Lonni outsmarted herself tonight

[Tom81]

She pulled a Karen Weekly (UT coach) and DID NOT pitch her ace.
That is so clever! Not!
Fortunately, Mack kept it low in the zone until she was pulled in the 4th with one out and a runner on.
I love Reid, but she is a horrible matchup for OU. They feast on pitches up in the zone.

Then she brings in DuBois who literally cannot bend over and pick the ball up.
Royalty (bless her heart) is not the caliber pitcher to be in this situation. Neither is DuBois or Wilson.
We have 3 dependable pitchers and one of them is a horrible matchup.
Add to that Mudge not fielding cleanly a ball and Kerr sailing balls far over the head of the cutoff man and you have the recipe for disaster.
And Kerr (Leonard too) keeps swinging at balls at her eyes or above. Did they not get a scouting report?

Maybe Kat will bring her "A" game and we can steal a game in this series, unless Lonni has another trick up her sleeve.

Oh I almost forgot. Early in the game Edenfield gets on first with no outs and she doesn't pinch run for her!
Another case of coaching malpractice.
It didn't help that the ump picked poor times to make horrible strike calls in favor of OU.

I'm done ranting.
Let's go win tomorrow, and then see what happens.

 

[CHAMLER]

I don’t think so. I’m sure CoachA is looking at the series as a 21 inning game. Leonard pitched good enough to keep us in the game. We had plenty of opportunities, and had the lead off runner on with no outs 3 innings in a row. WE HAD 1 HIT……. We missed the cutoff twice, dropped an opportunity to throw out another runner at the plate, (although Mudge made up for it with a great catch later), had two mistakes on bunts, and had a very bad past ball leading to another run. It was their night and we left our bats at the hotel. We can’t make those mistakes and beat a team like them. It was obviously the white flag bringing in Dubois and Royalty. We all know that Dubois can’t field her position so they took advantage of that with the first batter. The good news is, they didn’t get anymore looks at Reid, Leonard, or Kat. Hopefully Kat shuts them down tomorrow, we bring our bats to the stadium, and we get to game 3. Regardless, I would not trade this team for anything.

 

[vkw143]

We have some batters who have been slumping since the South Carolina game but we still found ways to win. After OU scored their first runs, this game took on the same feel as our loss to SC. Regardless of our pitching strategy, we will never win unless we score. We had opportunities early that may have changed the outcome had we picked up a couple of runs. Our mistakes were clearly described above but at least we didn’t concede the game like UT when they played OU.

OU is tough to beat when they take the lead - obviously with an over 50 game winning streak. Their batters have shown to be far less aggressive or confident in tight games. They made errors when under pressure but we didn’t capitalize. We swung at too many (high) pitches far out of the strike zone.
The ump was calling strikes on balls well out of the zone but only if they were outside. She was accurate with strikes on the side of the catcher where she put her head but greatly expanded the zone on the other side.

Game two will present another opportunity for us to break their win streak but not if we don’t keep the pressure on them and certainly not if we don’t score. Go ‘Noles.

 

[chiefland]

She pulled a Karen Weekly (UT coach) and DID NOT pitch her ace.
That is so clever! Not!
Fortunately, Mack kept it low in the zone until she was pulled in the 4th with one out and a runner on.
I love Reid, but she is a horrible matchup for OU. They feast on pitches up in the zone.

Then she brings in DuBois who literally cannot bend over and pick the ball up.
Royalty (bless her heart) is not the caliber pitcher to be in this situation. Neither is DuBois or Wilson.
We have 3 dependable pitchers and one of them is a horrible matchup.
Add to that Mudge not fielding cleanly a ball and Kerr sailing balls far over the head of the cutoff man and you have the recipe for disaster.
And Kerr (Leonard too) keeps swinging at balls at her eyes or above. Did they not get a scouting report?

Maybe Kat will bring her "A" game and we can steal a game in this series, unless Lonni has another trick up her sleeve.

Oh I almost forgot. Early in the game Edenfield gets on first with no outs and she doesn't pinch run for her!
Another case of coaching malpractice.
It didn't help that the ump picked poor times to make horrible strike calls in favor of OU.

I'm done ranting.
Let's go win tomorrow, and then see what happens.

Think it was not the coaching. Sooners is great team and they expanded the home field advantage. No way to win without scoring and waste your best pitcher..

