Texas Softball 2024 - Farewell to the Big 12 (and back to OKC?)

Js1 · January 8

Schedule is officially out

https://texassports.com/news/2024/1/8/softball-releases-upcoming-2024-regular-season-schedule.aspx

5 of the 8 WCWS teams will be on our schedule. Bolded the really tough contests

Open on the west coast - USD/UCLA/USD/UCLA/Loyola Marymount
Then to the east coast for the Clearwater Invitational - Tenn, Stanford day 1, UNC, Kentucky day 2, Northwestern day 3
6 game home stand - HCU one-off at home, ULL and Colorado State day 1 of home tournament, Colorado State and Stanford day 2 of tournament, ULL day 3 of tournament
Texas State on the road
Another homestand tournament - NW State and Tarleton day 1, Hofstra back to back days, Penn State to finish the tournament, UTA one-off at home
Start Big 12 play @ Houston for 3 games, then make a quick one game trip to LSU
Host BYU for 3 games
Another trip to Florida - one off versus FSU, then 3 versus UCF
3 in Stillwater against OSU
Host OU in early April for 3 games
Host Texas State
Split with Baylor - 1 in Waco, 2 in Austin
@ Kansas for 3
Mid-week with Nicholls
Host ISU for 3
End at Tech for 3

May 8-11 is the Big 12 tournament

Edited January 8 by Js1

HollidayHorn · January 8

They're gonna get battle tested this year. Hoping they host a super this year and we get to see them at the WCWS again. Gonna try to make the last 2 games of the Tech series. A coworker has a brother that lives there so we'll have a free place to stay. 🤘

bschoolprof · January 9

It sucks they start off with so many road games, but with the weather we've had here recently in February, it makes sense to start in reliably sunny places to avoid cancellations.

Js1 · January 9

37 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

It sucks they start off with so many road games, but with the weather we've had here recently in February, it makes sense to start in reliably sunny places to avoid cancellations.

A good point. We got burned the last few seasons hosting early tournaments and having contests canceled. Los Angeles/Clearwater should be nice for the team to get away from Austin's meh winter.

2021 - our first 10 contests were cancelled/postponed due to weather (home tournaments) bc of the freeze
2022 - 3 contests cancelled due to weather at home

We did have 1 contest cancelled in 2023 in Clearwater due to weather

bschoolprof · January 9

51 minutes ago, Js1 said:

A good point. We got burned the last few seasons hosting early tournaments and having contests canceled. Los Angeles/Clearwater should be nice for the team to get away from Austin's meh winter.

2021 - our first 10 contests were cancelled/postponed due to weather (home tournaments) bc of the freeze
2022 - 3 contests cancelled due to weather at home

We did have 1 contest cancelled in 2023 in Clearwater due to weather

Yep - I'm betting they factored that in when setting the schedule.

Lots of new faces this year - should be exciting.

In the circle, we desperately need a swing and miss type. It's something key we lack . . . maybe the new Iowa chick can give us that.

At the plate, we need some pop. We have some really good hitters, but we need someone like Shanon Rhoades or iokopa that can threaten to go yard. No Day this year. Maybe the ND chick can provide this.

I expect the same shenanigans with base running and fielding - that's just what you get with a MW team. Keep Mia in the OF please!

Edited January 9 by bschoolprof

Js1 · January 9

3 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

At the plate, we need some pop. We have some really good hitters, but we need someone like Shanon Rhoades or iokopa that can threaten to go yard. No Day this year. Maybe the ND chick can provide this.

The fishes are going to be fun to watch here. Stewart and Henry. Plus we have Atwood, Martinez and Goode

bschoolprof · January 10

Bella!

Js1 · January 11

#7 in Softball America’s preseason top 25

Texas plays 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 14, 23

Host #1 for 3 games
#2 at a neutral site
#3 on the road
#4 neutral and home
#10 for two games on the road
#11 1 game on the road, 2 games at home
#12 on the road
#14 on the road for 3 games
#23 at home for 2 games

That is 18 contests against preseason top 25 teams. If my math is right.

