By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
In the words of a Big 12 administrator, a perfect storm created the opportunity to wipe out the Big 12 Softball Championship.
The 2010 event, which will take place Friday through Sunday at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, will be the last of its kind. Ironically, it’s the oldest postseason tournament in the young conference’s history. In 1996, before the Big 12 started competition, 10 teams from the Big Eight and Southwest conferences played a league schedule and staged a postseason tournament.
The decision to do away with the Big 12 Softball Championship evolved because of a number of factors.
May is finals month for most Big 12 schools and faculty athletic representatives were concerned about the tournament conflicting with final exams.
Because of those two points, the Big 12 Softball Championship was reduced from double-elimination to single-elimination in 2007. Staging a single-elimination event, where some teams traveled to play just one game, became anti-climatic.
“Single elimination just diminished and reduced the whole atmosphere of the tournament,” Oklahoma State coach Rich Wieligman said. “When it was double elimination and we had the banquet, it was more of an event. The tournament was more of a formality.”
With the move to single-elimination, the annual end-of-season banquet where individual awards were announced, was also truncated.
“The bottom line was the championship was just losing some luster,” said Big 12 senior associate commissioner Dru Hancock, who made the perfect storm reference. “When the coaches were considering the vote to do away with the championship, we had to make it very clear – once it goes away, it’s not coming back.”
By eliminating the conference tournament, the conference schedule had “room to breathe.” Starting next season, midweek Big 12 games will be reduced from three to one which reduces missed class time. The new schedule also gives teams another home weekend series which is beneficial, especially to the north teams that don't play much at home in the early part of the season.
The winner of the Big 12 Championship earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The automatic bid will now go to the regular-season champion.
“The regular season will be the only chance to win the Big 12 championship,” Wieligman said. “To me, the regular season is a true test because everybody plays everybody.”
Facts and figures
* Texas won the regular season with a 14-2 record, one game ahead of 13-3 Oklahoma. However, the Sooners-Longhorns two-game series the weekend of April 17-18 was rained out and couldn't be rescheduled.
* Texas won its fourth regular-season title. The Longhorns also have won four Big 12 Championships.
* Texas will attempt to become the seventh team to win both the regular season and postseason titles. Missouri (1997), Nebraska (1998 and 2004)), Texas (2002 and 2003) and Texas A&M (2008) are the others.
* Nebraska has played in the championship game seven times, more than any other team. The Huskers have won the title three times.
* Five Big 12 teams won 40 or more games while Texas Tech enters the Big 12 Championship with 35 victories.
* In the NCAA's latest RPI, six Big 12 teams are ranked in the top 45 - Texas (8), Missouri (10), Oklahoma (11), Oklahoma State (16), Texas A&M (17) and Texas Tech (45).
* In this week's ESPN/USA Softball top 25, Oklahoma is No. 8, Texas is 12, Missouri is 14, Oklahoma State is 15 and Texas A&M is 19. Only the Pacific-10 Conference, with six, has more teams ranked than the Big 12.
Team by team updates (overall won-loss, Big 12 won-loss records in parentheses):
Baylor (27-24, 6-12)
The Lady Bears, who have lost five of their last six, were bit by the injury bug. Sophomore pitcher Whitney Canion has missed the season with a stress fracture in her pitching arm while junior infielder Meagan Weldon has been sidelined with a back injury. Senior outfielder Tiffany Welsey is limited to pinch running after breaking a finger. Seven of Baylor's losses have been in one-run games.
Iowa State (26-28, 4-14)
The Cyclones, who have won their Big 12 Championship opener each of the last two years, set a school record for runs scored with 217. Iowa State's offense is led by senior Alex Johnson, who is hitting .261 with eight homers and 33 RBI. Sophomore outfielder Heidi Kidwell has had a solid season, hitting .333. Junior pitcher Rachel Zabriskie has Cyclones single-season record 255 strikeouts and is the first hurler in Iowa State history with 200 or more Ks in two seasons. Iowa State has lost nine of its last 11.
