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James Madison

Posted: May 17th, 2021, 4:48 pm
by Dalegarz1
Some impressive stats for our first round opponent.

Batting:
1. Sara Jubas - B.A. 427 with 10 home runs
2. Kate Gordon - B.A. 417 with 17 home runs and 52 RBI's
3. Madison Naujokas - B.A. 354 with 23 SB out of 23 Attempts

Pitching:
1. Odicci Alexander - 12-0 - ERA (.62), 138 k's in 79 innings
2. Alissa Humphrey - 13-0 - ERA (1.47), 132 k's in 86 innings

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 17th, 2021, 5:18 pm
by olldflame
Their schedule is pretty cupcake. Common opponents:

Longwood - we went 4-0 by a combined score of 44-5 with only one game going the full 7. They were 2-0 winning 6-0 and 1-0.
They did beat UVA, a team we beat twice. We also both beat Radford. As far as I can tell, this will be their first game against a top 25 team. I believe we have played 11, with over half of them top 10.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 17th, 2021, 5:36 pm
by JK37
And lost all but...one?

Pretty even matchup I think.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 17th, 2021, 5:49 pm
by olldflame
JK37 wrote: May 17th, 2021, 5:36 pm And lost all but...one?

Pretty even matchup I think.
2-9. Most of the losses were to teams in the top 7.

I agree. It should be a good matchup. Their 34-1 record is obviously fools gold, but I think they are good. Only loss was by 1 run to Elon on the road.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 17th, 2021, 6:34 pm
by JK37
Agreed. We CANNOT take them lightly. So hard coming from deep in loser’s bracket.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 17th, 2021, 8:42 pm
by Purple Haize
Just doesn’t seem to any advantage being a 2 over a 3 in these set ups.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 17th, 2021, 9:35 pm
by ballcoach15
Purple Haize wrote: May 17th, 2021, 8:42 pm Just doesn’t seem to any advantage being a 2 over a 3 in these set ups.
Only advantage is the 2 is home team.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 17th, 2021, 10:18 pm
by thepostman
How is that an advantage at what will be a neutral field? JMU and LU should be a pretty even matchup.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 17th, 2021, 10:45 pm
by Jonathan Carone
2-seed hits last as the home team. That’s a big advantage.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 17th, 2021, 11:43 pm
by JK37
I can’t believe Carone had to lay that out. 2 seed gets the Hammer. Big deal.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 6:40 am
by thepostman
Jonathan Carone wrote: May 17th, 2021, 10:45 pm 2-seed hits last as the home team. That’s a big advantage.
I've always heard this from baseball/softball diehards but the statistics don't really back it up so I'd be curious as to why you believe it is a BIG advantage.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 7:10 am
by Jonathan Carone
You’re going to have to show how the stats don’t back up having the last at bat being beneficial first.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 7:55 am
by thepostman
Here are the first 3 articles I found after a pretty quick google search:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/180 ... jor-sports

https://sabr.org/journal/article/home-f ... s%20played.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/is-home-fie ... ndangered/

So yes, there seems to be a slight advantage but the way a lot of baseball purest talk it is a huge advantage. This also doesn't take into account neutral fields but it is hard to find those stats. Of course this is just baseball so maybe there are different stats for softball.

It is just something I have always heard from purest and nobody has ever actually proved any tangible evidence that batting last actually provide any kind of meaningful advantage. If you have something that proves that point then I am all ears.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 8:27 am
by ballcoach15
I guess one would be hard pressed to find stats, as to whether having last at-bat is an advantage, but I think every Coach in college softball would choose to have last at-bat, if they had the choice.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 8:40 am
by Jonathan Carone
I think a 10% increase in winning percentage is a pretty big number.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 8:49 am
by thepostman
But it is smaller than in other sports but again this doesn't take into account a neutral field.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 8:56 am
by Jonathan Carone
So are you just being contrarian to be contrarian then?

You always want the ball last in any sport. It gives you a chance to sit on a lead or come back if needed. When you're on offense, you're in control. That's pretty given regardless of the sport.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 8:57 am
by Sly Fox
This thread is giving me a headache.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 9:02 am
by thepostman
Jonathan Carone wrote: May 18th, 2021, 8:56 am So are you just being contrarian to be contrarian then?

You always want the ball last in any sport. It gives you a chance to sit on a lead or come back if needed. When you're on offense, you're in control. That's pretty given regardless of the sport.
Yikes. That isn't it at all. I just wanted to know why this is a hardcore stance of a lot of baseball people. Your answer makes sense. Thanks.

Sorry for derailing the thread.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 9:31 am
by Dalegarz1
In 1992, I was the coach of a high school softball team that won the Group IV State Championship. We had a lot of speed in the top of our lineup and during the tournament always batted first. (There was a coin flip to determine home team. If our opponent won the toss, they always chose home team. If we won, we always chose visiting). I liked the idea of scoring first and putting our opponent under the pressure of playing from behind. A different perspective for you all to consider and it, obviously, has to do with the makeup of your team.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 18th, 2021, 1:24 pm
by Purple Haize
My point was in the grand scheme of things it’s not that big of an advantage. Yes batting last is mostly seen as a good thing. But if you are already up it doesn’t really matter.
At the end of the day your gonna have to (most likely) play the #1 seed. Batting last on a neutral field meh. I’d rather have it than not but it’s not something that’s jaw droppingly advantageous

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 30th, 2021, 2:44 pm
by ballcoach15
JMU defeats Missouri 7-2, to earn World Series berth.
Makes Liberty look a little better.

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 30th, 2021, 3:16 pm
by Cider Jim
ballcoach15 wrote: May 30th, 2021, 2:44 pm JMU defeats Missouri 7-2, to earn World Series berth.
Makes Liberty look a little better.
Sounds like Purple has COACHED UP Ballcoach! :shock: I would have never believed that Ballcoach was that teachable. :oldhag

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 30th, 2021, 3:33 pm
by ballcoach15
No one is above being coached up

Re: James Madison

Posted: May 30th, 2021, 4:38 pm
by thesportscritic
ballcoach15 wrote: May 30th, 2021, 2:44 pm JMU defeats Missouri 7-2, to earn World Series berth.
Makes Liberty look a little better.
Says the dude who wanted JMU to get crushed by Mizzou.🙄