Softball ....absolutely

[SEC Softballer1]

Hope everyone watched the game last night...HUGE for our sport. Heck of a game and hopefully tonight is also. ESPN is being blown away by the viewers & attendance ...topping many college baseball games...hope this = more TV regular season games..... Which should put more pressure on colleges to really take a look at the sport and improving it. Sport still growing by leaps annually and we are getting more and more athletes interested at an early age vs. other sports. Just very exciting! Hope our SEC team brings it home tonight!

[psycHOGlogist]

Great point! And Gus Malzahn and Bruce Pearl were (maybe excessively) shown in the crowd enjoying the heck out of themselves, and the night before Bob Stoops was in the crowd.

All without Curt Schilling in the press box to 'splain it all to the audience! :-) Very exciting times for softball!

[LadybackBBFan]

Hope everyone watched the game last night...HUGE for our sport. Heck of a game and hopefully tonight is also. ESPN is being blown away by the viewers & attendance ...topping many college baseball games...hope this = more TV regular season games..... Which should put more pressure on colleges to really take a look at the sport and improving it. Sport still growing by leaps annually and we are getting more and more athletes interested at an early age vs. other sports. Just very exciting! Hope our SEC team brings it home tonight!

As a former fast pitch softball summer traveling team,  I love this sport.  I agree with the above comments.  I also know that it is a sport that someone who is willing to work hard, they can develop into a pretty good player.  The last team that I coached - I had eight players that went on to play in college - very rewarding.

[sw403]

Loved the the last 3 games!  Wish SEC could have brought it home!  I hope our coach can build a team to get us to an SEC Championship

[nwahogfan1]

Hope everyone watched the game last night...HUGE for our sport. Heck of a game and hopefully tonight is also. ESPN is being blown away by the viewers & attendance ...topping many college baseball games...hope this = more TV regular season games..... Which should put more pressure on colleges to really take a look at the sport and improving it. Sport still growing by leaps annually and we are getting more and more athletes interested at an early age vs. other sports. Just very exciting! Hope our SEC team brings it home tonight!

I watched at least bits and pieces of all the CWS games in OKC.  Lots of excitement and drama.  I liked the drama of the Tuesday night come from behind game more than last night because I love hitting and scoring runs.  I enjoy the ladies game more than Men's college baseball because it is a faster pace game especially between pitches.  Can usually play the game in 2 hours.  I think ESPN will air more games now.

[jackflash]

have heard of any recruits coming to Arkansas to help this softball team

[ricepig]

have heard of any recruits coming to Arkansas to help this softball team

We didn't sign any recruits for 2017, that's a shame.....

[sw403]

Has anyone heard how many players we are loosing?  I know Carter has left for southern miss.  Surely we have signed players for the 2017 class.

[psycHOGlogist]

2017s have not signed yet. We have seven commits, two of whom are top 100 players, and the overall class is rated fairly well. Look upthread for a more complete discussion. The 2016 class includes 3 top 100 players - also discussed upthread, and is rated very well. (There are mostly, but not exclusively, Larabee's recruits.)

As for players we are losing - I have heard that two other F besides Carter are leaving the program. Neither got much PT. Ileana Aleman has graduated, along with Claire Clark, and Sydney Wright has been medically retired. We have 9 signees for 2016, and there are rumors about a transfer (or possibly transferS) into the program, as well, though nothing has been announced yet.

[psycHOGlogist]

Here's a news tidbit about one of our incoming pitchers, who plays for SoCal Athletics:

In So Cal A's Invitational pool play games:

No. 2 So Cal Athletics 4, No. 1 OC Batbusters-Stith 2: In the most anticipated pool play game of the tournament, the So Cal A's rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the two-time PGF national champion Batbusters...  Arkansas-bound Autumn Storms, who allowed no earned runs, three hits, one walk and struck out three to get the complete game win, retired the Batbusters in order in the bottom of the sixth, the time limit expired and the So Cal A's had the big win.

[jackflash]

If they sign two pitchers it make a difference in this program I feel and will turn it around. I hope she lucky in California

[psycHOGlogist]

I don't think it's a question of numbers - it's a question of signing the right pitchers. We have two pitchers returning next year in Moll and Stewart (who was injured and RS'ed this year). We have two incoming freshman who are both Top 100 pitchers (Hedgcock and Storms). I'm not certain, but I don't think we've recently recruited one Top 100 pitcher, let alone two. That's pretty good news.

