Colorado State University Athletics
Softball Preview - UT-San Antonio Fastpitch Express Tournament
2/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
This Week: Colorado State continues tournament action this weekend when they play in the UTSA Fastpitch Express College Classic in San Antonio, Tex. The Rams will bring a 5-2 record into the six-game stretch.
Wrap-up: Cal Poly and The Mustang Round-up Tournament: For the second consecutive year, the Rams have started the season with a doubleheader against Cal Poly, followed by an appearance in the Mustang Round-up Tournament. Last week, Colorado State compiled a record of 5-2 in San Luis Obispo, Calif., both losses coming at the hands of Cal Poly by scores of 3-1 and 2-1. The Rams did, however, defeat the Mustangs in the season opener by a score of 1-0 on a complete-game shutout performance by senior pitcher Megan Masser. In 2003, Colorado State began the season with a 2-5 record.
Yori?s Success: Since taking over in Fort Collins three seasons ago, Mary Yori has led the Rams to an improved record each season, going 10-37 in 2001, 19-33 in 2002, and culminating with last season?s 37-15 mark, a record that earned Yori her first MWC Coach of the Year award in 2003.
Quite The Turnaround: The Rams are off to a 5-2 record to begin the 2004 season, the best start since Coach Mary Yori?s four years in Fort Collins. In both 2000 and 2001, Colorado State began the season with a 1-6 record, and the 2003 squad posted a 2-5 record in the their first seven games.
Streaking Rams: Colorado State catcher Kerry Farrell had a streak of 106 career starts snapped on Feb. 6 when Stacey Leigh started at catcher against Sacramento State. The longest current streak of games started is 111 by senior first baseman Ricki Walker. Juniors Stephanie Roberts and Brittanty Burtner have also started over 100 consecurtive games for Colorado State with Roberts holding the advantage 112-110.
Big Hurt: Freshman outfielder Brittany Huerta jump-started both her career at Colorado State and the Rams? offense during her first seven collegiate games at the Cal Poly Mustang Round-up Tournament. Huerta, a California native, led the team in nearly every offensive category.
Huerta?s Big Debut
Category Team Rank
Batting Average - .458 1st
At Bats - 24 1st
Hits - 11 1st
Total Bases - 23 1st
Slugging Percentage - .958 1st
RBI - 7 1st
Home Runs - 3 1st
Runs - 5 2nd
On-Base Percentage - .480 3rd
Much Improved: Coming off of one of the best years in Colorado State history, finishing second in the Mountain West during the regular season and claiming the MWC Tournament Championship for the first time, the Rams are now picked to finish second in the conference. This is a much imporoved pre-season selection over 2003?s last place prediction by the Mountain West Conference coaches.
Masser at Mustang Round-up: Senior pitcher Megan Masser continued where she left off at the end of her junior campaign. Masser, the 2003 MWC Tournament MVP, proved once again why she is the Rams? go-to pitcher after compiling a 2-0 record in three starts on Colorado State?s California road swing last weekend. Masser also led the team with a 2.25 ERA while holding opposing batters to a .192 batting average and struck out 25 batters in her 20 innings of work.
Coming Up... The Rams will face five teams in the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces, N.M. on Feb. 20-22 before returning to Ft. Collins for their season opening series? against Utah State and Southern Utah on March 6-9.
Colorado State v The UTSA Fastpitch Express Field: The Rams have never played three (North Texas, Bethune-Cookman, and Missouri -Kansas City) of next six teams that they will face in San Antonio this weekend. The Rams are 1-11 all time against Kansas, however, Colorado State does hold a slim advantage against Texas-Arlington (4-2) and Texas-San Antonio (3-2)
Key Losses: The Rams lost five players from last spring?s team including two seniors (Katie Koch and Jennifer Mahoney), one junior (Allisa Thompso), one sophomore (Melanie Mahoney) and one freshman (Jessica Weikle). Katie Koch ended her career at Colorado State hitting .289 for the Rams and starting 14 of 29 games played in the outfield. Jennifer Mahoney started all 52 games for Colorado State hitting .272 and recording a fielding percentage of .929 at third base in her senior campaign. Allisa Thompson played in 12 games for the Rams, adding speed to the team as a pinch runner, and scoring five runs in 2003. Melanie Mahoney finished last season with a .272 batting average and started 18 of 26 games played in the field. She also recorded a record of 4-4 in 10 pitching appearances with an ERA of 2.98. Jessica Weikle worked with the Rams? pitching staff in the bullpen while backing up starting catcher Kerry Farrell.
Fall Recap: After kicking off the 2003 fall campaign with 6-4 and 3-0 losses to Nebraska, the Rams followed up with nine straight wins to finish their fall slate with a 9-2 overall mark. CSU finished play in the Nebraska Big Red Fall Classic with wins over Wayne State (9-1) and North Dakota State (5-1) then took two from Northern Colorado in Greeley by scores of 13-0 and 9-0. Colorado State returned home to win the Triple Crown Fall Classic then defeated Regis (5-0), Colorado School of Mines (3-2), Mesa State (10-1), UC Colorado Springs (8-2), and CSU-Pueblo (8-2).
Defense Wins Championships: The Rams allowed an average of 2.54 runs per game in the 2003 season, en route to the the second NCAA Regional appearance in school history, the lowest total for a Colorado State team since the 1997 squad gave up an average of 2.4 runs per game, and finished one out away from a College World Series appearance. The Rams defense has continued to improve under the guidance of head coach Mary Yori, dropping the team?s runs allowed per game from 6.19 in 2001 to the 2.54 mark allowed last spring. In 2003 the team also set a Colorado State record with a .975 fielding percentage.
