Colorado State University Athletics
Softball Preview: Hilton Las Cruces Classic
2/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 7, 2006
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Leading Off: Colorado State begins the 2006 season in Las Cruces, N.M., squaring off against New Mexico State on Feb. 9. The Rams will then continue play in the Hilton Las Cruces Classic beginning Feb. 10 against conference foe Utah and Texas-San Antonio followed by a matchup against Ohio State on Feb. 11. They conclude with a game against Portland State and New Mexico State respectively on Feb. 12.
Season Openers: Under Head Coach Mary Yori, the Rams have compiled a record of 1-5 in season openers, including a 4-2 loss to Cal Poly in the 2005 opener. The Rams beat Cal Poly 1-0 in San Luis Obispo, Calif., on Feb. 5, 2004. The Rams lost 3-2 against the Mustangs on Feb. 6, 2003. 2002 marked a loss for the Rams to Southern Utah University 1-0 on Feb 8. The Rams posted losses in both of their first two seasons under Coach Yori, falling 14-1 to Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 2, 2001 and 6-4 against Tulsa University on Feb. 4, 2000.
Key Losses: The Rams lost three players to graduation from the 2005 squad. Catcher Kerry Farrell was a 2004 Easton First Team All-American for the Rams. Stephanie Roberts was the 2003 MWC Co-Player of the Year and a 2005 Easton Third Team All-American at second base. Shortstop Brittany Burtner anchored the middle of the Rams defense for four seasons. The trio each played in more than 200 career games for the Rams. They also rank among the career leaders at Colorado State in games started and at bats. More importantly, they led the Rams to one of the most successful eras in school history that included the 2003 MWC Tournament Championship, 2004 regular season championship and three straight 30-win seasons, a feat matched only one other time in the program's history.
Returning Rams: Colorado State returns eight players from a season ago including three seniors, three juniors and two sophomores. Junior Brittany Huerta led the team in a number of offensive categories as a freshman, including her school record 14 home runs. She ranked third on the team with a .333 batting average and ninth in the Mountain West Conference as a sophomore. She scored 22 runs and recorded 58 total bases in 135 at bats. Huerta also earned All-MWC and Academic All-MWC honors. Junior Stacey Leigh ended the season with a .217 batting average, recorded 23 at bats, notched five hits and scored three runs. Leigh ended the season with a .304 slugging percentage, a .321 on-base percentage and posted a .933 fielding percentage. Junior Jessica Strickland became the first player in CSU history to lead the team in both batting average (.380) and ERA (.204). She set a team record with 19 doubles and ranked fourth nationally with 0.37 doubles per game. Strickland ranked first on the team with 166 at bats and first with 36 RBI, leading the team with five home runs. She also earned NFCA All-Region first team, All-MWC and Academic All-MWC honors. Sophomore Julia Kloppe returns to the lineup after a successful 2005 season. Kloppe hit three home runs to place her fourth on the team and was involved in a team-best 10 double plays. She also posted 25 RBI's and earned All-MWC honors. Sophomore Lauren Cusick ranked first on the team in conference play in 2005 with five doubles and first on the team with a .359 batting average in conference games. Cusick also earned All-MWC honors, academic All-Conference honors and was named to the MWC All-Tournament Team.
Leading Seniors: The Rams will be led by four star seniors: OF Jennifer Gardner, OF Katie Dean, IF Rachelle Padeway and 2B/OF Tara Harbert. Gardner started all 51 games for the Rams as a junior in 2005, playing right field, centerfield and one game as the designated player. She ranked fourth on the team and tenth in the Mountain West Conference with a .327 batting average. Her 50 hits tied her for third at Colorado State and ninth in the conference. Gardner hit in the No. 2 spot in the batting order and posted a conference second-best mark with 11 sacrifices during the 2005 season. Gardner also recorded the second-longest hitting streak on the team in 2005, reaching safely over a stretch of 10 games. She ranked second on the team with 138 at bats and her 28 runs scored was third on the squad. She recorded 15 multiple-hit games during the 2005 season ranking her second on the team while posting career-highs with three runs and three RBI versus Northern Colorado and Loyola-Chicago, respectively. Dean started in all 51 games as a junior for the Rams in 2005, playing centerfield and left field. She ended the season with a .289 batting average. She ranked second on the team with six sac bunts and second on the team with three stolen bases. Dean posted six multiple hit games and hit 28 times out of 97 bats. Padeway played 33 games for the Rams as a junior in 2005, five games as a starter at shortstop. She ended the season with a .250 batting average and scored 11 runs on the season, hitting one double. She knotched three RBI's and ended the season with a .300 slugging percentage. She also recorded 17 assists, 12 in conference games and recorded a fielding percentage of .931 with five putouts for the season. A transfer from Hawai'i, Harbert had a banner year hitting .423 in overall games and .486 in conference games. She posted a team-high 14 stolen bases and her .486 conference batting average was top in the WAC. Harbert missed 10 straight games after breaking two fingers in her left hand in the middle of an offensive tear, ranking second on the team with a .382 average and led the team with 17 runs scored and stolen bases. She also earned all All-WAC and All-Western Region honors and played in the 2003 WAC Championships.
Offensive Power: Jessica Strickland earned a spot on the 2005 MWC list for batting leaders, sitting third behind Marissa Nichols of UNLV and Lauren Watson of BYU...Nichols returns for the Rebels as a sophomore after being named the 2005 MWC Freshman of the Year.
Rams vs: The Rams are familiar with each of the five schools they will be facing the first week of the season. Colorado State has played a combined 124 games against New Mexico State, Utah, Texas-San Antonio and Portland State in school history. Utah holds the largest advantage over the Rams with a 46-33 all-time series lead. Colorado State is 18-19 versus New Mexico State, 0-1 against Portland State and 3-4 versus Texas-San Antonio.
2006 MWC Preseason Coaches Poll: After being chosen to finish second the past two years, Colorado State was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Colorado State finished last season with a conference record of 8-8, trailing BYU and UNLV with 16-2 and 17-3 respectively. Last season's sixth place finisher, SDSU (4-16 MWC), was chosen as this season's third place pick. Utah and New Mexico round out the poll.