Edited January 11 by Js1

Js1 · January 17

Not a surprise - Big 12 coaches picked us second, behind OU. Highest predicted finish since 2021, since we are usually behind OSU.

torre · January 17

58 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Not a surprise - Big 12 coaches picked us second, behind OU. Highest predicted finish since 2021, since we are usually behind OSU.

Went to the B12 site to see if any first place votes. Who do you think voted for us ? Are coaches permitted to vote for their own team ?

2024 Big 12 Softball Preseason Poll

School (First Place Votes)	Points
1. Oklahoma (9)	81
2. Texas (1)	73
3. Oklahoma State	62
4. Baylor	59
5. UCF	48
6. Texas Tech	35
7. BYU	28
8. Kansas	27
9. Iowa State	20
10. Houston	17

Sooners Selected as Favorites in 2024 Big 12 Softball Preseason Poll - Big 12 Conference (big12sports.com)

shadow_operative2.0 · January 17

No, we got Patty's vote.

Js1 · January 17

Correct, can't vote for your own team.

Pato del Muerto · January 17

Only 10 of 14 of this year’s makeup bother fielding a softball team. Next year’s entering and vacating members might make for a fun and balanced big12.

Js1 · January 17

9 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Only 10 of 14 of this year’s makeup bother fielding a softball team. Next year’s entering and vacating members might make for a fun and balanced big12.

It’s been an issue for a while. TCU, WV, KSU, Cincinnati now. Texas and OU leave, but Arizona, ASU, Utah do have programs. CU does not. So they will have 11 programs next year

Js1 · January 18

5 all-conference players on the preseason list. OU had 7

Citlaly Gutierrez
Ashton Maloney
Viviana Martinez
Mac Morgan
Mia Scott

Feel like they left off Goode?

Mia Scott was one of 3 unanimous selections

bschoolprof · January 19

Baylea Brandon not on the spring roster. Probably a numbers game. I think she was/is dating J Brooks per her tik tok.

Js1 · January 19

She barely played

Js1 · January 19

But Goode wasn’t even on the Big 12 preseason team

HenryJames · January 19

15 hours ago, Js1 said:

She barelea played

fify

torre · January 19

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

But Goode wasn’t even on the Big 12 preseason team

Oh well, postseason is the one.

The honorees were chosen by a vote of the league’s head coaches. Players were picked regardless of position and coaches could not vote for their own student-athletes.

https://big12sports.com/news/2024/1/17/2024-big-12-softball-preseason-team-unveiled.aspx

Look forward to your predicted starting lineup and impact players including newcomers. Strengths, weaknesses included. I am expecting Atwood to be all world this year and Martinez as well.

3 weeks from today. At this time, the UCLA and San Diego schedules do not list any TV coverage. Early though.

Js1 · January 19

Oh geez, I don't know how it will start, because you know Mike really plays everyone everywhere early on.

P: Mac Morgan, Citlaly Gutierrez, Teagan Kavan as your starters with Simpson/Czech out of the pen (Czech the lefty specialist and SS in a closer-type role, god I love her nasty changeup)
Catcher: Atwood/Stewart/Cimusz
1B: Cimusz/Stewart/Atwood
2B: Goode/Martinez
SS: Martinez/Goode/Washington
3B: Mitchell/Washington
OF: Scott/Dayton/Maloney
DP: I have no idea. Maybe someone like Kayden Henry, Victoria Hunter or Jolie Mitchell (if Washington wins the 3B job)

I just hope we don't see Scott in the infield or Cimusz in the outfield. I hated those combos last year.

47 minutes ago, torre said:

the UCLA and San Diego schedules do not list any TV coverage

FloSoftball i believe. Yuck.

Edited January 19 by Js1

bschoolprof · January 19

I also thought Atwood deserved more honors given her big bat - nice to see her get some recognition.

I know Maloney has a high average and gets on base, but we desperately need more power in this lineup. I'd like to see Stewart get a look at RF. She has power, good speed for her size, a cannon for an arm and supposedly can play anywhere. Excited about Henry too. White raves about her patience at the plate and her fielding. I want to see her get some looks in MIF.

bschoolprof · January 19

This is from D1 softball -recap of the fall - a good preview for the spring. SIAP.

