CSNbbs

(05-14-2018 01:45 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote: [ -> ]Wonder what the UREC lower turf fence distance was. I sent that thing over the fence in the deepest part of center field. My only JMU career HR. What a day to be alive.

hahahahaha

(05-14-2018 01:45 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote: [ -> ]Wonder what the UREC lower turf fence distance was. I sent that thing over the fence in the deepest part of center field. My only JMU career HR. What a day to be alive.

You were juicing back then though, yes?

(05-14-2018 02:53 PM)Wear Purple Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-14-2018 01:45 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote: [ -> ]Wonder what the UREC lower turf fence distance was. I sent that thing over the fence in the deepest part of center field. My only JMU career HR. What a day to be alive.

You were juicing back then though, yes?

JOOSEing seems way more likely

(05-14-2018 01:45 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote: [ -> ]Wonder what the UREC lower turf fence distance was. I sent that thing over the fence in the deepest part of center field. My only JMU career HR. What a day to be alive.

Easily the proudest moment of my life was after I played a game there and had like 5 HRs. Later that week/weekend we were walking into some apartment complex with a bunch of hotties from our dorm and I was kind of just tagging along. Some dude from the other team we had played was getting out of his car and saw me and just goes off "YO THIS REDHEADED DUDE DROPS BOMBS! MY MAN WENT 5/5 WITH 5 HRS THE OTHER NIGHT HE'S A ******* BEAST" and all the sudden all the girls were talking to me. To whoever that dude is out there, I love you.

(05-14-2018 12:14 PM)ShadyP Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-14-2018 12:03 PM)Longhorn Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-14-2018 11:59 AM)olddawg Wrote: [ -> ]Does our stadium have different dimensions?

I dont believe there is a significant difference, if there is a difference at all.

The JMU information states the softball field at VMP has dimensions of 200-210-200.

Does not give power-alley dimensions but they are probably @205 at VMP where they will be @215 at Tenn.

At 10ft difference may not seem like much but can be when hitting a softball. Not to mention balls seems to fly out in Harrisonburg for both teams typically. Bombs are still bombs but those that are not getting out by much will stay in the ballpark at Tenn.

So, TN is 200-220-200, and JMU is 200-210-200? And you think because TN's dead-center is 220 the alleys would be 215? Maybe, but I don't think so.

Both TN and JMU's fields have bowed fences in the outfield, and you'd have to know the arc to determine the depth in the alleys. That said, my guess is that the difference in depth to dead-center alleys at TN is no more than 5 feet compared to JMU. A difference, but hardly a big deal.

(05-14-2018 04:26 PM)Longhorn Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-14-2018 12:14 PM)ShadyP Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-14-2018 12:03 PM)Longhorn Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-14-2018 11:59 AM)olddawg Wrote: [ -> ]Does our stadium have different dimensions?

I dont believe there is a significant difference, if there is a difference at all.

The JMU information states the softball field at VMP has dimensions of 200-210-200.

Does not give power-alley dimensions but they are probably @205 at VMP where they will be @215 at Tenn.

At 10ft difference may not seem like much but can be when hitting a softball. Not to mention balls seems to fly out in Harrisonburg for both teams typically. Bombs are still bombs but those that are not getting out by much will stay in the ballpark at Tenn.

So, TN is 200-220-200, and JMU is 200-210-200? And you think because TN's dead-center is 220 the alleys would be 215? Maybe, but I don't think so.

Both TN and JMU's fields have bowed fences in the outfield, and you'd have to know the arc to determine the depth in the alleys. That said, my guess is that the difference in depth to dead-center alleys at TN is no more than 5 feet compared to JMU. A difference, but hardly a big deal.

Well as someone else pointed out, the Baylor field that JMU played at for the regional last year has the exact same dimensions listed online as the Tenn field.......and guess what it seemed like a pretty big deal (NOT INSIGNIFICANT) based on the numerous folks that said there were about 5 balls JMU hit that were either outs at Baylor or off the fence instead of dingers.