 

[Tom81]

The ump was consistent most of the night. The 2 most egregious calls were both against Devyn Flaherty.
The first was early in the game with Edenfield on first and no outs. 3-1 count and the ball is 8 inches off the plate and DF starts for first. STRIKE calls the umpire. DR strikes out on the next pitch. Even the announcers said and showed that ball was well off the plate. The only other time she called that a strike all night was against Flaherty later in the game for another strike out.
There is a big difference between 1 on and 1 out and runners on first and second no outs. Maybe Lonni bunts them over, but then again, this is when Lonni chose not to pinch run for 51. Why exactly?
There were a couple of top of the SZ pitches the ump gave Bahl, that she did not give Reid. I saw one pitch all night that was called a strike for us that was low. That's it.
Just give me a consistent umpire.

 

[pcnole1976]

She pulled a Karen Weekly (UT coach) and DID NOT pitch her ace.
That is so clever! Not!
Fortunately, Mack kept it low in the zone until she was pulled in the 4th with one out and a runner on.
I love Reid, but she is a horrible matchup for OU. They feast on pitches up in the zone.

Then she brings in DuBois who literally cannot bend over and pick the ball up.
Royalty (bless her heart) is not the caliber pitcher to be in this situation. Neither is DuBois or Wilson.
We have 3 dependable pitchers and one of them is a horrible matchup.
Add to that Mudge not fielding cleanly a ball and Kerr sailing balls far over the head of the cutoff man and you have the recipe for disaster.
And Kerr (Leonard too) keeps swinging at balls at her eyes or above. Did they not get a scouting report?

Maybe Kat will bring her "A" game and we can steal a game in this series, unless Lonni has another trick up her sleeve.

Oh I almost forgot. Early in the game Edenfield gets on first with no outs and she doesn't pinch run for her!
Another case of coaching malpractice.
It didn't help that the ump picked poor times to make horrible strike calls in favor of OU.

I'm done ranting.
Let's go win tomorrow, and then see what happens.

Wow, unhinged a bit aren't you?
Hopefully a good night sleep will help you realize how silly your late night post is.

If anything, the way the game played out shows that Lonni did the right thing. Kat wasn't going to shut Oklahoma out and FSU wasn't going to score a run last night.

Oklahoma is so much better than every other team, even FSU has to play a perfect game to beat them. FSU played terrible. A GREAT dominate K pitcher will do that to a team.

The only "malpractice" I've seen in you and your silly fandom. When things get bad, you turn on the team you supposedly love? Good Lord, with "fans" like that...

 

[pcnole1976]

I don’t think so. I’m sure CoachA is looking at the series as a 21 inning game. Leonard pitched good enough to keep us in the game. We had plenty of opportunities, and had the lead off runner on with no outs 3 innings in a row. WE HAD 1 HIT……. We missed the cutoff twice, dropped an opportunity to throw out another runner at the plate, (although Mudge made up for it with a great catch later), had two mistakes on bunts, and had a very bad past ball leading to another run. It was their night and we left our bats at the hotel. We can’t make those mistakes and beat a team like them. It was obviously the white flag bringing in Dubois and Royalty. We all know that Dubois can’t field her position so they took advantage of that with the first batter. The good news is, they didn’t get anymore looks at Reid, Leonard, or Kat. Hopefully Kat shuts them down tomorrow, we bring our bats to the stadium, and we get to game 3. Regardless, I would not trade this team for anything.

GREAT post CHAMLER! Thank you

 

[Nolefan82]

Can’t pitch much better than Mack last night.

Cant win if you don’t score.

 

[LEGAL]

Wow, unhinged a bit aren't you?
Hopefully a good night sleep will help you realize how silly your late night post is.

If anything, the way the game played out shows that Lonni did the right thing. Kat wasn't going to shut Oklahoma out and FSU wasn't going to score a run last night.

Oklahoma is so much better than every other team, even FSU has to play a perfect game to beat them. FSU played terrible. A GREAT dominate K pitcher will do that to a team.

The only "malpractice" I've seen in you and your silly fandom. When things get bad, you turn on the team you supposedly love? Good Lord, with "fans" like that...

Absolutely. Great post. Here we are with one of the great coaches in the game who has built a big time program that gets better and better and we have this junior Tony La Russa Monday morning quarterbacking. There is a history there and it could have been expected. Kat in the circle would have changed nothing unless anyone thinks that she would have 2 hit that team.

 

[ThePearl83]

She pulled a Karen Weekly (UT coach) and DID NOT pitch her ace.
That is so clever! Not!
Fortunately, Mack kept it low in the zone until she was pulled in the 4th with one out and a runner on.
I love Reid, but she is a horrible matchup for OU. They feast on pitches up in the zone.

