Alan’s Softball Blog: Interview on Iowa Radio Show

I had the pleasure Tuesday morning of chatting with radio host Derek Martin of Iowa radio station KMA about the upcoming NCAA women’s softball tournament. A recording of my segment, running about 10 minutes, is available at this +ADw-a href+AD0AIg-http://www.kmaland.com/kma+AF8-programs/upon+AF8-further+AF8-review/upon-further-review-podcast-no-bob-fornelli-alan-reifman-trevor/article+AF8-4d00915a-3a67-11e7-80fa-1315ac16a7cb.html+ACIAPg-link+ADw-/a+AD4.+ADw-br /+AD4APA-br /+AD4-The big topic in the interview, as indeed it is among college-softball observers nationwide, was the NCAA’s exclusion of Minnesota among the 16 nationally seeded teams, forcing the Gophers to face a daunting road to the Women’s College World Series. As I alluded to in the interview, not long after the NCAA’s snub, the Gophers were announced as the +ADw-a href+AD0AIg-http://www.thedailygopher.com/2017/5/16/15646846/minnesota-softball-ncaa-coachs-poll-gophers-ranked-number-one+ACIAPg-No. 1 team in the nation+ADw-/a+AD4 in the weekly NFCA/+ADw-i+AD4-USA Today+ADw-/i+AD4 poll. Criticism of the NCAA’s seedings +ADw-a href+AD0AIg-https://inthecircleblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/minnesota-not-hosting-is-a-black-eye-for-softball/+ACIAPg-continues to roll in+ADw-/a+AD4.+ADw-br /+AD4APA-br /+AD4-Toward the end of the interview, Derek pointed out that Minnesota +ADw-a href+AD0AIg-http://www.twincities.com/2017/03/30/gophers-softball-freshman-kendyl-lindaman-stars-at-the-plate-and-behind-it/+ACIAPg-frosh catcher Kendyl Lindaman+ADw-/a+AD4 is from Ankeny, Iowa and he told some interesting stories about her power-hitting prowess in high school. Now, at the NCAA level, Lindaman has a +ADw-a href+AD0AIg-http://www.ncaa.com/stats/softball/d1/current/individual/343+ACIAPg-slugging percentage of .942+ADw-/a+AD4, third-highest in the nation.+ADw-br /+AD4APA-br /+AD4-Other players we discussed were Florida pitchers Kelly Barnhill and Delanie Gourley, both of whom have +ADw-a href+AD0AIg-http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/softball/d1/2017+ACIAPg-Earned Run Averages below 1.00+ADw-/a+AD4AOw Arizona’s Katiyana Mauga, who has +ADw-a href+AD0AIg-http://pac-12.com/article/2017/04/29/sunday-night-softball-preview-no-23-arizona-state-vs-no-3-arizona+ACIAPg-89 career homers+ADw-/a+AD4 and needs six more to tie the NCAA record of 95 by former Oklahoma Sooner Lauren Chamberlain+ADs and Lindaman’s battery-mate at Minnesota, Sara Groenewegen, who sports a 0.59 ERA.+ADw-br /+AD4APA-br /+AD4-It turns out that — going from memory — I misspoke slightly about two of the regional lineups during the interview. I said that a Florida regional contained teams exclusively from the Sunshine State, but that regional actually contains only three Florida teams (UF, Florida A+ACY-amp+ADs-M, and Florida International, plus Oklahoma State). It is actually a regional in Texas that is entirely intrastate (UT-Austin, Texas A+ACY-amp+ADs-M, Texas State, and Texas Southern). Also, in describing the Oregon regional, which brings in three teams from the Midwest, I listed DePaul as one of the teams, when it is really Illinois-Chicago. The brackets are available +ADw-a href+AD0AIg-http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/softball/d1/2017+ACIAPg-here+ADw-/a+AD4.