Seems like a pretty big deal to me based on the facts available comments from last season.....but once against LH is the expert and fence distance is completely irrelevant to balls leaving the yard.

But when you hit dingers like LH no yard can hold him, so any dimensions/fence is insignificant to that guy as he slips this elbow-patched blazer back on after rounding the bases.

Nobody has any intel on that Architect's website posted earlier that has our softball stadium expansion in their portfolio?
http://pricesimpsonharvey.com/projects/h...education/

Looks very nice. Is this going to be a real project?

Brian

Agree, looks outstanding. Is this something that is off in the distance? I went to my first JMU softball game ever, last week, I would have guessed our facility to be second to no one. I understand some of the NCAA regionals are played there and it can be a crowd, but are we in need of this expansion at this time?

There are a lot of factors that contribute to hitting HRs, the field you play on is a big part of it. So are the pitchers you face, even factors like does the wind blow in or out (the team I coach right now has a steady wind directly in a hitters face all the time, and there have been zero HRs hit at our complex this year despite dozens of ABs from D1, D2 and D3 hitters - and it's only 205).

But the stats are borne out over the course of a season, and right now we lead the NCAA at 1.52 HRs per game. Tennessee is 64th, Baylor is 118th. Tennessee and Baylor play a lot more home games than we do, but I guarantee the pitching in the SEC is consistently better than the BIG12. The stats say Tennessee is more friendly to power hitters than Baylor, though neither is as friendly as Harrisonburg.

http://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/change_sport_year_div

By the way, if you look at the stats prior to 3/16 (our first home game) we were 63rd in HRs. Basically, once we started playing home games our HR numbers skyrocketed to tops in the NCAA D1 category. It's why we were able to advance from the Regional and face LSU, and it's also why we didn't get out of Baylor last year. Those P5 teams, who play the overwhelming majority of their games at home, build their teams around their facilities. So do we, but it's so much harder for us to take advantage of it in the playoffs. I complained last year that we didn't have the team speed needed to compete at Baylor, and we were getting chewed up by their slappers. But being a slapper is a lot less useful in the CAA, especially at our field. Longwood is currently experiencing the same problem, and is either going to bring their fences in or change their recruiting philosophy.

(05-15-2018 06:43 AM)JMUSteeler Wrote: [ -> ]There are a lot of factors that contribute to hitting HRs, the field you play on is a big part of it. So are the pitchers you face, even factors like does the wind blow in or out (the team I coach right now has a steady wind directly in a hitters face all the time, and there have been zero HRs hit at our complex this year despite dozens of ABs from D1, D2 and D3 hitters - and it's only 205).

But the stats are borne out over the course of a season, and right now we lead the NCAA at 1.52 HRs per game. Tennessee is 64th, Baylor is 118th. Tennessee and Baylor play a lot more home games than we do, but I guarantee the pitching in the SEC is consistently better than the BIG12. The stats say Tennessee is more friendly to power hitters than Baylor, though neither is as friendly as Harrisonburg.

http://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/change_sport_year_div

I agree, how the ball travels in a particular park be it baseball or softball is a big deal. The ball does travel very well in Harrisonburg for both. Just think about the old Rosenblat Stadium in Omaha, balls flew out of the place as the wind was always blowing out (yes a lot of that was with old bats)......but the new park in Omaha for the CWS always has the wind blowing in and they have moved the fences in at least once.

A little reconnaissance on Ohio...

-Sr. Pitcher Danielle Steine is 33rd in the nation in ERA at 1.51...she is also 27th in the nation in strikeouts per 7 innings at 8.5

-Fr. Pitcher Madi McCrady is 38th in the nation in strikeouts per 7 innings at 8.1

-In the Dukes' 8-0 (6 inn) win over Ohio in H'burg back in March, the Bobcats started Desirae Villanueva, who went the entire 5.1 innings before the Dukes put it away in the bottom of the 6th...it was only 1 of 4 starts on the season and 5.1 of her total 18.1 innings pitched on the season

-In the Dukes' 9-7 extra inning loss (9 inn) the following day, Ohio started McCrady and the Dukes chased her in the 3rd inning with 4 earned runs...Steine entered in the 5th with 1 out and then went on to pitch 4.2 innings giving up 1 hit, 0 runs, striking out 7 and walking just 1. Pretty sure we'll see her Friday in the opener.

