Texas state is probably the last team I want in Austin for regionals. Mullins is one heck of a pitcher.
I would like to see a path for Texas State to make it Okla City without a matchup against us. I agree with you about Mullins. She is a tough pitcher.
How many innings has Mullins pitched this year? 204.1, according to the Bobcat stat page. For comparison, Teagan has the most innings pitched on our staff, at 88.1 Look at her individual outings through March 16th. She never gave up more than 2 runs in a game up to that date. However, since that date she has given up 3 or more runs in a game NINE times, while having 12 outings with results similar to her early season stats. Two of the late season low scoring totals appear to be due to her coming off the bench (the website doesn't note if she started or relieved, but those two outings were 2.2 innings and 3.1 innings, suggesting a relief appearance). All of this is said to support my belief that she's been overused and now late in the season, her arm is tired. I'm not skeered.
Remember when pretty much only one pitcher was used all the time unless it's an emergency or off game? I remember Cat pitched nearly every game during her career averaging 40 games a year. That was common not unusual. The only reason we couldn't win a world series is because we didn't have bats as elite as her arm. Softball pitchers don't get as worn as baseball because of the physics of the movement. This move to using a different pitcher every game is relatively new. I say all this to point out someone pitching a lot of innings shouldn't affect post season performance very much.
Cat has said on several occasions that there are many more great hitters now than there were in her day, not to mention next-level analytics, and she doesn't think the one stud pitcher model is workable at elite levels because of the ability of hitters throughout a lineup to adjust to what a pitcher does best.
I happened to click on the UK game last night just at the right time as they talked about the UK pitcher throwing 180+ pitches on multiple occasions. Pretty amazing I don't care what your throwing motion is. I couldn't even stand on the mound and watch someone throw 180 pitches.
I was watching via live stats the OSU/OU game. When OSU was behind, I noticed it was their #2 pitcher Aycock who started. And for OU when leading it was Maxwell. But when OSU finally went up on OU, Kenny G switched in the star Kylfoil because he wanted the win over Maxwell so bad (just a guess). This means he'll pitch Kilfoil Sunday, like he did against Texas.
Today's Tech game was bizzaro for those who didn't watch: 1. Just one announcer trying his best to do play-by-play and inject some color into it 2. The technical crew hapless to the point where they never displayed balls/strikes on the screen. Around the 2nd inning someone told the announcer and he had to start relating the balls/strikes to keep us up 3. I've never seen a game, until now, on ESPN+ with absolutely NO commercials within the inning and between innings. Wow, how unpopular is Tech softball? 4. No play had a replay. I wonder if that's what prevented a challenge by the Tech coach on a call at the plate?
Just another reason I will miss Cat and our Longhorn Network. Do you think we will maintain our Longhorn Studio for our home games on ESPN?
I hope ESPN is smart enough to keep the equipment and people in place. But, there will probably be budget cuts and staff eliminated. However, you can/hear longtime LHN personalities like Lowell Galindo already doing broadcasts this last year of non-Texas games/sports. A reminder of how spoiled we've become are when I see the setups of other softball fields and I look at the cameras used to film play. We have the standard, massive cameras and the others have cameras that sometimes look like loaners from the A/V club.
100% agree, batters are next level now. I also agree that multiple pitchers are necessary because batters are much better at picking up on pitching tendencies, etc. That has nothing to do with my response to the opinion that the pitcher was over used throughout the season therefore probably wouldn't be as effective in the post season. Two different issues.
Game on ESPN+. Middle of the 3rd: Scoreboard says 12-0. Attwood hit 3 run homer to give her the UT record for homeruns & RBI's
Stands mainly full; appears to be rather chilly on the Llano Estacado; crowd festooned with Orange. Bevo being well represented...as usual.
