[ballcoach15]

I am in Gainesville, awaiting games tomorrow.

[ballcoach15]

LU loses to Kansas 10-4. Will play #1 Florida in next game today.

[Sly Fox]

How's the weather?

[ballcoach15]

Sunny. 55 degrees .

[Chippy]

Sunny. 55 degrees .

That's the good news

[panther1]

LU loses to florida 11 o glad that game is behind us!

[ballcoach15]

LU loses 11-0. Tincher started on mound for LU. She was matching the Florida pitcher pitch for pitch until 2 outs in 3rd inning. The plate umpire was squeezing the strike zone. After a couple walks and a hit batter loaded bases, a Gator hit a grand slam for Florida's first hit. After a couple more walks, a Gator hit a 3 run homer.
Gators scored a run in first inning on a 2 out illegal pitch with a runner on 3rd. This probably would have been a 2-0 game with good umpires.

[Chippy]

LU loses 11-0. Tincher started on mound for LU. She was matching the Florida pitcher pitch for pitch until 2 outs in 3rd inning. The plate umpire was squeezing the strike zone. After a couple walks and a hit batter loaded bases, a Gator hit a grand slam for Florida's first hit. After a couple more walks, a Gator hit a 3 run homer.
Gators scored a run in first inning on a 2 out illegal pitch with a runner on 3rd. This probably would have been a 2-0 game with good umpires.

The Florida pitcher has walked 2 batters in @ 30 innings. Unfortunately, Tincher has 18 walks and 5 HBP in 12 innings. Ball and Friesen also seem to be struggling with control with way too many BB, HBP and WP. Hopefully the pitching will come along.

[ballcoach15]

The umpires are squeezing the strike zone . To get a strike,they have to throw ball down middle of the plate . when this happens the ball finds the gaps or leaves the park. all LU pitchers pitched better today than the box scores indicate .

[Cider Jim]

Gators scored a run in first inning on a 2 out illegal pitch with a runner on 3rd.

What makes a pitch "illegal" in women's softball? Was she throwing a spitter?

[ballcoach15]

It has to do with positioning of feet on the rubber . Apparently umpire said one foot was outside the line between rubber and the plate .
I think what really happenef was Florida was in danger of not scoring . Gators had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Tincher got 3 and 4 hitters out, including Lauren Haeger, last weeks NCAA player of the week . When it appeared Tincher was getting out og the jam, 3rd base umpire called illegal pitch allowing runner on 3rd to trot home.

[adam42381]

Ballcoach, complaining about the umps squeezing the zone only against Liberty is starting to sound like you're just making excuses instead of giving credit to the better teams. You completely left out the fact that Liberty only had one hit which was by the first batter of the game.

[ballcoach15]

All I can say, if you do not believe me, find someone else who was at game, and they will back me up......................if they know softball.

the catcher, that tells whether or not umpire is squeezing the zone.

[SuperJon]

These are the worst excuses I've ever heard for losing a game. Umpires don't care who wins.

It was the #1 team in the country and we're a young team scraping for everything. We'll get to where we can compete with teams like Florida, but 11-0 is about what we should expect in a game like that right now.

[ballcoach15]

I am not saying we lost becaluse umpires.

But softball umpires are bad across the countdy.

[BJWilliams]

Bud...we got beat by a better team just admit it.

[adam42381]

You blamed the umps for squeezing the zone against South Alabama as well. Liberty lost 8-0 and had one hit.

[ballcoach15]

We did get beat by a better team. Gators are ranked #1. But umpires were still bad.

LU just lost to Illinois State 3-2. LU bats were asleep. only had 4 hits. Some girl from IllrSt. batting .118 hit a 3 run homer.

[jinxy]

Results look a lot like last year.

[Chippy]

Results look a lot like last year.

The competition this year in the first 12 games is far superior to the schedule they played last year at this point. They are playing better defense and not beating themselves in that area; although they sure are hitting and walking a fair number of batters with a mix of wild pitches . Last year after 12 games they made 23 errors (and it got worse as the year wore on) to only 14 in the 12 games so far. Fundamentally they are a better team and outside of Campbell, Coastal and 1 or 2 others should be competitive in BSC.

[ballcoach15]

I think we be much improved in bsc play this season.

[ballcoach15]

Top of 4th. LU 0. Mercer 0. Our bats are quiet.

[ballcoach15]

LU loses to Mercer 3-0. Tincher pitched well enough to win. Two errors on 1 play lead to 2 unearned runs. LU did not swing bats well in either game today.

[CentFla]

A few tidbits on the NCAA Softball strike zone... the umpires have not squeezed the zone, the NCAA has. If you look in the NCAA softball rules, chapter 11 you will see a clear definition with pictures. There is a myth that if the ball is in the river (the 6 inches between the chalk and the black of home plate) it's a strike, by rule it is not. If it misses the white of the plate by 1/10,000th of an inch, it is a ball.

With that said, if you have a pitcher with little to no movement, there is no such thing as catching a corner and having it curve away from the zone. You have to sail it down the inside or outside of the white of the plate and hope for the best. 2 of our pitchers have little to no movement, therefore, it seems they are being squeezed. The UF Pitcher has a great curve that late breaks, which allows her to catch the corner as it's breaking away, or, do a back door curve which freezes batters.

A few more myths to clarify... the strike zone is top of the ball ABOVE the knee and top of the ball at the bottom of the sternum, not below the elbows as I hear some fans voice out loud when they are expressing their displeasure.

[CentFla]

Results look a lot like last year.

Defensively, there is no comparison with last year. I am sure the stats support that, if not, the eyeball test does.

Pitching - With 2 pitchers just coming back from severe injuries, it will take them several tournaments to get their full game potential back. They will keep getting stronger and with those 2 kids personalities, they will not get outworked. The pitching coach will get more out of them as well. Also, keep in mind, there were some pitchers that could have made a positive impact that left the program for various reasons.

IF - There are 3 new players in the infield, they are learning each others game, coverage, etc. They will only get better and tighter as the season goes along.

Bats - There are 3-4 freshman hitting in each game, no matter how much ASA ball you play, there is an adjustment to the college game playing against "women". No excuses, as a team they need execute situational hitting much better and take advantage of base runners. They have not had a shortage of base runners in those close games.

They have played a tough schedule and will win more games this year than last. But... BSC play will be interesting. to compete at the Coastal level, they need a Coastal level pitching staff (combined ERA 2.3) and some hot bats.