re: Ole Miss 3 @ LSU 1 Final - SEC+

We need to find ways to score. It’s at a point where we just can’t swing away and get hits. We can’t hit the long ball and we can’t string hits together. We need to do hit in runs, Execute bunts, and find some way to score. We are 28-1 when we score more than 1 run. We have to give our pitchers a chance to win. We can barely let Gorsuch or Sunseri develop in the circle cause we don’t know if we’re gonna score on any given day, no matter the competition. It’s evident that we aren’t gonna get different people in the lineup, but we are moving people around. I think the lineup should be:

Lineup:
1.) Andrews
2.) Doyle
3.) Griggs
4.) Sanchez
5.) Sunseri
6.) Antoine
7.) Serrett
8.) Schlattman
9.) Schulte

The one thing about Sanchez is that a lot of her puts are loud outs. So many of her outs die at the warning track. So that puts her in good position for sac flies. I don’t even know at this point I just want us to score.

We went through this last year... “Changes need to be made in the off-season”... Everybody came back pretty much doing the same thing.

I have dont know enough of the goings-on at practice and with the team to point fingers at anybody. All I know is that these girls need to change things about the way they hit.

Serret probably has no clue how much potential she has as a hitter. Some of the best line drives you ever see in a softball game are hit by her, but they are aways outside the lines. Imagine if those screamers were fair balls.Because of the angle of her swing, timing is super-critical. If she ever gets her hitting straightened out she is going to be a terror. I betcha she swings the bat as hard as most of the girls on that team.

Kudos to Beth for giving Goff a chance. I hated pinch-hitting, always knowing that if my coach wanted production from me, he'd give me four at bats in a game.

What would it hurt, in a midweek game, to put those who dont play much out on the field, start them, and let them play a full game. No need to “bench” the starters, just sit them for a game and put Goff, Claire, Thymes and the others out there and let the get some experience.

Have to give the underclassmen playing time. Nothing wrong with sitting the starters and letting the younger ones play in a midweek setting.

For each of the last 3 years, we’ve lost the best hitters in the program’s history- Kloss, Simmons, Andrews, Bell, Jaquish, and Landry.

We just haven’t recruited all-American hitters to replace them, which is obviously not easy. These are the same issues at the plate as last year.

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I'll give myself the 1st downvote.

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I’ll give you another.

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This is one of the most fortunate teams on game day I have ever seen and that falls at the feet of two of the greatest pitchers in school history. The chain on the largest rabbits foot in the history of softball starts in the circle. I believe we have given up fewer than 2 runs in 30+ games which is an amazing feat. I'll say it again, thank God for Hoover and Wali and let's hope MB continues to improve.

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Before I make my next statement, let me go on record as saying that I think Beth Torina is a very good coach and she has done great things during her tenure at LSU. That said, I can't help but compare the current situation to some of the past football seasons under Miles, where we had national champion caliber players but couldn't get it done on the field. We have 2 of the best pitchers in the country, but we don't have the offense to back them up. I just don't see us getting very far in the postseason unless we see drastic improvement at the plate. It's a damn shame too, because both Carly and Allie deserve to win a WCWS championship.

Tigerbait357. Maybe being prepared at the plate is not the issue. With the following SEC batting averages, Serrett .125, Sanchez .158 Schulte .182, Schlattman .225, maybe offensively, they just are not SEC caliber hitters. Maybe they just don't have the ability to hit SEC level pitching. Against Ole Miss pitcher, Lee, Schulte went 0-6, Serrett 1-8, Sanchez 1-10, Schlattman 1-8. Combined that's 3-33. That's a .090 average. What do you think. I respect your opinion.

As the season goes on, you get a better idea of what is going right, and what is going wrong. At the plate, LSU struggles with the same struggles they had last year.

Three new starters take the field...Schlatmann, Schulte, and Antoine. Schlatmann and Schulte have struggled.

Antoine is just a freshman and pitch selection is an issue for her. Also, she needs to move away from slapping. Her swing is much too good to waste on tapping the ball. Her batting average is sinking because of those two things, pitch selection and slapping. If not next year, the following year, she will be batting second or third where she belongs, she just needs more experience.

I got Schlatmann all wrong the last time I posted a batting analysis, and the reason is because her warm up swing is not the same as how she swings when she is actually hitting the ball. She is too far off the plate, and occasionally pulls away from the ball. She needs to elevate, and get her eye level closer to the strike zone, and put more into swinging through the ball, rather than throwing the bat AT the ball. She has home run power, and a lot of potential. What would we do without her? She plays her position well. Glad she is with us.

Schulte needs a revamp of her swing. Her most serious flaw is evident at the beginning of her swing, where she moves the bat downward like a golf swing, rather than a more horizontal launch. She, too, has homerun power, and potential. Whether or not she remains a starter, I hope that they get her batting fixed, would like to see her succeed. She is a natural middle fielder. Potential is there.

Serret moves the bat at too vertical an angle on launch, and the bat doesnt flatten in the zone long enough. She can hit some screamers, and needs her bat path fixed. Once that is done, she is going to be a great asset offensively. Even as she is now, she has game changing ability at the plate, loaded with potential.

Goff only gets to pinch hit, and I used to do that in my underclassman years, it is the hardest way to show what you can do...getting one chance at a pitcher you never faced before and wanting to get a base hit, rather than a walk...it makes you swing at junk you wouldn't normally swing at. I'd give her a chance at DP or start her somewhere. We got people starting that shouldn't mind sitting out a game or two to let the underclassmen play.

Griggs and Andrews are affected by that stupid new rule about the batter's box. It is on Andrews' mind, and it is affecting her. Griggs doesnt have the longest arms, and she has to stand close to the edge of the inside of the batters box. The umpires are calling strikes that are six to ten inches off the edge of the plate..nothing a batter can do then.

Doyle has the burden of the offense on her shoulder, and wants to hit the ball. She is doing much better this year. All-American is in her future.

Sanchez has a pitch selection problem, her flaws are not in her fundamental mechanics.

Thats what I think is wrong, and what Dobson should focus on fixing. It would be really nice to have Springfield back.

Is Tennessee next? Their pitching aint great, but if you want to beat them you gotta score 3 or 4 runs minimum...their girls swing away and they can all put the ball out.

Beth won’t get the top hitters to play here anymore. Too many stories circling about bad visits.
Beth personality as a recruiter is very low out of the top 50 teams. She is extremely intelligent that for sure but does not come across to players and families well.
She is not approachable, stubborn and hard headed.
See what shakes out during the summer!
Dobson gone all summer doesnt help running around with the USA girls. Instead he she be planning for next seasons hitting and players development.

Springfield is gone for season?