Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Illinois
Rams Defeat Illinois 12-2
3/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 17, 2006
Sacramento, Calif. - The rain delays and cancellations over the past week fueled the Colorado State softball team as they defeated Illinois 12-2 at the Capital Classic Softball Tournament in Sacramento, Calif. The first game of the day against Cal-Berkeley was canceled due to rain, but that didn't dampen the Rams hopes as they overpowered the Fighting Illini of Illinois in game two with eight of their runs coming from homers.
The Rams were held scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when junior Jessica Strickland led off with a single up the middle. Sophomore Lauren Cusick reached on an error before Strickland scored on a wild pitch, putting the Rams up 1-0. Illinois came back to score a run in the bottom of the fourth on a home run by freshman Lana Armstrong to tie the game at one.
Colorado State opened the fifth inning with a single from freshman Kim Klabough. Freshman Jenna Wisely pinch ran for Klabough and junior Brittany Huerta singled to right field. Senior Katie Dean hit her second home run of the season to set a new career-high three RBI. Strickland and Cusick both followed with home runs to give the Rams a 6-1 lead.
The Fighting Illini answered in the bottom of the fifth inning, getting a homer from senior Jenna Hall, their last run of the game.
Klabough and Dean opened the sixth inning with walks. Freshman Shannon Causgrove pinch hit for senior Tara Harbert and singled to first base to bring in Klabough. Harbert stole second base, her 19th stolen base this season. Strickland singled to left field to score Dean and Harbert to push the Rams to 8-2. Cusick followed with another home run, marking her second two-home run game this season. She hit two against Oregon State on February 19, 2006. Strickland scored on Cusick's homer, giving the Rams two more runs. Junior Stacey Leigh added a home run to the list, the fifth of the game for the Rams, to finish the scoring and take the game 12-2.
Freshman Kim Klabough added another win to her record of 9-2 this season, pitching the complete-game for the Rams. Klabough allowed just two runs on seven hits and struck out nine.
The Rams will continue play in the Capital Classic Softball Tournament, playing Columbia and Jacksonville on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT and 5:30 p.m. PT, respectively. Colorado State will close out the tournament against Southern Utah on Sunday.