-Steine is 27-6 with 30 starts and 38 appearances

Softball stadium expansion has been on the JMU 'to-do' calendar for a while. Looks like it's awaiting approval. Hopefully a road NCAA tournament didn't close that door. I assumed they would build outfield seating but it looks like they've gone in favor of infield seating. Looks nice!

(05-15-2018 11:13 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote: [ -> ]Softball stadium expansion has been on the JMU 'to-do' calendar for a while. Looks like it's awaiting approval. Hopefully a road NCAA tournament didn't close that door. I assumed they would build outfield seating but it looks like they've gone in favor of infield seating. Looks nice!

Thanks

Well as far as expansion goes, I am glad they are considering the more desirable infield seats. The outfield seating was a great solution for an immediate problem (plus it looked awesome on TV). But I bet there weren't many people watching who realized that those seats were necessary due to only having 625 permanent seats. Go Dukes!

(05-15-2018 06:43 AM)JMUSteeler Wrote: [ -> ]There are a lot of factors that contribute to hitting HRs, the field you play on is a big part of it. So are the pitchers you face, even factors like does the wind blow in or out (the team I coach right now has a steady wind directly in a hitters face all the time, and there have been zero HRs hit at our complex this year despite dozens of ABs from D1, D2 and D3 hitters - and it's only 205).

But the stats are borne out over the course of a season, and right now we lead the NCAA at 1.52 HRs per game. Tennessee is 64th, Baylor is 118th. Tennessee and Baylor play a lot more home games than we do, but I guarantee the pitching in the SEC is consistently better than the BIG12. The stats say Tennessee is more friendly to power hitters than Baylor, though neither is as friendly as Harrisonburg.

http://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/change_sport_year_div

By the way, if you look at the stats prior to 3/16 (our first home game) we were 63rd in HRs. Basically, once we started playing home games our HR numbers skyrocketed to tops in the NCAA D1 category. It's why we were able to advance from the Regional and face LSU, and it's also why we didn't get out of Baylor last year. Those P5 teams, who play the overwhelming majority of their games at home, build their teams around their facilities. So do we, but it's so much harder for us to take advantage of it in the playoffs. I complained last year that we didn't have the team speed needed to compete at Baylor, and we were getting chewed up by their slappers. But being a slapper is a lot less useful in the CAA, especially at our field. Longwood is currently experiencing the same problem, and is either going to bring their fences in or change their recruiting philosophy.

Another reason, perhaps small, that our HR total went up was when (1 HR between them) Arnold, Sullivan and File went down to injuries, there was significant roster reshuffling with Cutright and Mrozek becoming regular players. The small ball skill that Arnold had was replaced with power players. I would add emphasis to the previously mentioned wind factor which seemed to blow out at virtually every game that I attended. Most of the Homers I saw were crushed and another 10 feet of fence distance would not have mattered.

Weather not looking good for Friday late afternoon and evening in Knoxville. Don't be surprised if there are delays and potential moving back a lot of the schedule... https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us...alwx_10day

http://www.richmond.com/sports/college/s...b6599.html

Starting 8 underclassmen against Ohio, the cupboard is not bare.

(05-17-2018 07:21 PM)Wear Purple Wrote: [ -> ]Weather not looking good for Friday late afternoon and evening in Knoxville. Don't be surprised if there are delays and potential moving back a lot of the schedule... https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us...alwx_10day

With sketchy weather glad we have a 3pm/early game. We stand a much better chance getting in the early game.......the late game would be awful waiting around for.

Rain delay in Knoxville.