[d4cohn]

I blinked and we lost 13 straight conference games.

What happened?

We aren't that good, play in a brutal conference and Allister is not a miracle worker.  Plus injuries.  I think people got a bit ahead of themselves after what was probably a fluke win and a decent record against a pretty bad non-conference schedule.  I wouldn't draw too many conclusions one way or another about the direction of the program; it was always going to be a tough job to resurrect.  And still, we have two more conference wins than last year (with three to play). 

BC

I would compare the pitching stats during the Hanson era, to the first year this year under Allister. In my eyes, Coach Allister and Nyberg are miracle workers. As Bob said, our best offensive and defensive player (and most valuable player overall) only has 1 at-bat in all of Pac-12 play due to injury. Our freshman ace has been banged up for most of Pac-12 play. Our second top pitcher (a sophomore) was lost early in Pac-12 play for the year. Our starting CF has also been banged up for most of Pac-12 play, and the player that has to start in her place is hitting around .115. And we still have lost a lot of close games, including 2 one-run games this weekend. We have been pretty unlucky to not pick up a few more wins in conference. Sure, even winning a couple of more close games was not going to be enough to make the NCAA tournament, but this team is much improved from last year. And respectfully, our current senior and junior classes' development was really hampered by the previous staff.

Our incoming freshman year features multiple high school All-Americans, and is the No. 3 best class in the Pac-12 (behind UCLA and Oregon). Coupled with our strong rising junior class, we are still going to be thin in the infield next year (particularly if Whitney Burks does not return for her fifth year). As long as we schedule strategically in the non-conference, I think we should be at least in contention for an NCAA tournament berth.

[d4cohn]

I blinked and we lost 13 straight conference games.

What happened?

We aren't that good, play in a brutal conference and Allister is not a miracle worker.  Plus injuries.  I think people got a bit ahead of themselves after what was probably a fluke win and a decent record against a pretty bad non-conference schedule.  I wouldn't draw too many conclusions one way or another about the direction of the program; it was always going to be a tough job to resurrect.  And still, we have two more conference wins than last year (with three to play). 

BC

I would compare the pitching stats during the Hanson era, to the first year this year under Allister. In my eyes, Coach Allister and Nyberg are miracle workers. As Bob said, our best offensive and defensive player (and most valuable player overall) only has 1 at-bat in all of Pac-12 play due to injury. Our freshman ace has been banged up for most of Pac-12 play. Our second top pitcher (a sophomore) was lost early in Pac-12 play for the year. Our starting CF has also been banged up for most of Pac-12 play, and the player that has to start in her place is hitting around .115. And we still have lost a lot of close games, including 2 one-run games this weekend. We have been pretty unlucky to not pick up a few more wins in conference. Sure, even winning a couple of more close games was not going to be enough to make the NCAA tournament, but this team is much improved from last year. And respectfully, our current senior and junior classes' development was really hampered by the previous staff.

Our incoming freshman year features multiple high school All-Americans, and is the No. 3 best class in the Pac-12 (behind UCLA and Oregon). Coupled with our strong rising junior class, we are still going to be thin in the infield next year (particularly if Whitney Burks does not return for her fifth year). As long as we schedule strategically in the non-conference, I think we should be at least in contention for an NCAA tournament berth.