Softball Regionals Open Thread
The Michigan hosted NCAA softball regional is under way. Here's the official site's link:
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/sfb-ncaaregional-2010.h…
Schedule:
| Friday, May 21 |
| Game 1 -- #2 seed Notre Dame vs. #3 seed Illinois State, 2:30 p.m. |
| Game 2 -- #1 seed Michigan vs. #4 seed Wright State, 5 p.m. |
| Saturday, May 22 |
| Game 3 -- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Noon |
| Game 4 -- Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2:30 p.m. |
| Game 5 -- Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 5 p.m. |
| Sunday, May 23 |
| Game 6 -- Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1 p.m. |
| Game 7 (if necessary) -- Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 3:30 p.m. |
Today's games were moved up, so if you were heading out, get there early! I'll be heading down to Alumni field, hopefully through Sunday!
Ran out of time on trying to preview. There are live stats only from what I can tell.
ND and Ill. State scoreless as of bottom of 7th.
Notre Dame won in 8 by a score of 1-0. Looks like a playoff softball score. 1-0 in extras.
UM played a tough schedule this year to gear them up for this event. Let's hope the can keep their undeafted record at home. Remember, Alabama is the overall #1 seed, Michigan played them three times this season, and won twice. So they should have all the confidence in the world. GO BLUE!
Are tickets free for students?
Normally yes. I'm not sure with this being a NCAA function if that will be true or not. I went to a volleyball regional at Crisler a few years ago and they let me in. But with Alumni field sure to be crowded, I'm not sure that's the case.
Ticket information doesn't mention the word student anywhere.
last time i tried to go w. ID, i had to pay
4 - 2 Michigan, off a Dorian Shaw two-run shot! Here we come!
They were down for a while, but they put up an 8 spot after the rain delay. That's 8 in an inning. Ridiculous in softball.
Our team's offense has blown me away all season. We've run-ruled our opponents nearly 20 times, and have reached double-digits more than 10 times. I know softball is becoming a higher scoring sport than it used to be, but we've got to be pretty near the top of the nation in offense.
8 - 2 after 3. The Michigan bats are alive!
A second rain delay, with strong winds & a tornado warning, apparently (I'm getting texts from a friend at the game).
Indeed, the twitter says lightning. That's a 20 minute delay from the last flash that comes on the meter.
how many innings they have to play for it to count? Or will they play 7 (unless run-ruled) and just start tomorrow from where they left off tonight?
As this is tournament play, they won't call a game due to weather. I'm only about 60% sure the run rule will count..
Run rule does count, though.
http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2010/ncaa_bracket_DI_softball.html
Look at the Stanford regional: Hawai'i over UC Davis 10-2 in 5.
Now delayed until 11AM tomorrrow.
I didn't hold out for the second rain delay - prior engagement and a 6 run cushion.. That was a great inning by Blue coming out of the rain delay.
It was weird seeing hutch bunt in the first inning with Evans on first and Findlay to bat with no outs. Michigan is a power hitting team - why are we trying to play small ball in the first inning? Sure enough, Findlay popped up the bunt into a double play.
Strange decision.
Anyone have any idea what Hutch was complaining about when WSU's first pitcher re-entered the game? What are the re-entering rules that they could have been breaking? The umps talked about it for a while and the next inning Hutch was still complaining about it.
Not only was Hutch complaining about it, she literally brought an official copy of the rulebook out onto the diamond and read it then handed it to the umpire! All my life, I have wished to see a coach of any sport literally pull out a rule book when they were pleading their case and I finally found it!
From my seats above the Michigan dugout, it looked like Hutch was complaining that she was being put back into the batting lineup at a place other than her initial position. I know absolutely NOTHING about baseball, and this is purely speculation based upon how she was pointing in the middle of what looked like a batting lineup, then pointing at the bottom. The regulars around me (who seemed to be season ticketholders/ parents of players) concurred.
