out the side.
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Christner robbed by the ump of a great steal. Close play, but in slow-mo she's clearly in under the tag.
say absolutely nothing as they watch the replay???
I swear, this may be controversial on my part, but the acceptance of mediocrity and worse in the coverage of some women's events is just shameful.
I can't stand the "never criticize anything" ethos. It just seems so disrespectful of these excellent athletes.
Is this a women's sports issue or a BTN issue? As far as I can recall, no player, coach, or official has ever been criticized in any sport on the Big Ten Network. It is, after all, the propaganda arm of the Big Ten conference--I'm sure the announcers are instructed rather specifically on what they can and can't do.
The "student U" broadcasts are an exception to that rule.
at the WCWS, either, but I may be misremembering.
I do tend to think women's sports coverage is less critical, overall, which seems insulting to me, but then, I'm not a woman. It just seems condescending to behave as though they can't handle high expectations and withstand a critical eye.
Lisa Byington, here, is a paragon of mediocrity.
by the Umpire ends our threat in the bottom of the 1st.
Sure looked like Christner slid in safely before the tag.
slowly - how the strike zone works in women's softball.
Listening to the announcers praise a pitch as painting the corner that clearly misses the corner - what exactly is the strike zone in these games?
Been watching for well over a decade and don't understand the zone at all.
is......very......large......but......it......varies....
widely.....with......each......umpire. In other words, it is very inconsistant.
as someone who has played and watched baseball and softball for 30+ years - and really understood the strike zone - inexplicable strike zones just about break my brain.
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However, I hate when umpires try to direct the flow of the game. I support my local umpire as much as anyone; however when they try to re-distribute the wealth, that is where I draw the line. Let the kids play.
Finally, an out that wasn't by the K for Betsa! Just for a little variety - I'm sure the Ks will keep on coming as we go forward. :)
Silo comes through! Double to the wall brings home the first run of the game as Sbonek uses her speed to get home safe!
. 3-0 us.
That was CRUSHED
Dead center and WAY gone
No kidding! At first I saw it going so high that I was worried it would be a fly-out, but it turns out it just had insane power behind it.
then I saw the outfielder
And Romo gets in on the party with the long-ball! 3-0 for the Maize & Blue!
just too powerful to keep us off the board. Teams will have to out score us if they have a chance to win.
safe to say they're starting to get this pitcher's timing down.
a lot of Maize in the crowd today. Great showing for the good guys.
Doubles for everyone! Sweet drives in a run with a two-bagger of her own. 4-0.
Jesus christ BTN that's like the 4th time they've had trouble today. If we had to add Rutgers for viewers at least make it top notch with no glitches.
We just look absolutely unstoppable and have way improved from the days of losses to KSU, Iowa, or Minnesota. I'm not sure that there's a better team in the country right now.
Very true. We looked great in the non-conf, but maybe got a little too relaxed when the home/B10 schedules started. Something clicked in the middle of that 2nd Minnesota game, though, and we haven't looked back since.
6-2 for the ACC Tourney Championship.
Tennessee defeats Florida in the SEC semis and will face Auburn in the finals. This is a HUGE win for the Vols.
Romo did not hit the ball square but still crushed it. What a joy to watch her at teh plate.
Second horrendous call at 2nd base on a steal attempt. Both times our runner was clearly safe.
because they are all about mediocrity.
And no good replay of the play at 2nd.
I feel like these women work hard enough to deserve better.
The hand was on the bag before the tag.
they won't show us a good replay.
Sure seems like that 2nd base ump is addicted to making his out call.
I've umped a lot and I think his position is shit. Get the fuck down to get the best possible look at that. I would crouch down to get my eyes right on the bag. That ump's eyes were nowhere near the bag, either time.
and it shows that you do know your stuff about umpiring. I agree with you. I have umpired softball for years at the High School level and in both calls, he is out of position with his eyes not focused on the play.
you've been too lazy to be in the right place, so now you just guess and make it sound emphatic.
I honestly believe you should just about never miss a call on a bag. Balls and strikes is a challenge even for the best, but plays at the bags, get in the right spot, make the right damn call.
That's especially true for tag-out plays. I can see how it can hard sometimes on force-outs (although you can listen for the sound of the ball hitting the glove), but on a tag-out, you should be able to see both the tag and the base.
maybe one forceout call in 7 solid years of umping our league games (we all ump when our team is off). Again, it's about getting down at that bag and keeping sight on ball, bag, glove, runner - the sound was almost a back up for me, as my eyes pretty much told me all I needed to know. It was like a triangle of vision, but you've got to be in the right position and the most important point of that triangle was the bag.
But yes, I'd agree that missing a tag play is downright unforgivable.
Northwestern has not done a "great job with catching the Wolverines stealing". How about, "Northwestern has done a great job of taking advantage of a horrible umpire"
How about "the Wolverines get robbed again".
Yeah I thought that we've been safe on at least one of those 2 steals.
Wolverine dugout cheering on the team.
7-0!
And that was a BEAUTIFUL swing.
As a fellow lefty, I *love* watching swings like that.
7-0 now. We're crushing them.
With a big tripple after Romo got walked.