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Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by Coach on May 5, 2026, 10:46 am

Ohio State has a .500 record overall and is third in the nation in a historic year with 153 HRs. Everything matters in DI. You have to have a few on base, and pitching has to hold up. On the other hand, 153 is a ton.

Re: Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by Elevate and Celebrate on May 6, 2026, 11:40 pm, in reply to "Home Runs aren't Everything"

Kirin Kumar is a phenomenal hitting coach. The year before she took over Ohio State hit 65 home runs and had a team BA of .299 and a team OBP of .389. In 2025 they hit 147 home runs, a team BA of .336 and a team OBP of .443. Even having a down year this year they hit 119 home runs, had a team BA of .307 and a team OBP of .407. She made similar improvements to the hitters at Miami OH as well. Taking solid hitters and turning them into elite power hitters. Historically she hasn’t been able to establish a dominant pitching staff the same way she transforms hitters. If she can figure out the pitching her teams will be dominant.

Personally I think that more teams need to move to pitching staffs and not just 1 dominant pitcher. The hitters are too good and adjust too quickly. You see it at the WCWS. Even the most dominant pitchers start to get hit hard the second or third day in a row a team sees them.

As a pitching coach I think it’s a much harder sell at the travel level to convince coaches to let other girls develop at younger ages and stop pitching solely your 1 & 2 all tourney long. Despite advocating against it I still see many of my 14u and younger girls throwing 60% or more of their team’s innings at tourneys. It drives pitchers out of pitching at young ages and those pitchers don’t magically reappear at 16u and 18u. But I’ll leave that rant for another post.

Re: Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by @Elevate on May 7, 2026, 9:57 am, in reply to "Re: Home Runs aren't Everything"

Agree, great hire. They did just get run-ruled in the opening game of the conference tournament so the road is long. Completely agree with the staff comment. You'll always have a #1 but hitters have a lot of information these days.

Re: Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by Ohio St on May 7, 2026, 8:59 am, in reply to "Re: Home Runs aren't Everything"

2K is a phenomenal coach, and knew when she was at VT it would only be a matter of time.

Re: Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by Home Field Advantage on May 5, 2026, 7:38 pm, in reply to "Home Runs aren't Everything"

Is Ohio State's home field easy to hit homeruns at? Are the fences short at their home field? Does Ohio St. hit more homeruns per game at home than they do on the road?

I genuinely do not know the answer, just trying to figure out if there is a comparison to Coors Field where the Colorado Rockies play that is considered a hitters ball park.

Re: Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by Figures lie and liars figure on May 5, 2026, 4:17 pm, in reply to "Home Runs aren't Everything"

They won't get you fired. Ohio State did finish in the top half of the Big Ten and are in the Big Ten tournament with a 5.09 team ERA and 1.90 team WHIP. The WHIP number is tied last in the Big Ten and the ERA number is in the bottom 4. They just took 2 of 3 from Washington and took one from Oregon. Two years in a row they are in the NCAA top 3 in Home Runs(Last year they hit 147 HR's and got an at large bid). If they don't hit 119 Home Runs they are not .500. Here are a few other interesting Big Ten stats. UCLA team ERA 4.43 but 173 Home Runs and 567 runs made up for that. Nebraska 86 HR's(12th), 360 Runs(18th), with a 2.03 Team ERA(6th), gets you a regular season title. Worst numbers in HR's, Minn. 26, #12 seed, Mich St. 27 not in, Maryland 30 not in, Illinois 42 not in, coach fired. Rutgers, also not in, is an outlier with 74 HR's but they couldn't make up for a 5.75 Team ERA and 1.86 Team WHIP. The only other teams in Big 10 with less than 1 HR per game, Wisconsin - 45, Purdue - 49. Analysis point 1 - 3 of the 4 teams that did not make the Big 10 Tourney have the highest team ERA's,(exception Ohio State). Analysis point 2 - 3 of the 4 teams that did not make the Big Ten Tourney had the fewest home runs.(Exception Minn) Now here is the bombshell conclusion, combine good pitching with scoring runs and you win more than you lose. Combine poor pitching with no runs you lose more than you win. Pitching matters but so do HR's. If you are really bad you appear to bad at both. Other fun facts. UCLA's Team ERA is 4.43 and they are a top 10 team, why because the average 3.33 Home Runs per game. Dukes team ERA is 4.42 and they are top 15 team, why because the average 1.88 Home Runs per game. Only 30 teams have ERA's under 3.00. Oklahoma's team ERA is 3.02. 73 teams average better than 6 runs per game. 80 teams average better than 1 HR per game.

Re: Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by Sell the sizzle, buy the steak on May 5, 2026, 12:12 pm, in reply to "Home Runs aren't Everything"

Everyone looks at home runs and strikeouts, but the name of the game is RUNS.

How many do you score, and how many to you prevent.

Re: Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by Thought on May 7, 2026, 11:50 pm, in reply to "Re: Home Runs aren't Everything"

And sometimes teams hit A LOT of home runs, score A LOT of runs and win a lot of high scoring games in the regular season....and then get out coached year after year in the post season Missouri Valley Conference Tournament??

Re: Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by @ Thought on May 8, 2026, 12:07 pm, in reply to "Re: Home Runs aren't Everything"

No one will beat Belmont unless Maya Johnson's arm falls off. I think she had 17 K's in 7 inning game yesterday.

Re: Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by Thougjts on May 9, 2026, 9:52 am, in reply to "Re: Home Runs aren't Everything"

Yes, with Maya Johnson Belmont is the big dog now!! I was referring historically to the softball "genius" in the Cedar Vally.

Re: Home Runs aren't Everything

Posted by @Coach on May 5, 2026, 11:15 am, in reply to "Home Runs aren't Everything"

119 not 153, but they are 3rd

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