On a side note, I had a fun trek tonight. As a graduating senior, I always had wanted to attend a softball game, and finally did tonight. Overly trusting of the weather channel's "10% chance of rain," I proceeded to walk with my girlfriend from her apartment on North Campus FOUR MILES down to the baseball complex, only to try to scramble back in the rain hopping on various busses running summer routes rather than the typical school year ones. What fun.
And they didn't eject her? Holy hell. Someone pulls a rule book out on ANY umpire I've EVER talked to and you're gone faster than you can throw the rule book to the ground. Might have been an issue about a pitcher being removed from the lineup then being reinserted. In baseball, your starter can come back onto the mound for a second time as long as he doesn't come out of the lineup. They used to do it with Babe Ruth on occasion, moving him to the outfield for a key batter or two, then moving him back to the mound. Not sure what the rule is in softball.
Although passionate, she didn't seem to come across as overwhelmingly rude. I got the impression she was trying to get fine print enforced that the referee was too incompetent to acknowledge.
Through my maize and blue glasses, of course, with a tint of "referees are idiots" conspiracy theory.
It doesn't matter how the coach comes across. If I see a rule book out at a conference, you're gone. You don't even have to open your mouth. That's showing up an umpire, even a half way decent coach should know better than that.
I found it hilarious nonetheless. I have messaged a former dorm acquantance of mine who is currently on the team, perhaps she can shed some light on the subject.
EDIT: I just looked over the Gametracker- the pitcher that was subbed out, then back in, never batted and they had gone through their entire lineup by the time they tried to put her back in. From what you said, it sounds like that is it.
In that case, I can't believe they let her re-enter. Wow.
From the softball player I know; she didn't really clarify beyond what we already knew. Hutch didn't think the pitcher should have been allowed to reenter the game.
Go Blue!
I'll second the unwritten "rule book and you're tossed" rule.
I've never had it happen to me (5ish years of officiating), though came close. A girl started a soccer game wearing a leg brace. Whatever, no big deal. Five minutes in some assistant coach had a panic attack because there seemed to be metal on it. I wasn't talking to him and he didn't approach me, but he was behind the bench reading aloud the banned leg brace substances (metal, eg) while I was inspecting the brace.
I was beyond pissed and he wasn't even really approaching me with the rule book.
I was behind the Michigan dugout as well. That was not a rule book, that was a copy of the Wright State lineup. You are right, no coach would ever be allowed to stay in the game after showing a rule book to the umpire.
I realize that this won't make much sense to people not familiar with the quirky softball substitution rules, but Wright state started with a 10-person lineup,with pitcher as the FLEX. In the 3rd, the DP goes in to pitch and the FLEX comes out of the game. Later in the 3rd, a third pitcher enters the game (they never announce to the crowd where in the lineup this pitcher is playing, whether she is going in for the DP or the FLEX). Still later in the 3rd, the first pitcher comes back in for the third pitcher.
Now this all would be legitimate in softball if the Wright State coach constructed her original lineup properly and also announced the substitutions correctly to the plate umpire, but obviously Hutch saw something having to do with the original lineup (perhaps another player listed as DP) that made the substitution illegal.
Seriously--look at pages 94 to 99 and try to figure out the softball Designated Player rule. I'm surprised there aren't a lot more controversies surrounding these issues:
She had both. The second altercation she had with the umpire involved an entire book, she was reading from the middle of it, and it said NCAA all over the front.
On the other hand- where in the stands were you? We were in row 7, which apparently is essentially row 3.
Fair enough, I was not as close as you. I was in row 12, and if you saw the rule book, I was wrong.
Note that I just looked at the protest rule in the softball rule book, and it says that in case a coach wants to protest, the umpire will first attempt to resolve the dispute "in a timely, professional and nonconfrontational manner using a rules book" (Rule 7.2.6.1). So maybe that's what was going on.
