Colorado State University Athletics
Softball Wrap-Up
5/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Leading Off: The Colorado State Softball team (30-22, 8-8 MWC) finished the season with a 1-2 record at the Mountain West Conference Tournament in San Diego, Calif. The Rams were upset in the team?s first-round matchup with the sixth-seeded San Diego State Aztecs by a score of 6-0. The Rams bounced back with a come-from-behind win over Utah in the second round of the tournament, winning by a 3-2 margin. However, UNLV, the No. 2 seed, knocked the Rams out of the tournament and ended the Rams? season with a 4-0 victory.
30 Wins: With a 3-2 victory over Utah in the second round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, the Rams earned win number 30 on the season. Colorado State has now won 30-plus games in each of the last three seasons, going 37-15 in 2003, 40-14 in 2004 and culminating with this season?s 30-22 mark. In the program?s history, there has only been one other stretch of three-straight 30-win season. (1996-1998).
All Conference Honors: Five Rams were named to the All-Mountain West Conference Team for the 2005 season, second only to six by Conference Champion BYU and tied with No. 2 UNLV. Senior Stephanie Roberts earned her third straight nod on the team, leading the conference in walks. Sophomore P Jessica Strickland earns the honor for the second-straight season, as she led the Rams in both batting average and ERA through the regular season. Fellow sophomore Brittany Huerta received her first All-Conference honors, posting a .346 batting average in 2005 after breaking the single-season home run record with 14 as a freshman in 2004. Freshmen Lauren Cusick and Julia Kloppe round out the Rams? selections. Cusick, who has started every game at third base for the Rams this season, leads the Rams with a .359 batting average in conference play. Kloppe is a Fort Collins native (Rocky Mountain HS) and posted a .324 batting average and .990 fielding percentage at first base for the Rams in conference play.
All-West Region Honors: Sophomore Jessica Strickland and senior Stephanie Roberts earned NFCA All-West Region Honors for 2005. Strickland was named to the first team as a designated player and recorded a team-leading .380 batting average, five home runs, 36 RBI and a record-tying 19 doubles, while leading the team with a ERA of 2.04. She become the first player in school history to lead the team in batting average and ERA. Roberts was named to the second team at second base with a .990 fielding percentage. Roberts also led the team with 36 runs scored and ranked second behind Strickland with a .336 batting average. Roberts earned her third all-region selection, having been named to the first team in 2003 and second team in 2004. Strickland earns her second selection after being named to the second-team in 2004.
Coaches? Awards: At the 2005 Colorado State Softball Banquet, four Rams earned individual awards from the Colorado State coaching staff. The ?Best Offensive Player? award went to Sophomore Jessica Strickland who led the Rams in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.380), home runs (5), RBI (36), doubles (19) and slugging percentage (.608). Senior Stephanie Roberts earned the ?Best Defensive Player? award. For the season, Roberts recorded a .990 fielding percentage, committing only two errors, both coming in the first contest of the season. Freshman Julia Kloppe earned the ?Most Improved? award finishing the season with a .317 batting average, three home runs and 25 RBI. She also compiled a fielding percentage of .987 at first base for the Rams. Freshman Lauren Cusick earned the ?Green & Gold? award for her commitment and work ethic. Cusick led the Rams with a .359 batting average, five doubles and .641 slugging percentage during the conference season, while starting every game for the Rams at third base and hitting in every position in the Rams? batting order except for the leadoff spot throughout the course of the season.
Nationally-Ranked Rams: As a team, Colorado State ended its season ranked nationally in three different categories. The Rams ranked 14th, averaging 1.5 doubles per game, 24 with a .301 batting average and the team?s .969 fielding percentage ranked 30th. Sophomore Jessica Strickland was the only individual Ram ranked, coming in at No. 4 with 0.37 doubles per game.
Rams vs. The Tournament Pool: During the 2005 season, the Rams squared-off with in 12 games against six different teams in this season?s NCAA Regional Tournament. Half of the Rams 22 losses came to these teams.
All-Tournament Honors: Colorado State freshman Lauren Cusick was named to the Mountain West Conference All-Tournament team for her performance in San Diego, Calif. Cusick hit .429 (3-for-7) on the weekend. Cusick bounced back from an 0-for-3 performance in the Rams? tournament opener to hit 3-for-3 with a triple, a double and two RBI in the second-round matchup with Utah. In the Rams? third game, Cusick was 0-for-1 but drew two walks.
Tourney Time: Following last weekend?s 1-2 mark in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, the Rams have posted a record of 8-9 all-time. In 2003 the Rams won the MWC Tournament title, beating BYU, UNLV and San Diego State in San Diego, Calif. However, in 2004 the tournament hosted by the Rams was shortened to a single-elimination tournament due to weather, and the Rams fell to the eventual champion Utah in the first round. This year, the Rams fell to host San Diego State in the first round, 6-0 but bounced back to defeat Utah 3-2 in the second round. The Rams then fell to runner-up UNLV 4-0. Below is a list of the Rams? all-time MWC Tournament marks against each conference opponent:
Opponent BYU UNM SDSU UNLV Utah Total Rams? Record 2-0 1-2 2-1 1-2 2-4 8-9
We?re Going Streaking: Sophomore Brittany Huerta and junior Jennifer Gardner led the Rams with hitting streaks of 13 games and 10 games, respectively, this season. This also ranks 1-2 in the Mountain West Conference.
Yori Approaching Milestones: Colorado State Head Coach Mary Yori finished the season just five wins shy of 600 for her career (595-279). At 136-121 for her career at Colorado State, Yori is also just 15 wins shy of surpassing Candi Letts (160-106-1) for most wins by a head coach in the program?s history.
Rewriting The Record Book: This season?s squad ranks in the Colorado State record books in nine of 18 categories, including second in doubles (78) and slugging percentage (.419); third in batting average (.301), runs (218), RBI (221), fielding percentage (.969) and hits (420); and fifth home runs (21), triples (12) and strikeouts (230).
Walk This Way: Senior 2B Stephanie Roberts broke her own single-season record at Colorado State University, earning her 27th walk of the season against San Deigo State on May 8. Roberts, who originally set the record in 2004 also ranks first on the career charts with 85 career walks. Her 85 career walks ties for fifth most in MWC history.