Kansas (21-34, 2-16)
Freshman outfielder Rosie Hull is hitting .359, one of the best batting averages in school history. Freshman infielder Mariah Montgomery has been a consistent run producer who is hitting .395 over the last 14 games. For the season, Montgomery is hitting .300 with five homers and 24 RBI. Pitching has been a problem for the Jayhawks. Opposing hitters have a .302 batting average and KU's ERA is 4.34.
Missouri (44-10, 11-7)
The Tigers haven't let the loss of sophomore pitching ace Chelsea Thomas ruin their season. She was sidelined by a stress fracture in her pitching wrist in mid-March. Leadoff hitter Rhea Taylor is the fire starter for the Tigers. She leads the Big 12 in average (.460), hits (64), triples (5) and stolen bases (33). Missouri has won 17 of its last 19 games and has scored 88 runs in its last 11 games.
Nebraska (29-26, 7-11)
The Huskers hope to make some noise in OKC and hopefully grab an NCAA at-large berth. Sophomore Ashley Guile leads Nebraska with a .386 batting average in addition to a .516 on-base percentage. Nebraska's pitchers have struggled. The Huskers have a 3.31 ERA. The starting duties have been shared by junior Robin Mackin and sophomore Ashley Hagemann. Nebraska is 2-6 in one-run games.
Oklahoma (40-10, 13-3)
The Sooners head into the Big 12 Championship having won 14 of their last 16 games. Oklahoma leads the Big 12 and is fifth nationally in ERA (1.53). Freshman pitcher Keilani Ricketts has 22 complete games and 10 shutouts while averaging nine strikeouts per game. Senior second baseman Amber Flores leads the Big 12 in runs scored. She is hitting .378 with 12 home runs and 30 RBI.
Oklahoma State (43-13, 12-6)
The Cowgirls followed up a 17-game winning streak by losing six of their last nine games and dropping to third place in the regular-season standings. Oklahoma State is hitting .280 as a team; its batting average has dropped about 20 points over the last month. Freshman pitcher Kat Espinosa has been outstanding, compiling a 19-5 record with a 1.53 ERA. Senior pitcher Anna Whiddon is 21-7 and has six saves. Sophomore Julie Ward leads the Cowgirls with 52 RBI.
Texas (41-11, 14-2)
The Longhorns slugged and pitched their way to the regular-season title. Texas leads the Big 12 in batting average (.322), slugging percentage (.561), hits (414) and home runs (78). In the circle, freshman Blaire Luna has been outstanding. Her 27 victories and 342 strikeouts are tops in the conference. She is one of 10 finalists for Amateur Softball Association of America's USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. The Longhorns had won 17 of 19 games before dropping two non-conference games to ninth-ranked Georgia by the combined score of 20-5.
Texas A&M (41-13, 12-6)
The Aggies have won six consecutive games and are fresh off a sweep at Oklahoma State. A&M has won nine of its last 11 games including going 8-2 in Big 12 games. Freshman catcher Meagan May has had an outstanding year behind and at the plate. She leads the Big 12 in slugging percentage (.951), on-base percentage (.564), home runs (21), RBI (59) and walks (47). The Aggies lead the Big 12 in doubles and are second in scoring.
Texas Tech (35-15, 7-11)
The Lady Raiders closed the regular season by losing at home to Texas once and Texas A&M twice by the combined score of 25-12. Texas Tech is hoping for a good showing in the Big 12 Championship to enhance its NCAA tournament resume. Sophomore infielder Emily Bledsoe leads the Lady Raiders with a .363 average; she also has nine homers and 39 RBI. Freshman outfielder Mikey Kenney is hitting .326 with 15 homers and 40 RBI. Senior Ashly Jacobs (13-8, 1.91 ERA) and freshman Karli Merlich (11-2, 2.70 ERA) have been sharing time in the circle.
