Edit: Wow, did I botch this one up...some more links & info included now. - SoS
Pac-12 Conference Softball Weekly Release - If you really want to get caught up with where the conference is, this should do the trick. Here is the article from pac-12.org, with a nice little nugget on how well Inglesby did at the dish during the Judi Garman Classic: .692 with four runs, nine hits, three doubles, one home run and nine RBI.
A 360 Panorama of the Husky Softball Stadium taken before the demolition....click to relieve some memories.
Some of the best college baseball and softball teams in the country with be displaying their talents right here in Seattle this spring, so I hope you don't have too many weekends filled up. Summer is coming, save all that camping and stuff for the sun. Just you or the whole family can enjoy the spring watching great stickball while supporting them at the same time. To eliminate all excuses for absence, I will rundown the home series' left for each team, Ladies first.
The Lady Dawgs are in the hunt for the National Championship again in 2012, finishing the OOC schedule 29-1 and ranked No. 3 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll. Change that one loss into a win and the Lady Dawgs are No. 1; Cal is #2 atm, and will host the Ladies in two weeks time, giving them a chance to jump into the top spot.
Just beyond the half way point of the 54 game schedule is where the real season begins. The easy wins are over, it's time to focus on the Pac-12 slate: 24 games, 12 each at home and away, 7 schools ranked in the top 25 with OSU receiving (19) votes, Utah is the only school not receiving votes or ranked. Talk about a gauntlet; battle-tested going into the postseason will be an understatement.
College Baseball & Softball can be summarized in 2012 as heavy weight bouts between the Pac-12 - Softball No. 1 - and the SEC - Baseball No. 1. Both dominate their respective top 25 polls by combining to make up at least half of each. Baseball went 12-3 against the SEC and we know the Ladies defeated Georgia and (No. 1 at the time) Florida. Bout time; I've been waiting a few years for a spring like this to happen again.
#3 Washington vs. Utah: March 23rd - 6:00 PM, 24th - 4:00 PM, 25th - 12:00 PM
The Lady Dawgs are hosting Utah for a three game series March 23-25. Essentially a pre-Cal tuneup session, this series looks to be a good chance to do a little scouting - my 13 y.o. wants to improve - while still being able to hopefully see more innings from those buried on the depth chart.
Utah is 21-7 with the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year in pitcher Generra Nielson and two hitters batting over .400, Utah has the talent to break through the bubble into the top 25, question is whether they can do it against the Pac.
It seems unlikely this will be anything but a long spring as Utah spends its first season as a member of the Pac-12, but as league play looms, it's also true that no pitcher in the conference has more strikeouts than Utah's Generra Nielson. And it's not even close. The senior has thrown the second-most innings of any Pac-12 pitcher, trailing only Teagan Gerhart (it's rumored she gets her mail delivered to the circle), but Nielson is dominating hitters with 171 strikeouts and just 23 walks in her 111.2 innings. The former JC All-American struck out 7.7 batters per seven innings last season, her first with the Utes after two seasons at the College of Southern Idaho. This season it's 10.7 batters per seven innings. - Graham Hays, ESPN.com 3/14/'12
If that doesn't fire up Kaitlin Inglesby after a week in which she earned Pac-12 and ESPN Softball Collegiate Player of the Week Honors - her first - I don't know what will. Game one will determine whether the Ladies sweep..
Pick: Inglesby + our team is far and away more talented than Nielson + Utah...Washington sweeps 3-0
vs. #13 Arizona: April 5th - 6:00 PM, 6th - 6:00 PM, 7th - 12:00 PM
vs. #16 UCLA: April 13th - 6:00 PM, 14th - 4:00 PM, 15th - 12:00 PM
vs. #6 Arizona State: April 27th - 6:00 PM, 28th - 4:00 PM, 29th - 12:00 PM
Mark your calendars for now, I will post previews each week for both Baseball & Softball now. I haven't had enough time to scout Utah, or else I would have more. In the future the breakdown will be more thorough.
Go Dawgs!