The Hokies will take on BYU in the Tempe Regional on Thursday at 7:30 pm. VT was one of the 20 finalists for a regional host site, but they did not make the cut. Arizona St, BYU, and Southern Illinois are the other teams in the Tempe Regional. NCAA Regionals are double elimination.
.@HokiesSoftball is heading to NCAAs 🙌They'll take on BYU in Tempe, Arizona this Thursday pic.twitter.com/34mmUr2HAN— HokieSports (@hokiesports) May 17, 2021
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LET'S GO.....
HOKIES!!
These regional sites seem really skewed towards the PAC and SEC.
You mean...like every other ncaa sport?
Those teams probably have the ability to place more competitive bids for hosting. It's a money thing.
This year was weird because of Covid. Normally the sites are selected based on performance, facilities, financial ability to host the tournament, etc. and they are announced during the selection show. However this year, 20 predetermined sites were selected so that covid protocols could be worked out. During the selection show last night the final 16 sites were announced. My guess is that because the SEC and PAC-12 have been so dominant in softball for a long time (really since the beginning of the sport), they had the best facilities and financial ability to host. Teams had to put in a bid and with finances stretched thin because of Covid, it probably made sense for teams with a shot at the tourney to bid.
In summary, yes there are way to many SEC and PAC-12 sites, but it's not that abnormal from a normal year. Covid probability exacerbated it a bit. I was pissed when VT didn't get the nod. I was planning to go to Blacksburg.
Tech also didn't get a great regional to travel to either. Especially for a team inside the top 25.
Thanks for the in depth explanation.
LETS GO GET IT GIRLS
I hope it doesn't rain.
Hokies starting off in a bit of a hole. 1-0. The 1st batter for BYU got a home run. The next batter was hit by a pitch. Hopefully they can calm down a but.
Farthest to travel, earliest game, makes total sense. This is going to be rough first few innings.
Hokies answer in the 2nd with a home run. 1-1!
VT up 4-1 bottom of the 3rd
Good showing so far.
For all the bad calls that gets called against us. I glad one went our way 😂 5-1 in the 6th
The 5th run was probably wrong. She totally tagged her shirt! But like you said, I'll take it!
Hokies win 5-2! They play the winner of Arizona State/Southern Illinois tomorrow at 4:00 pm
Hokies vs Sun Devils 4pm
Northern Illinois go absolutely hosed in the first inning of the game last night and in the end that was the difference.
What happened?
In the bottom of the 1st the Southern Illinois pitcher had nowhere to put the ball. She walked 5 batters with the ball coming across the plate belt high. The head coach got tossed because she was so upset. Another coach almost got tossed. The pitcher was asking the umpire, "where am I supposed to put the ball?"
Edit: The only place she could put it was in the 5 hole (pecker high fast ball, right down the pipe) and when she did the ASU batters (who sat on everything but that pitch) teed off on her. She's a very good pitcher BTW.
It was likely the worst job behind the plate I've ever seen.
I had no idea Angel Hernandez worked NCAA softball as well.
Man, was that joking/hyperbole or did she actually ask the umpire the question? Writing it in quotes made me wonder if it was something that was actually caught on tape. Either way, does sound like it was bad. And I'm guessing it probably was not called the same way for the other pitcher.
Not hyperbole... the catcher, the pitcher, and the coaches were all asking the same questions.
Thank you for the feedback. Sounds like the ump was truly awful, or massively biased. I'll have to see if I can find something on YouTube or whatnot. Would like to see it.
Reminds me of the guy who ran the intramural programs in grad school. At least I think he ran them. He liked to say how when you would get professors on some of the teams and their team was losing, you would just see the strike zone shrink down to the size of a pencil when the profs team was up. Didn't play much softball, but I can totally believe him (and you).
The announcers on today's game are talking about it; along with the inconsistencies in the zone today.
So everything was called a ball? Strike box was a mythical 6" square for that ump?
Yes.
Hokies starting strong! So far it's 3-0 top of the 1st
Long way to go, but great start for the Lady Hokies!
4-0!!!
ASU with a solo shot 4-1 going to the 3rd
Where can I watch?
