BulldogBear's Softball thoughts after being shooed out of Knoxville with a broom

[BulldogBear]

I think softball is basically as good as baseball is in the SEC. Last year UF won its 2nd title in a row with AU, LSU, Bama, and UT all in the College World Series so actually softball is probably tougher in the SEC than any other sport. SEC rivals the Pac 12 for softball dominance.

I don't know how our facilities compare now that we have the new stadium but we were playing in a rec league field before.

Maybe better even. I'm interested to see how the new facility will help recruiting.

Definitely feels like Steudamann has hit a bit of a glass ceiling in that 20-30 rankings range. Not sure what it will take at this point to push to a higher level.

I think we're more or less on the right track, but man, it is one heckuva(n) uphill climb. I got excited during the early season but it's clear that while we are a better team than last year, we still have a long long way to go. I think the difference will and does show up statistically. I mean, IIRC before this weekend we had the 3rd best ERA IN THE NCAA. But it may not translate into much of a difference in the W-L column. We're more competitive to be sure but still likely won't make a run at the big girls. If you take this past weekend as an example, last year it probably would've gone more like the following. Friday night we took an early 2-0 lead on a UT error, but the charged back and put us away 6-2. Last year that would probably have been 9-2. Saturday we fell behind 8-0 by the 3rd inning; and did manage to come back and make a game of it, losing 8-5; but the eight run rule doesn't come into effect until you've played 5 innings. Last year that would probably been 10-1 or 11-1 by that time and then the run rule would've come into effect. Then Sunday we played hard but they were just too much for us defeating us 9-4 probably similar to what would've happened last year. What I'm getting at is that we are a better team than last year but still 0-3 on the weekend.

Are we underachieving compared to our talent? All I ever hear is how good of a hire Steudamann was, but it seems like she still loses a lot of games people think we should win.

I admittedly don't follow softball too much, so I am just curious to your overall thoughts on the job she's doing. How long has she been here now, and where were we when she took over? Is the SEC a beast in Softball like it is in other sports? Tough climb up the ladder in other words?

Vann was a great hire. Her specialty is pitching and you can see it in the young talent she's brought in. Our freshman pitchers are way ahead IMO of where our freshman (now sophomore) pitchers were this time of year last season. And then look no further than one of those: Holly Ward (SO) has made strides since her "rookie" season and is now threatening to take the top honors from Silkwood. The arms are coming, Vann will get us there on that. And there's probably a difference between games we should win at this point and games we want to be in a position to say we should win! I don't particularly think we are underachieving. I would say the disappointment lies in that we certainly don't seem to be overachieving. We're just kind of where we are...and that means we aren't there yet. And I'm impatient!

And yes, the SEC is a beast....a big, hairy bigfoot on the rag. Definitely a tough climb up the ladder. Goonie Goo Goo.