Then she brings in DuBois who literally cannot bend over and pick the ball up.
Royalty (bless her heart) is not the caliber pitcher to be in this situation. Neither is DuBois or Wilson.
We have 3 dependable pitchers and one of them is a horrible matchup.
Add to that Mudge not fielding cleanly a ball and Kerr sailing balls far over the head of the cutoff man and you have the recipe for disaster.
And Kerr (Leonard too) keeps swinging at balls at her eyes or above. Did they not get a scouting report?

Maybe Kat will bring her "A" game and we can steal a game in this series, unless Lonni has another trick up her sleeve.

Oh I almost forgot. Early in the game Edenfield gets on first with no outs and she doesn't pinch run for her!
Another case of coaching malpractice.
It didn't help that the ump picked poor times to make horrible strike calls in favor of OU.

I'm done ranting.
Let's go win tomorrow, and then see what happens.

I agree on not starting your best pitcher whether we score or not! Also, she pulled Mack, who pitched well, too soon IMO.

 

[Vann]

She pulled a Karen Weekly (UT coach) and DID NOT pitch her ace.
That is so clever! Not!
Fortunately, Mack kept it low in the zone until she was pulled in the 4th with one out and a runner on.
I love Reid, but she is a horrible matchup for OU. They feast on pitches up in the zone.

Then she brings in DuBois who literally cannot bend over and pick the ball up.
Royalty (bless her heart) is not the caliber pitcher to be in this situation. Neither is DuBois or Wilson.
We have 3 dependable pitchers and one of them is a horrible matchup.
Add to that Mudge not fielding cleanly a ball and Kerr sailing balls far over the head of the cutoff man and you have the recipe for disaster.
And Kerr (Leonard too) keeps swinging at balls at her eyes or above. Did they not get a scouting report?

Maybe Kat will bring her "A" game and we can steal a game in this series, unless Lonni has another trick up her sleeve.

Oh I almost forgot. Early in the game Edenfield gets on first with no outs and she doesn't pinch run for her!
Another case of coaching malpractice.
It didn't help that the ump picked poor times to make horrible strike calls in favor of OU.

I'm done ranting.
Let's go win tomorrow, and then see what happens.

She pulled a Karen Weekly (UT coach) and DID NOT pitch her ace.
That is so clever! Not!
Fortunately, Mack kept it low in the zone until she was pulled in the 4th with one out and a runner on.
I love Reid, but she is a horrible matchup for OU. They feast on pitches up in the zone.

Then she brings in DuBois who literally cannot bend over and pick the ball up.
Royalty (bless her heart) is not the caliber pitcher to be in this situation. Neither is DuBois or Wilson.
We have 3 dependable pitchers and one of them is a horrible matchup.
Add to that Mudge not fielding cleanly a ball and Kerr sailing balls far over the head of the cutoff man and you have the recipe for disaster.
And Kerr (Leonard too) keeps swinging at balls at her eyes or above. Did they not get a scouting report?

Maybe Kat will bring her "A" game and we can steal a game in this series, unless Lonni has another trick up her sleeve.

Oh I almost forgot. Early in the game Edenfield gets on first with no outs and she doesn't pinch run for her!
Another case of coaching malpractice.
It didn't help that the ump picked poor times to make horrible strike calls in favor of OU.

I'm done ranting.
Let's go win tomorrow, and then see what happens.

Your rant is right on! She isnt going to out coach anyone so she better out-talent them which will not happen against OK.

 

[Vann]

Absolutely. Great post. Here we are with one of the great coaches in the game who has built a big time program that gets better and better and we have this junior Tony La Russa Monday morning quarterbacking. There is a history there and it could have been expected. Kat in the circle would have changed nothing unless anyone thinks that she would have 2 hit that team.

You had better win the first or you are doomed. Go with your best from the begining. She does well but to many mistakes which should have been avoided

 

[NoleLizards]

Lonni knows her players than anyone. If she feels that Kat could use another day of rest in order to operate at optimal performance, then so be it...The girl is a human being, not a machine!

 

[spreadman]

OP I couldn’t believe we didn’t P run for her.