Never mind - its on ESPN2
HOME RUN HOKIES! 6-1😎
Solo shot ASU. 6-2
Another HR by the Hokies makes it 7-2. Bottom of the 6th
Knew it was gone off the bat👊👊👊
Yes! Great contact
Grace Chavez with a rbi single 8-2 hokies🤘
Grace Chavez with a rbi single 8-2 hokies🤘
3 more outs and the hokies takes the driver seat in the regional👀
DAAA HOKIES WIN 8-2. Hokies advance to the regional finals tomorrow
So if ASU wins elimination game they have to beat the Hokies twice right?
I'm pretty sure. Notre Shame is the only team to beat the Hokies in consecutive games this season.
Correct fireman dude👍
We need to expand the tradition beyond basketball.
Host ASU has been ELIMINATED. It's hokies vs BYU today at 6 pm EST. Hokies has the advantage as byu has to beat them twice to advance too the super regionals
I fell asleep when ASU had taken the lead, assumed they would win.
BYU is a pretty good squad, but I like our chances to win one of two here.
Having two games to win the regional is huge here.
As much as I hate seeing Alabama win, I don't think I want Clemson winning this game today.
Tempe regional championship will now be on ACCN at 6pm now.
Hokies up 2-0. Bottom of the 1st. The BYU coach just got tossed because he didn't agree with a play at the plate. The player was tagged, but obstruction was called and the run scored.
It was the right call. He was being an a$$ and deserved to get tossed.
Pick your battles.
100%! He was very aggressive. And i think it was the right call, there was no path to the plate.
Boom! Solo HR 4-0 Hokies in the 3rd!
Boom indeed
Bats singing today and Rochard is on fire. Let's run rule these fighting Mormons!
Another one! 6-0 Hokies! Bottom of the 3rd
Home run derby up in here
And another! RBI single to put the Hokies up 7-0 in the 3rd. BYU changed pitchers this inning, too.
Hokies up 7-0. 2nd BYU pitching change of the 3rd inning!
The bats keep ringing! 8-0 in the 4th!
I don't follow softball at all, but this is fun to watch.
Those of us that live out here are going to be looking for weeks for all the bodies the Lady Hokies are burying in the desert
BTW, side note: How did we miss out on Valarie Cagle (from Yorktown). Girl is an absolute BEAST.
She was a Clemson commit way before The new staff came here
Also there was quote somewhere saying that she wanted to help build a program up from the ground so Clemson was a perfect choice for her
We are looking at a possible run rule (slaughter rule) scenario!
New TKP CG?
Yup! I totally almost jinxed that
3 run shot by the Cougs. 8-3 in the 5th with 2 outs.
Rochard does appear to be laboring just a bit.
Two run shot! Got 2 back. 10-3
Absolute bomb to bring in the runner following a triple!
One more dinger! Ball game!!! Super regional!!!
Super Regional FAM 🦃🥎
WALK OFF RUN RULE
Hokies Win
Just sucks they have to travel back out to the West Coast and take on UCLA for the super regional. They are going to need to be on top of their game. I wonder if Whitney can get them a place to stay and practice on the West Coast instead of back to Blacksburg and then turn around and fly to LA.
Hokies leaving the Arizona desert like Tony Stark
boom
Amazing weekend for be Hokies! The only downside is that we'll likely play UCLA in the Super Regional. It'll be a best of 3 series in LA. They are ranked 2nd, but Fresno state gave them a scare today.
Shoutout for starting this thread and your analysis! 🙏
You're very welcome!
Gotta play a team of that caliber at some point.
Might as well be now with the team firing on all cylinders.
I think we match up well with UCLA. Should be a good series!
Jmecca you see Tennessee got eliminated from their own regional?
I did! I'm happy for JMU, but pissed that Liberty is still in it. Go Dukes!
So the only way to get on ESPN (one of the actual cable versions of ESPN) is to play against an SEC squad.
We were on ESPN2 on Friday?
True, but we were on ESPN 3 on Thursday when there was only one other softball game on that day. The Tempe regional started a day early to accommodate BYU who cannot play on Sundays.
Right, but I'm not sure why we would expect to have every game on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU, when there's 16 regionals going on at the same time, with other programming ESPN has (like the NBA playoffs on Saturday), when our regional had the #15 overall seed. Are SEC teams on those channels more? Sure, but they also had something like 12 teams selected, and a ton of top 25 teams. It's not like some massive conspiracy. They have more teams that are good, with fans that tend to follow those teams more, so they're going to be on the premier channels more. It's just like with baseball and football.