Colorado State University Athletics
Softball Preview ? The NCAA Tournament
5/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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Run with the Rams Fundraiser: All games - CSU 194, Opponents 114
Conference Games - CSU 85, Opponents 61
Tournament Time: Colorado State earned the Mountain West Conference?s automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals for the first time in league history after winning the conference tournament with a 3-1 victory over top-seeded San Diego State. This will be the Rams second appearance in the NCAA Regionals as the 1997 team came within one out of the World Series.
Tournament Sweep: Junior pitcher Megan Masser was named the MVP of the Mountain West Conference Tournament after pitching all three games for the Rams, giving up just four earned runs in 21 innings and striking out 16 with opponents hitting just .184 against her. Freshman Melanie Laffoon was named the DP of the tournament after hitting .667 (6-9) in the tournament and getting the game winning RBI in two of the three contests. Sophomore second baseman Steph Roberts and junior first baseman Ricki Walker were also named to the All-Tournament team.
Top Honors: Steph Roberts was named the Mountain West Co-Player of the Year by the league coaches. She was also named to the All-Conference team and was joined on the 20-player team by Ricki Walker, Megan Masser and senior third baseman Jennifer Mahoney. Head Coach Mary Yori was also named the Mountain West Coach of the Year.
Rewriting The Record Books: This season?s team is ranked in the top five in the Colorado State record books in 11 different categories. They rank first in fielding percentage (.975), are tied for first in homeruns (25), second in winning percentage (.740) and doubles (63), are tied for second in wins (37), third in slugging percentage (.393) and opposition strikeouts (237), are tied for third in shutouts (14), rank fourth in RBI (176) and stolen bases (46) and are fifth in runs scored (194).
NCAA History: This will be the Rams second appearance in the NCAA Regionals. In 1997, the Rams went 2-2 after defeating Brown and UMass before falling to UMass twice.
Stop, Thief: Steph Roberts has stolen 17 bases this year and now has 26 for her career. She needs just six more to break in to the top five at Colorado State. Her 17 is the best in the Mountain West this season.
Consecutive Starts: Sophomore catcher Kerry Farrell, Jennifer Mahoney and Ricki Walker have started all 102 games for the Rams over the last two years. Steph Roberts has started and played in 101 of those, missing just one game last year.
Commonality: Arizona and Colorado State have faced five similar opponents this season in Mississippi State, New Mexico State, San Diego State, UNLV and New Mexico. The Rams are 10-5 against those five teams, while the Wildcats are 6-0.
Shutouts: Colorado State has recorded 14 shutouts this season, which ties for third on the school?s single-season charts. The 1989 team shut out a record 20 teams, while the 1992 team ranks second with 17 shutouts.
Facing The Field: The Rams have played four of the other 63 teams in the NCAA Regionals this season. CSU is 4-4 against those four teams going 1-0 against Missouri and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, posting a 2-3 record against San Diego State and losing one game to Mississippi State.
Ringing Them Up: Junior pitcher Megan Masser struck out 16 batters in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, bringing her season total to 148. Masser?s total now ranks her third on the Colorado State single-season charts and 20 shy of tying for second on the list with Stacie Stafford, 1992.
Red Hot: Over the last 10 games, the Rams have combined for a .300 batting average, .525 slugging percentage and a 1.90 ERA. Melanie Laffoon leads the team wit ha .524 batting average (11-21), while Ricki Walker is hitting .448 (13-29) and has a slugging percentage of 1.172 -- with six homeruns in that stretch. Steph Roberts is the other Ram hitting over .400 at .424 with an .818 slugging percentage. Megan Masser has appeared in all 10 games with an ERA of 0.70, striking out 40 and allowing opponents to hit just .163. The Rams have had a stifling defense over that time, allowing opponents to hit just .225 and committing seven errors in 310 chances.
Roberts? Runs: Colorado State?s record when lead-off hitter Steph Roberts scores at least one run is 28-4. The team?s only four losses came against Mississippi State, at San Diego State, and two games against BYU.
Scoreless: Colorado State has been held scoreless in only three of its 50 games this season. The Rams, however, have shutout 14 opponents this year.
Multiplicity: Ricki Walker leads the team with 18 multiple hit games. She?s gotten two hits in 12 games and five times she?s had a three-hit games. Walker also had a four-hit game against Utah in the second game on April 11. Steph Roberts (15) and Kerry Farrell (10) have also had at least 10 multiple hit games this year.
Closing the Gap: At the close of the 2002 season, Rams opponents outscored Colorado State by 16 runs. Heading into the NCAA Regionals, Colorado State has outscored its opponents by 80 runs.
A Fresh Start: The seven true freshmen on this year?s team (Carly Allen, Katie Dean, Jennifer Gardner, Genevieve Kelly, Melanie Laffoon, Jessica Weikle and JayCee Wood) have combined for 106 of the team?s 368 hits, of 28.8 percent. Five of those have gone to the plate this season and they have combined for 24.5 percent of the team?s extra base hits through the first 50 games.
Bombs Away: Colorado State has sent 25 hits over the fence this season, tying the school record of 25 homeruns from the 2000 season.
Sophomore Sensations: The four sophomores on this year?s roster (Brittany Burtner, Kerry Farrell, Melanie Mahoney and Steph Roberts) are the mainstay of the team. Three of them -- Burtner, Farrell and Roberts -- have started all 50 games on the year and Mahoney has a 4-4 record in the circle. The quartet have combined for 149 of the team?s 368 hits, or 40.5 percent. They have also hit 27 of the squad?s 63 doubles (42.9%) and are responsible for 11 of the 25 homeruns (44%).
Quite The Turnaround: The Rams currently have 37 wins on the season which is more than the last two years combined. In 2001 the Rams were 10-37 and last season they posted a record of 19-33. Those 37 wins also ties for the second most wins in a single-season, tying the 1989 squad. The record for most wins in a season is 51 by the 1997 team.
Great Arm: Kerry Farrell has thrown out 21 would-be base stealers this season. That sets a new Colorado State single-season record, breaking her own record of 20 set her freshman season.
Sitting On Top: Kerry Farrell leads the Mountain West Conference in sacrifice bunts with 18, while Steph Roberts leads in stolen bases with 17 and Megan Masser leads the conference in both saves with seven and wins with 20. For complete rankings in the Mountain West, please see the chart on the left.