I also noticed that after Hutch gave up her argument between innings and went back to the dugout, she got a rather unprofessional "calm down" motion directed at her from the third base umpire, who was not involved in the dispute in any way.
of the occasional rec basketball and softball, your statement says a TON about what is wrong with officiating. Your goal as an official should be to get every call right and admit a mistake if you make it. You are there to facilitate the game,not become a part of it. If you make a mistake or are not familiar with all of the rules, you should be happy to have someone legitimately correct you. Standing behind your mistake or ignorance over not wanting to be "shown up" is immature and shouldn't be tolerated. Trust me, you reflect much more poorly upon yourself by standing by a decision without trying to get it right or putting your ego above the game.
EDIT: Blurg, this was supposed to be a reply to FA's comment above about someone being gone if a rule book comes out.
As a player in Rec leagues, I understand this sentiment.
I believe FA and I are coming from a more high school and beyond level. At that level, and especially in NCAA, rules knowledge is concrete. You don't get to these levels by having 95% knowledge of the rules.
I'm serious when I say this: average officials at these levels can straight up quote 300 page rule books. So, when a coach (read coach, not player in a rec league) tries to use a rule book to show you up, they are doing just that. And if they need to bring the rule book with them, then they don't know the rules well enough.
That's the real point. Come argue a rule with me without the rule book in your hands. That's cool. I'll likely explain why your interpretation is incorrect (by citing the rule or another relevant one).
Furthermore, at these levels there are proper, professional ways to contest things that are incorrect. If Hutch really believed that after the 3 umps conferenced for about 3 minutes that they were still incorrect, then she had an avenue to protest the ruling. If she was correct then the correction would be made afterwards and the game replayed if necessary. That's the proper way to handle it, not by bringing out a rule book and pointing and yelling.
I can buy most of what you're saying. I've never played anything past high school basketball, and I never had an issue then. It's the guys in my rec leagues now that kill me. (Livonia and Ann Arbor,I'm looking at you...) I understand that it really is only rec ball and not the end of the world,but for most of us that work 50+ hours a week behind a desk and chase 2 year olds around our houses, it's our only outlet. I don't think it's unreasonable for a paid official in those contests to at least know the rules. It's that smug attitude that they couldn't possibly be wrong that kills me. Sometimes a showing up might be necessary to wake them up.
I was the friend South Bend Wolverine referenced. And yes, that wind and rain was terrifyingly loud.
The bats were louder, though. What an inning that third was!
I was the friend South Bend Wolverine referenced. And yes, that wind and rain was terrifyingly loud.
The bats were louder, though. What an inning that third was!
...with Michigan scoring three runs in the 6th inning and completing the 11-2 run rule win. Dorian Shaw hit her second two run homer in the 6th inning to close out the scoring.
Here's the next Michigan game: Game 3 -- #2 seed Notre Dame vs. #1 Seed Michigan, 1 p.m.
In game 1 yesterday, ND defeated Illinois State 1-0 in a game that was called in the 8th inning due to rain.
Oh what I would give to be in Ann Arbor today! Here's hoping my first alma mater run-rules my second! Go Blue!
Looks like Nikki Nemitz pitched the first game, so Jordan Taylor should be coming out for the second. ND had better get ready to bite it. :)
so good. Up 7-0 in the bottom of the third with one out. 2, 3-run homers from Viefhaus and Nemitz. Jordan pitching like, well, Jordan. 7 strikeouts, 2 hits.
EDIT: Game now over. 8-0 Michigan, in 5.
Aaaaaaand run-ruled! 8 - 0, Michigan over ND. Taylor goes 5 innings, giving up just three hits against 11 strike-outs on 17 batters faced. We'll face the winner of the loser's game tomorrow. Go Blue!
Actually, we play the winner of Notre Dame vs. the winner of the loser's game.
Notre Dame currently leads Wright St. 6-1, so we could be looking at a rematch.
Game over, 8-0 win, M plays tomorrow at 1PM.
Michigan's pounding of ND now being rebroadcast on the Big Ten Network, with student annoucners.