Colorado State University Athletics
Softball Preview - New Mexico
4/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Leading Off: Colorado State (23-13, 2-2 MWC) is set to continue Mountain West Conference play with a doubleheader against the New Mexico Lobos at Ram Field on April 9. New Mexico (13-18, 3-1 MWC) is currently tied for second in the MWC, just ahead of the 2-2 Rams, after splitting with UNLV on Friday and sweeping San Diego State on Sunday. Game one of the doubleheader is slated to begin at 1 p.m. MT.
Wrapping-up Northern Colorado, San Diego State and UNLV: The Rams offense quickly acclimated to the thin air, playing in Colorado for the first time this season against Northern Colorado on Tuesday in Greeley. The Rams defeated the Bears 12-2 and 10-1, both games in five innings. The Rams then opened up Ram Field for 2005 with a bang, taking two more from conference-preseason favorite San Diego State by scores of 2-0 and 6-2 on Friday. Senior Stephanie Roberts and sophomores Jessica Strickland and Brittany Huerta each homered for the Rams against the Aztecs. However, Colorado State hit a bump in the form of the UNLV Rebels on Sunday. The Rebels edged out the Rams 3-2 in extra innings in game one and then slugged their way to a 10-0 game two victory.
D?j? Vu All Over Again: The Rams and Lobos squared off earlier this season in non-conference action as part of the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces, N.M. Colorado State captured a 6-5 victory, rallying from five runs down in the final three innings, en route to a 3-2 showing at the tournament.
The Rams vs. New Mexico: New Mexico holds a 40-29 advantage all-time against Colorado State. However, the Rams swept the Lobos in conference play in 2004 and beat the Lobos at the Troy Cox Classic earlier this season. Under head coach Mary Yori, the Rams have posted a record of 13-4 against the Lobos, including ten straight wins and six in a row at Ram Field.
Almost Perfect: Since committing two errors in the first game of the season, senior 2B Stephanie Roberts has not committed an error in her last 126 chances, the longest such streak on the team.
Walk This Way: Senior 2B Stephanie Roberts, who already holds the single-season record for base on balls (26), tied the career record for walks at Colorado State with her 77th career free pass, which came in game two against UNLV on Sunday. With the walk, Roberts tied former Ram great Holly Schmillen (1998-2001). With one more walk, Roberts will also record at least 20 walks for the third straight season.
We?re Going Streaking: Sophomore Brittany Huerta and junior Jennifer Gardner have each recorded hitting streaks of at least ten games this season. Huerta?s streak which ended at 13 games began on March 14 against Rhode Island and ended on April 3 against UNLV. Gardner?s streak ended at ten games and spanned from Feb. 19 against New Mexico State to March 12 against Arizona State.
Rams in April: Including last week?s 2-2 start to the conference season, the Rams have posted a record of 26-8 (.765) in April since 2003.
Ram Tough: Jessica Strickland?s streak of consecutive at bats without a strikeout came to an end on March 18 against St. Francis at 65 at bats. Strickland?s streak extended to the first weekend of the season against Cal Poly on Feb. 14. With 109 at bats and only six strikeouts on the season, Strickland has an at bat-to-strikeout ratio of more than 18 to 1. For her career, Strickland has only gone down on strikes 13 times in 221 at bats.
Starting Strong: When scoring the first run of the game, Colorado State is 17-1 on the season, including a 10-1 mark when scoring in the first inning.
Finishing Strong: Colorado State is outscoring its opponents 18-1 in the seventh inning, and 44-11 in the final two frames. The Rams are 16-0 this season when leading after six innings and Colorado State pitchers have combined for and ERA of 0.62 in the seventh inning.
Hitting .400: Through 36 games, sophomore Jessica Strickland leads the team with a batting average of .413 (45-109). If Strickland were to end the season hitting above .400 she would become the first Ram to achieve the feat since Teri Klement set the record in 1989, hitting .433.
Dean?s List: Junior outfielder Katie Dean has improved her batting average every season, and eclipsed the .300 mark the first time in her career with a .322 batting average in 2005. In 2003 and 2004, Dean hit .229 and .281, respectively.
Outscoring The Opposition: Through 36 games this season, Colorado State is outscoring its opponents by a margin of 169-97.
Kloppe In The Clutch: Freshman Julia Kloppe leads the Rams with 11 RBI in two-out situations. The Rams have recorded 67 two-out RBI on the season, and have allowed just 34.
Clearing The Table: With runners on third base and less than two outs, senior Kerry Farrell is hitting .800 (8-for-10) in 2005. As a team, the Rams are hitting .466 (41-for-88) in that situation.
Three?s A Crowd: Colorado State softball has not lost three games in a row since Feb. 9, 2003 when the team fell to Nevada, Sacramento State and UC Santa Barbara at the Mustang Round-Up Tournament, a streak of 125 games. During that stretch, the Rams have lost two games in a row only eight times, including three times in 2003, once in 2004 and four times this season.
And One For All: Jessica Strickland, Kerry Farrell and Jennifer Gardner are each averaging at least one hit per game this season. Strickland leads the way with 1.29 hits per game, followed by Farrell at 1.06 and Gardner with 1.03. Stephanie Roberts and Brittany Huerta rank just behind at .97 hits per game each.
Combined Effort: This 2005 team ranks second in CSU history in slugging percentage (.449), third in batting average (.315) and fielding percentage (.968), and fourth in winning percentage (.639).