The adjustment of pitchers from HS/travel ball to the "big time" of the SEC is hard to predict, but if they both pan out, we should see significant improvement next year. Not enough to win the conference or anything, but something noticeable.

This past year was never going to be a good year, but losing Wright and Stewart to injuries basically left us with one SEC caliber pitcher (Moll). It will be very interesting to see how well the incoming P's do once they get on campus. We certainly have to hope that they all stay healthy and we don't have to rely on one arm for pretty much the whole year.

[sw403]

Thanks for the updates!  Looks like improvement is happening.

[jackflash]

I like our softball coach. think we made the right hire. The program was bad before she got here. Where it at is not her fault.

[LadybackBBFan]

I liked TC, but lost confidence in him over time.  He was my choice, but I was wrong.   I feel his heart was not in it with a young family.  Only time will tell if the softball coach can do the job.  Other SEC teams have invested a lot more in softball coaches than we seem willing to do.

[jackflash]

I am not sure money will get you the right coach. Are coach seams to working hard and recruiting well I think.

[psycHOGlogist]

Other SEC teams have invested a lot more in softball coaches than we seem willing to do.

I'm very curious about what you're referring to here. Not doubting you -- I'm in no position to know -- but that's a bit of a surprise to hear. We have a great, new-ish (2009) ballpark with a new scoreboard, a new indoor practice facility, and the Jones Center. I'm curious about where we fall behind our competition.

Oh - just re-read, and you said "coaches." Assume you mean a salary issue then?

I think Long was willing to pay more for a bigger name, but he couldn't get a Bret Bielema/Jason Watson type guy or gal on the hook.

[LadybackBBFan]

I'm very curious about what you're referring to here. Not doubting you -- I'm in no position to know -- but that's a bit of a surprise to hear. We have a great, new-ish (2009) ballpark with a new scoreboard, a new indoor practice facility, and the Jones Center. I'm curious about where we fall behind our competition.

Oh - just re-read, and you said "coaches." Assume you mean a salary issue then?

I think Long was willing to pay more for a bigger name, but he couldn't get a Bret Bielema/Jason Watson type guy or gal on the hook.

Then we will never be successful unless we happen to hit the jackpot in a young coach who has not demonstrated that they can be successful.

[coltseaver]

 :razorback:

[dchoss]

What's the name of the ladybacks pitching coach and is she also the recruiting coordinator ?

[psycHOGlogist]

Boo de Oliveira, and I think so. The Recruiting Coordinator title is not specified on the website, I think, but Coach Boo has considerable RC experience.

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/coache/boo-de-oliveira/

[wps1]

Hedgcock tabbed as Maxprep's National Player of the Year

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/IAqXQu6c2kedMm_gNt7xmA/maxpreps-2016-softball-all-american-team.htm

[coltseaver]

Well that didn't take long

http://www.purduesports.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/080416aaa.html

[SEC Softballer1]

Can't blame Boo...needed to jump ship before her resume was tainted... her hands will be full up there with a program similar to the Razorbacks position last year. But will be much easier to compete in conf outside of the top 3-4 teams. Big 10 is a good HC gig as the politics wont allow the whole conf to grow strong until there is a major shake up...much easier to stay in the middle of the pack. Wish her luck and thank her for her time in Ark.

[nwahogfan1]

Happy for her.  Glad she came and recruited us a top 25 class.   Looking forward to who is hired.  We need a get a great recruiter.  Any guesses?

[psycHOGlogist]

Happy for her.  Glad she came and recruited us a top 25 class.   Looking forward to who is hired.  We need a get a great recruiter.  Any guesses?

That is just press release mumbo jumbo. The incoming class is, literally, 90% Larabee commits. The only person Larabee did not recruit is our highest ranked recruit (Hedgcock), but Boo did not recruit her, either. She followed Deifel from Maryland to here (when Boo was in Tempe). Not knocking her at all - I think her leaving is bad for the program, especially at this time of year, because I think she's a great pitching coach, but she is not responsible for our current slate of recruits.

