Colorado State University Athletics
Rams Ready For Twelve Games in Florida
3/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
This Week: Colorado State (15-7) will travel to Orlando, Fla. to play 12 contests in the Rebel Spring Games during this next week. The Rams will play two games every day with the exception of Wednesday when they will receive a day off.
Wrapping-up the homestand: CSU went 4-1 during their season-opening five-game homestand against Utah State and Southern Utah last weekend. The Rams registered 10-2, 9-1 and 10-1 wins over the Aggies before falling in game one of Tuesday?s doubleheader against Southern Utah, 5-3. The Rams bounced back in the nightcap winning 7-0 behind freshman pitcher Jessica Strickland?s first career shutout.
Missing Masser: Senior pitcher Megan Masser is expected to see some time at pitcher this week after sitting out the last two weeks with an arm injury. Masser is currently leading the Rams with a 2.19 earned-run average and 45 strikeouts in nine appearances on the year.
Rams vs. the Field: Colorado State will hold a combined record of 7-1 against the 12 teams that they will face this week in the Rebel Spring Games. The Rams? only loss to a scheduled team this week was a setback to Liberty in their only meeting. In addition, the Rams will be facing seven teams for the first time this week.
Roberts Named MWC Player of the Week: Colorado State junior second baseman Stephanie Roberts was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week for her efforts in the Rams? three-game weekend sweep of Utah State. Roberts, a Parker, Colo., product, hit .727 (8-for-11) with a slugging percentage of 1.636 in the three-game series against Utah State last weekend, with two home runs, seven RBI, five runs scored and a stolen base. She had multiple hits in each game of the series, starting with back-to-back 3-for-4 efforts in CSU?s doubleheader sweep over the Aggies on Saturday.
Strickland?s Solid Start: Freshman pitcher Jessica Strickland leads the Colorado State pitching staff in victories with a 6-2 record, and is also currently first in appearances (9), complete games (6), and innings pitched (43.1).
Farrell?s Fielding: Junior catcher Kerry Farrell has not committed an error since the second game of a doubleheader against BYU on April 25, last season. That is a streak of 219 chances over 34 games.
Slugging It Out: Through 22 games this season, five Rams have posted slugging percentages of .500 or better. Freshman Brittany Huerta leads the team with a .736 mark, followed by Ricki Walker who is slugging .672 on the season. Junior Stephanie Roberts in slugging .594 while junior Kerry Farrell has improved from a .277 slugging percentage last season and is currently fourth on the team, slugging .567. Sophomore Katie Dean rounds out the list with a slugging percentage of .526. At the close of the 2003 season, only two Rams were slugging above .500, Walker (.667) and Roberts (.613).
Troy Cox Classic All-Tournament Team: Three Rams earned all-tournament honors for their performances at the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces, NM. Senior Ricki Walker was named to her second straight all-tournament team. Walker earned top honors at first base with a .467 batting average and a slugging percentage of .600 over the five-game stretch, while posting a perfect fielding percentage. Senior Megan Masser earned the lone pitching spot on the team with an 0.78 ERA to lead all pitchers at the tournament. Masser also recorded a ten-strikeout performance to lead the Rams to a 5-3 victory over No. 25 Texas State. Junior Brittany Burtner got the nod at shortstop. Burtner hit .375 during that stretch with three doubles and scoring four runs for the Rams. Burnter also posted a perfect fielding percentage for the tournament.
Senior Leadership: Through 22 games this season, senior first baseman Ricki Walker is leading the team in batting average (.478), on-base percentage (.568), hits (32), doubles (10), and walks (12).
Walker on CSU All-Time Charts: Senior first baseman Ricki Walker ranks on the CSU Top Five list in three different categories including career home runs (15), career batting average (.374) and career slugging percentage (.587).
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 126 by senior Ricki Walker. Juniors Stephanie Roberts and Brittany Burtner have also started over 100 consecutive games for Colorado State with Roberts holding the advantage 125-123.
Next Week: The Rams travel to Albuquerque to face the University of New Mexico in their MWC-opener set for Saturday, April 3. Following their doubleheader versus the Lobos, they will return home for a non-conference double-dip against the University of Northern Colorado on Tuesday, April 6 at Ram Field.