2023 Fall Report: Texas

Featured Graham Hays - November 2, 2023

There’s not much doubt that Texas is assembling a roster capable of contending for titles. It just remains to be seen which conferences those titles come in.
A year ago, the Longhorns fielded one of the most statistically impressive freshman classes of all time. Including Ashton Maloney, a redshirt in her first full season on the field, Texas first-years combined for 46 percent of the team’s total bases. In the circle, Citlaly Gutierrez worked more than a quarter of the team’s innings and led all Longhorns in ERA.
And this fall, one of the top-ranked recruiting classes in the country joined them on the field.
Head coach Mike White could restrict his roster to those two classes and still expect to begin the season ranked (but don’t expect him to give up the likes of Mia Scott, Mac Morgan and the rest of his juniors and seniors). Underscored by the sight of nearly a thousand fans at a fall game against soon-to-be (again) conference rival Texas A&M, it’s reasonable to wonder if the program’s Big 12 farewell is really better described as an SEC prelude.
All the more considering that while Patty Gasso’s program will accompany the Longhorns to their new home, at least Jayda Coleman, Kinzie Hansen, Tiare Jennings and Nicole May won’t.

“We’re just thinking about being a really good team, a consistent program,” White said. “Truthfully, two years ago, the top three teams in the country were all Big 12, the top three finishers in the World Series. I think our conference has been a little underrated. Obviously, the bottom half have struggled at times, and they haven’t played as well out of conference. But in conference it’s been pretty tough. Obviously, Oklahoma has been head and shoulders above everybody, not only in our conference but also in the country. … They’re the standard right now, and that’s what we’re all trying to match, no matter what conference we play in.”
Or what that conference looks like. Big 12 series against the likes of BYU, UCF and Houston will lend this season a betwixt-and-between feel, but saying goodbye to the league with a title would certainly be a heck of a way to arrive in the SEC.
“It’s kind of in the back of our minds, but it’s not really something that we’re focusing on right now,” White said of winning a Big 12 title in the farewell season. “It’s just getting better and lifting the standard of our play overall—becoming deeper, becoming a little bit better in big situations. We want to build on what happened at Tennessee last year. I think that we didn’t have our best showing in that big series and a little bit of our youth showed it out.
“We’re hoping that those freshmen last year become leaders this year in our sophomore class.”

Pitching

Texas returns the pitchers responsible for every inning thrown a season ago, a staff that ranked 32nd in the nation in ERA and helped extend the season to a super regional. And yet it’s hard to start this discussion anywhere but with someone who wasn’t a part of that mix.
Newcomer Spotlight: Freshman Teagan Kavan faced 29 batters in four fall games. She struck out 15 of them. While that included some non-Division I competition, it also included UTSA and Texas A&M. The 6-foot right-hander from West Des Moines, Iowa, was a consensus top-15 recruit who struck out 1,444 batters in 772.2 club innings, according to the Longhorns.
Cat Osterman pitched 304.1 innings and struck out 554 batters as a freshman. Blaire Luna pitched 242.1 innings and struck out 404 batters. Those days are gone. They would be gone even if the Longhorns didn’t return any pitchers this year, but they’re all the more gone with four proven pitchers around. Still, Kavan will have an opportunity to make a Texas-sized impression.
“She’s going to be one of the top three pitchers at this point,” White said. “Hopefully it’s a five-person rotation, but realistically, you’re going to probably look at three starters. It’s kind of like a nice number to have, and then you plug the other ones in when you need them. She’s shown the stuff and the goods to be able to come out and throw well at this level.
“Is she making some freshman mistakes? Yes, she is. Does she have stuff to learn? Yes, she does. But she has the goods.”
White said Kavan continues working to hone her offspeed offering. It’s serviceable now, but the goal is to improve her control of it leading into her first regular season.
“She’s got the mindset,” White said. “She’s a learner, and I feel like we work pretty well together.”
As any coach would, White played up the emerging camaraderie and competitive collaboration in what will be a crowded bullpen. Moral support and teamwork would be great, but Kavan’s arrival also helps the other pitchers in more tangible ways.
Citlaly Gutierrez, last year’s freshman success story, and Mac Morgan, who reestablished herself as a difference after after arriving from Arizona State, were godsends for a team that needed to replace Hailey Dolcini.