 

[Tom81]

Some fans are completely 2 dimensional.
IF you are an FSU fan, you do not criticize the coach or the team.
Objective observations are viewed as turning on the team.
Consider me 3 dimensional.
I objectively (IMO) criticize or observe where and when it is due.
I give credit where it is due.
I love Lonni and what she has built here. I agree with 90% of her decisions.
Me disagreeing with her doesn't mean I'm right, but it is also possible for her to make mistakes, just like Bobby Bowden etc.
Objective criticisms:
1. you go with your ace. Even if you lose, she's ready for a 3rd day start if there is one.
2. You don't pull Mack who had given up one hit to that point in time.
I love Makenna, but her strong suit is right up OU's sweet spot. Lonni knows this. MR had pitched against them earlier this year and they had done the same thing. Especially when you get uneven umpire strike zones.
3. When Michaela gets on first with no outs, you pinch run Ross or Belviy. Duhhhhhh!

On another board I have criticized and praised Jahni Kerr.
When she swings at strikes, she is our best hitter by far. She has improved slightly her recognition of the SZ, but when you get her down with 2 strikes, she will swing at almost anything.
I've also criticized her fielding, but the last half of the year, she has actually made some very good plays in the field. That said, her missing the cutoff man twice last night cost us 2 runs.
With another year of seasoning and mastering the SZ, JK can become a legit all american.

Jordy Bahl is a stud pitcher and is hard to beat ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON'T LAY OFF THE HIGH RISE!
She is hittable when you stay in the strike zone. The ump also helped her twice with Devyn.

Lonni is an excellent coach and probably the best pitching coach in the country. I don't want anyone else.
She has slipped in her HS pitcher recruiting and she has taken a couple of projects in the portal which FSU doesn't need to take.
Since Herzog and Kat were recruited, she struck out on all HS pitchers until Makenna Reid. Ironically Kenna decommitted from NCSt and actually reached out to us.
Now to be fair, she has a couple of studs coming in these next 2 classes. We need a stud pitcher transfer this coming year to go with Kenna, Madi and the 2 freshmen.
Kenna can be an all time great IF SHE MASTERS 1 OR 2 MORE PITCHES!
Losing Kat and Mack for next year is huge in a bad way!

I'm still hopeful, we can win this thing!
We need to win tonight and then throw everything at OU on Friday. Who knows?
Go Noles!

 

[CHAMLER]

The ump was consistent most of the night. The 2 most egregious calls were both against Devyn Flaherty.
The first was early in the game with Edenfield on first and no outs. 3-1 count and the ball is 8 inches off the plate and DF starts for first. STRIKE calls the umpire. DR strikes out on the next pitch. Even the announcers said and showed that ball was well off the plate. The only other time she called that a strike all night was against Flaherty later in the game for another strike out.
There is a big difference between 1 on and 1 out and runners on first and second no outs. Maybe Lonni bunts them over, but then again, this is when Lonni chose not to pinch run for 51. Why exactly?
There were a couple of top of the SZ pitches the ump gave Bahl, that she did not give Reid. I saw one pitch all night that was called a strike for us that was low. That's it.
Just give me a consistent umpire.

Not only were those pitches to Flaherty off the plate, they were actually in the other batters box. Not to say it would have changed the game, but big difference between 1st & 2nd with no outs but those calls were bad and she gave those calls all night.

 

[CHAMLER]

Some fans are completely 2 dimensional.
IF you are an FSU fan, you do not criticize the coach or the team.
Objective observations are viewed as turning on the team.
Consider me 3 dimensional.
I objectively (IMO) criticize or observe where and when it is due.
I give credit where it is due.
I love Lonni and what she has built here. I agree with 90% of her decisions.
Me disagreeing with her doesn't mean I'm right, but it is also possible for her to make mistakes, just like Bobby Bowden etc.
Objective criticisms:
1. you go with your ace. Even if you lose, she's ready for a 3rd day start if there is one.
2. You don't pull Mack who had given up one hit to that point in time.
I love Makenna, but her strong suit is right up OU's sweet spot. Lonni knows this. MR had pitched against them earlier this year and they had done the same thing. Especially when you get uneven umpire strike zones.
3. When Michaela gets on first with no outs, you pinch run Ross or Belviy. Duhhhhhh!

On another board I have criticized and praised Jahni Kerr.
When she swings at strikes, she is our best hitter by far. She has improved slightly her recognition of the SZ, but when you get her down with 2 strikes, she will swing at almost anything.
I've also criticized her fielding, but the last half of the year, she has actually made some very good plays in the field. That said, her missing the cutoff man twice last night cost us 2 runs.
With another year of seasoning and mastering the SZ, JK can become a legit all american.

Jordy Bahl is a stud pitcher and is hard to beat ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON'T LAY OFF THE HIGH RISE!
She is hittable when you stay in the strike zone. The ump also helped her twice with Devyn.