Like you said, though - I am hoping that we can bring in a hot shot recruiter. Between our facilities and academic support programs, we have a lot to offer, even compared to other SEC schools, and a good recruiter should be able to make some noise.

[psycHOGlogist]

Rumors afoot that we are going to announce that Matt Meuchel, the head coach at University of Nevada (Reno), will be the next Assistant Coach for the softball team. This is surprising to me and has a lot of upside to it. The Wolfpack are coming off one of their all-time best seasons last year (32-15), so it's not like he was about to be fired (at least for having a losing record). He also has a lot of solid recruiting ties, having been on staff at Arizona State, Oklahoma State, and McNeese State. He's also coached in the NPF League. Reportedly a very good recruiter. He is not, however, a pitching coach like Boo was. I guess Deifel will work with the pitchers, which she has done before.

If true, I think it's impressive to snatch another team's HC to come in and be an assistant - especially when it's a coach coming off a very good year in a decent conference (Nevada is a WAC school).

[coltseaver]

Rumors afoot that we are going to announce that Matt Meuchel, the head coach at University of Nevada (Reno), will be the next Assistant Coach for the softball team. This is surprising to me and has a lot of upside to it. The Wolfpack are coming off one of their all-time best seasons last year (32-15), so it's not like he was about to be fired (at least for having a losing record). He also has a lot of solid recruiting ties, having been on staff at Arizona State, Oklahoma State, and McNeese State. He's also coached in the NPF League. Reportedly a very good recruiter. He is not, however, a pitching coach like Boo was. I guess Deifel will work with the pitchers, which she has done before.

If true, I think it's impressive to snatch another team's HC to come in and be an assistant - especially when it's a coach coming off a very good year in a decent conference (Nevada is a WAC school).

This would be a fantastic hire. Great coach, tenacious recruiter. Don't be confused though, Matt knows plenty about pitching. He's been around the game his entire life. His sister was an all conference pitcher (and currently a DI pitching coach, and his dad is one of the most highly regarded pitching coaches in the northwest. No idea who will take over pitching duties should this be the hire, but he's certainly not clueless.

He wasn't about to be fired for sure. He just made a new AC hire not 3 weeks ago. My guess is Diefel tapped him for the position.

[psycHOGlogist]

Thanks for the additional info and perspective, coltseaver! Still just a rumor, apparently, as there's been no announcement as of yet. He is no longer on the Nevada softball webpage as their coach, though, so there is something up with him.

[coltseaver]

Still just a rumor, apparently, as there's been no announcement as of yet.

There will be very soon

[Scott7703]

There will be very soon

Colt, what's your take on our incoming class, transfers ect and now they mix with returnees.

I am happy to hear you approve of the new assistant hire

[rolyat_2008]

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/deifel-brings-meuchel-to-fayetteville/

[ricepig]

https://twitter.com/RazorbackSB/status/765740508538777600

[jackflash]

things are looking better for the softball team. Can't wait for next year or the year after

[flippinhogmana]

the PC response to your question would be, "oh okay, yeah, give her 3 to 5 years and see if she can get things going up there"....but in my heart I don't see this program ever going anywhere because the state of Arkansas delayed girls HS fast pitch back in the day to slow pitch which was like playing modern football with leather helmets...the slow pitch years were just that, slow and it kept Arkansas girls from learning the real game of softball....Obviously we can go out of state but with the reputation of the state of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas, I can't see us ever catching up to the SEC....JMO minus the PC milquetoast

i thought it might be fun to take a look back at a short time ago and the claims of doom and gloom in view of today record-already more season and sEC wins than last year.  How about coach D now? 

Also before we beat up the women's basketball program anymore look what the right coach/recuriter/motivater can do.  We had a good women's team this year that was simply mismanaged, but a good coach can rebuild it quicker than you think! 

[LadybackBBFan]

Also before we beat up the women's basketball program anymore look what the right coach/recuriter/motivater can do.  We had a good women's team this year that was simply mismanaged, but a good coach can rebuild it quicker than you think! 

I agree.  I predicted at least 11 victories in non-conference based upon the schedule - result was 11 victories and would and should have been 13 except for loosing players and injuries.  I predicted at least 8 wins in conference - we won 2, but would have won at least 8 if we had a coach who could coach and who players could have respected.