Morgan ranked 17th in the nation a season ago in shadow percentage, the percentage of pitches seen within the edges of the strike zone. (Data courtesy 6-4-3 Charts and Synergy.)

Name	Pos.	WAR
Mac Morgan	P	4.2
Mia Scott	3B	4
Leighann Goode	2B	3.7
Citlaly Gutierrez	P	3.5
Viviana Martinez	SS	3

The new arrivals started 41 games, pitched 63 percent of the team’s innings. But in those 254.2 innings, they combined for 156 strikeouts—fewer than nearly 30 Division I pitchers on their own.
Strikeouts aren’t everything, but they never mean more than when defense has been a weak spot in recent years (Texas again made the second-most errors among Big 12 teams a season ago). There will be less pressure on that defense when Kavan pitches, obviously, but Gutierrez, Morgan and the rest of the staff should also benefit from hitters having to recalibrate, whether in the same game or over the course of a series, after facing the freshman.
A few more swings and misses, a little less solid contact and suddenly a defense looks better.
“Having a strikeout pitcher is huge,” White said. “If you can average eight strikeouts a game, it’s a third of your outs and so there’s less pressure on the defense. One of the things we’ve had in the past is our fielding average hasn’t been the highest, but I think we have more balls in play [creating more opportunity for errors] because we haven’t necessarily had those big strikeout pitchers.”
Most Division I teams would love to have Estelle Czech and Sophia Simpson as regular starters, to say nothing of having the luxury to mix and match Czech’s lefty stuff and Simpson’s strikeout potential out of the bullpen—if that’s the route Texas ultimately goes.
Gutierrez, of course, also proved adept at coming out of the bullpen as a freshman, with more relief appearances than starts, but White didn’t sound quite ready to go full revolutionary and deploy a full-time stopper.

Czech tied UCLA’s Megan Faraimo for 25th in the nation in chase percentage, hitters swinging at 31.2 percent of her pitches that were outsize the zone. (Data courtesy 6-4-3 Charts and Synergy.)

Infield

White often says he likes to be two deep at every position, and it’s hard to argue against the entertainment value intra-squad scrimmages could offer with this bunch.
In the middle of the infield, Leighann Goode and Viviana Martinez were marvelous offensively as freshmen. Only seven second basemen had a better WAR than Goode a season ago, and Indiana-turned-Stanford standout Taryn Kern was the only freshman in that bunch.
At a lot of schools, maybe almost all, you would simply pencil in those two to play alongside each other through the 2026 season. A complication comes in the form of versatile infielder Alyssa Washington. A standout freshman in her own right way back in 2021, Washington is now the rare high-profile senior on a team built around freshmen and sophomores. Although she received the majority of her starts a season ago at third base, it’s worth remembering that she was the starting shortstop in the national title series a year earlier.
“One of the leaders in our team right now who is playing a big part, is Alyssa Washington,” White said. “She’s playing phenomenally defensively. She may play second or may play short—could play third. She’s been able to to do different things for us. But with the way Martinez is playing right now, she’s impressed me a lot. She looks really good.”
Basically every returning player in the infield played more than one position a season ago, and Goode, for her part, saw some time in the outfield.
“She’s so good at second base, that’s great option for us,” White said of Goode. “But let’s say Washington is hitting the ball really well, who’s is the better option in the outfield: Washington or Leighann Goode? Obviously it would be Leighann, she’s played there a little bit before and so that’s a better option for us. That all comes into play, who’s hitting the ball, who’s doing what.”

What about third base? After all, Washington started 23 games at the hot corner in 2023.
Again, it’s complicated and any lineup is best written on dry-erase board.
An All-Big 12 selection in each of her first two seasons, including first-team honors a season ago, Mia Scott is clearly going to play somewhere every day. And while she committed nine errors a season ago, splitting time between the hot corner and outfield, she was also the team leader in defensive runs saved (3.07). By the postseason, with Bella Dayton ticking along in center, Scott was back at third.
“We’re still undecided how that’s going to work out because Mia Scott is there as well,” White said. “Who’s going to be the rotation in the outfield? Because Scott can really play a pretty good outfield. She has the speed and the burst on it.”