Lonni is an excellent coach and probably the best pitching coach in the country. I don't want anyone else.
She has slipped in her HS pitcher recruiting and she has taken a couple of projects in the portal which FSU doesn't need to take.
Since Herzog and Kat were recruited, she struck out on all HS pitchers until Makenna Reid. Ironically Kenna decommitted from NCSt and actually reached out to us.
Now to be fair, she has a couple of studs coming in these next 2 classes. We need a stud pitcher transfer this coming year to go with Kenna, Madi and the 2 freshmen.
Kenna can be an all time great IF SHE MASTERS 1 OR 2 MORE PITCHES!
Losing Kat and Mack for next year is huge in a bad way!

I'm still hopeful, we can win this thing!
We need to win tonight and then throw everything at OU on Friday. Who knows?
Go Noles!

All fair points, but I can understand her thought process as well. Not PRing for Edenfield is understandable that early in the game. (who knew it was going to be our only hit until the 7th…) so I can see her wanting to be patient there. However, if someone would have told me that we would have 2 hits, make several errors and mistakes, and struck out 10+ times I never would think we had a chance. That being said, we played our worse game in months, and still had chances. Hopefully Kat shuts them down and our bats wake up. We have several bats that are due to break slumps. Maybe tonight is the night….

 

[Tom81]

All fair points, but I can understand her thought process as well. Not PRing for Edenfield is understandable that early in the game. (who knew it was going to be our only hit until the 7th…) so I can see her wanting to be patient there. However, if someone would have told me that we would have 2 hits, make several errors and mistakes, and struck out 10+ times I never would think we had a chance. That being said, we played our worse game in months, and still had chances. Hopefully Kat shuts them down and our bats wake up. We have several bats that are due to break slumps. Maybe tonight is the night….

If we can gut out a win tonight, then who knows for Friday.
Maybe, just maybe, our hitters will learn to lay off the high rise of Bahl.
It's not over until it's over.
My question is, will OU go with Bahl again, or will they pitch May or Storako?
IMO, our hitters are good enough to adjust to those two. We'll have to prove it regarding Bahl.

 

[Andrewff]

If we can gut out a win tonight, then who knows for Friday.
Maybe, just maybe, our hitters will learn to lay off the high rise of Bahl.
It's not over until it's over.
My question is, will OU go with Bahl again, or will they pitch May or Storako?
IMO, our hitters are good enough to adjust to those two. We'll have to prove it regarding Bahl.

My guess is they start May tonight, who actually has a better ERA than Bahl. Scary thought. As mentioned, the bats need to show up tonight and Kat needs to keep them in check. Not impossible, but a titanic task. OU has both the best offense and best defense in the country.

No matter what, Lonni has built a great program that is enjoyable to watch. These girls come to play and lay it all out on the field. The catch by Mudge last night in the 6th was awesome. It kept us from getting run-ruled. Even though it was highly unlikely we would/could score 5 in the 7th, they never gave up.

 

[kodiackid]

So how would everyone feel if Kat pitched a 2 hitter yesterday and we lost 1-0 and had to come back tonite with either a tired Kat or Mack? At least now we think we can win game two. If Oklahoma throws the same pitcher, we can hope she’ll be less effective after 7 innings last nite.

 

[CHAMLER]

So how would everyone feel if Kat pitched a 2 hitter yesterday and we lost 1-0 and had to come back tonite with either a tired Kat or Mack? At least now we think we can win game two. If Oklahoma throws the same pitcher, we can hope she’ll be less effective after 7 innings last nite.

I don’t know this, but I think if we would have got the lead Kat would have came in last night. I don’t have any problem with Leonard starting last night. In fact, she pitched well enough for us to have a chance. You just can’t beat that team playing sloppy and only having 2 hits. We will find out in about 15 mins if it was a good plan or not. Hopefully Kerr, Leonard, and Waycaser’s bats come alive cause they are due.

 

[Andrewff]

I don’t know this, but I think if we would have got the lead Kat would have came in last night. I don’t have any problem with Leonard starting last night. In fact, she pitched well enough for us to have a chance. You just can’t beat that team playing sloppy and only having 2 hits. We will find out in about 15 mins if it was a good plan or not. Hopefully Kerr, Leonard, and Waycaser’s bats come alive cause they are due.

Lonni did say that Kat wasn’t going to pitch unless we had the lead, so likely she would have. I was ok starting Mack. I was ok with Reid coming in, but once she gave up three runs, we started playing for tonight‘s game.