According to 6-4-3 Charts data, Scott ranked 27th-best in the nation against the bunt.

Newcomers spotlight: What, you thought there might just be one newcomer pushing Scott for time at third? Try at least three candidates. Apparently not satisfied with the influx of bodies from one of the nation’s top-ranked recruiting classes, Texas also added transfer Joley Mitchell from Notre Dame. A senior with two seasons of eligibility remaining, Mitchell was a first-team All-ACC selection a season ago. She led the Irish with a .382 average and pulled off a triple-double in totaling double digits in doubles (11), home runs (10) and stolen bases (15).
“She brings that stoic presence,” White said. “You just have hope that she doesn’t put too much pressure on herself. Obviously, she sees the job in front of her that she’s got to do. She’s just a veteran player that did really well for Notre Dame and also had club-travel ball success. That’s someone that, we’re working with her on some different things offensively. And again another great option. She runs well, she’s the fourth fastest on the team for a good-sized kid.”
But two first-team all-conference honorees vying for time at third base isn’t enough. Texas also has a number of highly-touted freshman wth eyes on time at the corners. White said both Katie Stewart and Ryan Brown worked at third base in the fall.
“Katie Stewart has a cannon for an arm,” White said. “We feel confident in her playing at the corners and/or catcher. She’ll be in the field somewhere. She’s too valuable to have as a DP, unless we just want to rest her or something like that. She has proven to be like a Swiss Army knife, so to speak. She has the intuition of the game to. She’s a really smart player, is making great adjustments and [Steve Singleton] has done a great job with her.”
White said coming out of fall, Stewart and holdover Katie Cimusz are the frontrunners for the bulk of innings at first base.
Although yet another top-20 recruit, Victoria Hunter, is also vying for at-bats somewhere, whether it’s at the corners or designated player.
That leaves catcher as Reese Atwood’s domain, at least most of the time. The sophomore certainly made a name for herself with clutch hitting in her debut season, but White confirmed she’s one of those catchers who lives and breathes the position.
“She’s like a pretzel back there, she’s so nimble and agile,” White said. “For a kid that’s six foot, more or less, she can really get into some small positions. In some cases, almost too agile—gives the umpires too good a look. We’ve talked to her about that, how we can make sure we’re getting strikes and keeping strikes strikes and maybe not over-framing sometimes, which she can do. It’s a learning curve, and we’ve got a lot of stuff to look back on last year. There’s some great catchers out there we can look at and kind of model her after. But I think that she’s proven that when she’s healthy, she can catch with the best of them—and also hit with them.”

Outfield

So, it sounds as if Scott and Goode might be in line for at least as much time in the outfield as each saw in 2023. Again, there’s a complication. Namely, the outfield already looks pretty full.
Alyssa Popelka decamped for the shores of Lake Washington and the Washington Huskies, but there’s no shortage of talent. Ashton Maloney may not provide many souvenirs for the fans in the bleachers, but there was nothing wrong with a .382 average or .415 on-base percentage in her first full season on the field—including a .372 average and .426 OBP in Big 12 games.
Anyone who has watched sports for any length of time can identify Bella Dayton as exactly the kind of player who you write out of a depth chart at your own peril. The senior lefty is a gamer. She fought through injuries last season and a serious downturn in production in Big 12 play to emerge as part of the all-tournament team in the Big 12 tournament, then reached base at a nearly 50 percent clip through the NCAA regional and super regional. She won’t surrender playing time without a fight.

And if you haven’t been introduced yet to Kayden Henry, settle in to enjoy the next four years.
Newcomer spotlight: All Henry did in the fall was going 5-for-6 with a home run, two steals and three walks, leading White to marvel after one game at the power and speed combo in an unassuming 5-foot-5 package. The walks are an especially eye-opening stat for someone who could have been excused for swinging at everything in an effort to make an impression.
“I think she’s just ready to hit,” White said. “If she doesn’t see what she likes, she doesn’t swing at it. So she’s got a really good natural eye for the strike zone. And in some respects, she’s just a blank slate right now. I don’t think she reads too much into it and overthinks. I think that’s something you see sometimes from some hitters, is they get too too caught up in what’s happening or what could happen instead of just treating every pitch as independent and getting a pitch to hit.”
Fellow freshman Adayah Wallace also possesses a world of talent. She’s listed as an outfielder but White said she also worked at first base in the fall.

Js1 · January 19

I think Maloney is just a really really good tablesetter at the bottom of the lineup.

I put KC first at 1B, but that's where I'd love to see Stewart get the nod. Give me that power at 1B - we have lacked that for so god damn long.

Mike will have so many options at DP as well.

No idea why they even mention Goode in the outfield - she's a damn good 2B, and that was after we had 5 years of Janae Jefferson.

TheBryMan81 · January 19

19 hours ago, bschoolprof said:

Baylea Brandon not on the spring roster. Probably a numbers game. I think she was/is dating J Brooks per her tik tok.

Retired.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2SyF5fOrI5/?igsh=dzY1YXZicmF6eWl3

Js1 · January 22

Texas has 5 players on Softball America's Top 100 - one of four programs to achieve that

Mia Scott
Viviana Martinez
Leighann Goode
Tegan Kavan
Mac Morgan

Feels like Atwood got shafted - Texas should have had 6 players.

bschoolprof · January 22

3 hours ago, Js1 said:

Texas has 5 players on Softball America's Top 100 - one of four programs to achieve that

Mia Scott
Viviana Martinez
Leighann Goode
Tegan Kavan
Mac Morgan

Feels like Atwood got shafted - Texas should have had 6 players.

Agree on Atwood. Mike is building some real talent.

shadow_operative2.0 · January 30

Js1 · January 30

9 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

Got the A team crew for 3 of those

Js1 · January 30

So many publications doing rankings, but I think all of them are out now:

D1 Softball: #5
ESPN/USA Softball: #5
USA Today/NFCA: #8
Softball America: #7

torre · February 1

AUSTIN, Texas – On the heels of Monday's television designation announcement for the 2024 Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational, 29 additional television designations for the Texas Longhorn softball program were announced by ESPN on Wednesday.

In addition to appearing on Longhorn Network, ESPN2, ESPN+ and ESPNU during the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational, No. 8/5 Texas will also appear on SEC Network, ACC Network and ESPN throughout the season.

Texas' highly anticipated three-game series against No. 1/1 Oklahoma (Friday, April 5 – Sunday, April 7) can be seen on ESPNU (Friday), ESPN (Saturday) and Longhorn Network (Sunday) with first pitch times altered to accommodate television windows. The second game of a three-game series between the Longhorns and No. 9/11 Oklahoma State has been elevated to ESPN2, where the two programs can be seen playing at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 29.

Fans can also find Texas playing on ESPN2 on Saturday, April 13, when the Longhorns square off against No. 22/19 Baylor at 1:30 p.m. at Red & Charline McCombs Field in Austin. The series finale of the three-game series between the Longhorns and Bears on Sunday, April 14 will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network at 1 p.m.

The Longhorns will be featured in the first linear broadcast of the season when Texas and No. 10/8 UCLA square off on ESPN at 8 p.m. CT, marking the first time the two programs have met on a softball diamond since Thursday, June 2, 2022, when UT knocked off the Bruins, 7-2, in the opening round of the NCAA Women's College World Series.

Non-conference trips to Baton Rouge — to play No. 14/15 LSU on Tuesday, March 12 — and Tallahassee — to play No. 3/4 Florida State on Wednesday, March 20 — for Texas can be see on SEC Network and ACC Network, respectively.

Of the 10 top five matchups slated to appear across the ESPN networks, Texas will play in seven, including two contests against No. 3/3 Stanford on Friday, Feb. 16 (ESPN2) and Saturday, Feb. 24 (Longhorn Network). The Longhorns' pair of non-conference games against No. 21/21 Louisiana during the Lone Star State Invitational will also be broadcast on the Longhorn Network.

In total, the Longhorn Network will showcase all home games of the Texas Longhorns, totaling 36 games this season.

In conjunction with the Big 12 Conference and ESPN+, the streaming platform will feature more than 150 regular season softball games.

https://texassports.com/news/2024/1/31/additional-tv-designations-announced-for-no-8-5-softballs-2024-season.aspx

shadow_operative2.0 · February 1

torre, put long articles in the quote box.

LTtxfan · February 1

15min mark... Mike White interview today

torre · February 2

Opportunty to see preview of Texas Softball and Texas Baseball on Saturday. First pitch for baseball scheduled for 2:30.

LTtxfan · February 3

bschoolprof · February 4

I caught a little bit of the intersquad today before heading over to the alumni baseball game. Coach has added some beef to the lineup. Stewart, Brown, and Mitchell have tons of power. They were hitting BP off a coach, but of the newcomers, Stewart, Mitchell, and Henry caught my eye.

During in and out, the positions appeared to be (bearing in mind they had no numbers on except for batting helmets):

LF: Scott/couldn't tell who back up was;

CF: Bella/Henry

RF: Maloney (by herself)

3B: Mitchell/Stewart

SS: Martinez (no backup)

2B: Goode/Washington

1B: Cimusz/Brown

catcher: Atwood

Didn't get to see any of the pitchers actually throw. Kavan is tall and skinny.

Lol at me upthread saying Mitchell should be RF. She's versatile but doesn't have the wheels for that. If Henry can hit against live bullets as advertised, I wouldn't mind seeing her get some looks there.

Edited February 4 by bschoolprof

Js1 · February 4

We have enough OF versatility and depth without having to put Mitchell out there. She’s a left side infielder

bschoolprof · February 4

I misquoted me. I meant Stewart. But still not a fit. She’s a corner infielder and catcher. Had never seen her in person.

Js1 · February 4

1 minute ago, bschoolprof said:

I misquoted me. I meant Stewart. But still not a fit. She’s a corner infielder and catcher. Had never seen her in person.

I’d like to see her at first

bschoolprof · February 4

2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I’d like to see her at first

Yep, agree. With her and Mitchell in the lineup and then another hitter with some pop at DP, we can have some real power.

torre · February 8

OkSt vs Cal St Northridge, now on ESPN+.

Texas St defeated UTSA 2-1 with freshman LHP Madison Azua from Round Rock.

Js1 · February 8

~24 hours until first pitch!

lonestarsooner · February 9

Time for one final lap around this dumpster fire of a softball conference. Have been waiting for this day to get here and to get this season started.

bschoolprof · February 9

so I'm guessing starters are Gutierrez and then Mac against ucla in the circle tomorrow. It's nice to have 5 pitchers now.

bschoolprof · February 9

https://pac-12.com/article/2024/02/08/saturday-softball-games-move-easton-stadium

Saturday's games moved to UCLA due to field conditions. No streaming available.

We avoided early Austin games due to bad Feb weather in years past but mother nature said not so fast my friend.

Edited February 9 by bschoolprof

ChiTownDoc · February 9

2 hours ago, lonestarsooner said:

Time for one final lap around this dumpster fire of a softball conference. Have been waiting for this day to get here and to get this season started.

Sucks to leave for basketball but softball and football? Fuck yes, bring it on.

Js1 · February 9

1 hour ago, bschoolprof said:

https://pac-12.com/article/2024/02/08/saturday-softball-games-move-easton-stadium

Saturday's games moved to UCLA due to field conditions. No streaming available.

We avoided early Austin games due to bad Feb weather in years past but mother nature said not so fast my friend.

USD 3:30

UCLA 6

lonestarsooner · February 9

UT/UCLA should be a good game. Good win for us today against Duke. Washington will be another good test tomorrow. Love diving right in with Too 10 opponents. Good ball early.

Js1 · February 9

1 hour ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Sucks to leave for basketball but softball and football? Fuck yes, bring it on.

Baseball too.

Lostman · February 9

21 hours ago, torre said:

OkSt vs Cal St Northridge, now on ESPN+.

Texas St defeated UTSA 2-1 with freshman LHP Madison Azua from Round Rock.

Azua did a great job, too, for first game of the season, her first collegiate game. Threw the whole game, 11 or 12 K’s and no walks. Some jitters first inning, but nice job after that.

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Texas Softball 2024 - Farewell to the Big 12 (and back to OKC?)

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