Colorado State University Athletics
Softball Preview: Mountain West Conference Tournament
5/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 10, 2006
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Leading-off, MWC Tournament: No. 5 Colorado State will face No. 4 UNLV in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Thursday at 2 p.m. PT in Las Vegas, Nev. The Rams and Rebels have met three times before in the conference tournament, in 2002, 2003 and 2005. The Rebels hold a 2-1 advantage, but CSU defeated UNLV, 7-1, in the second round en route to the 2003 championship. This season, The Rams and Rebels split four games, and the all-time series record between the two schools is tied at 22. The winner of that game will face the No. 1 seed San Diego State at 7 p.m. PT that evening, while the loser will await a matchup with loser of the contest between No. 2 BYU and either No. 3 Utah or No. 6 New Mexico.
Weekend Wrap-up: The Rams split their last regular-season double header with the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday at Ram Field. Colorado State dropped game one, 3-2, before taking the second game, 6-1. Sophomore Julia Kloppe went 2-for-3 from the plate and notched her sixth home run this season in the first game. Seniors Tara Harbert and Jennifer Gardner led the team in the Rams' game two victory with one RBI each. Harbert posted a 4-for-4 performance, adding two runs and two stolen bases to push her season total to 27. Gardner was 3-for-4 from the plate with one run. A three-run homer by junior Jessica Strickland gave the Rams an early lead.
Closing Conference Action: With the 6-1 game two victory over New Mexico on Saturday, CSU improved to 4-2 in final regular-season games under Mary Yori. Rams In The MWC Tournament: Colorado State is 7-9 all-time at the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The Rams have held every seed in the conference tournament and this season enter as the No. 5 seed. In 2004, CSU was ranked first. In 2003, CSU finished second during the regular season before taking home the MWC Tournament Crown. Last season, the Rams entered the tournament third in the standings and in 2000, 2001 and 2002 the Rams ranked as the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 seeds respectively.
Rams As the No. 5 Seed: The last time that CSU entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed, the Rams fell in two straight games to New Mexico (2-0) and Utah (4-1) in 2001.
Familiar Foes In MWC Tourney: In MWC Tournament play, the Rams are the most familiar with No. 3 Utah, with the Utes holding a 4-2 advantage. No. 6 New Mexico and No. 4 UNLV have each squared off with CSU three times at the MWC tournament, both winning two-of-three contests. The Rams and No. 1 San Diego State Aztecs are 1-1, and CSU holds a 2-0 advantage over No. 2 BYU in the conference tournament.
Nationally Ranked: The Rams as a team rank nationally in five categories for the second week in a row. The last time the Rams were ranked in five or more categories was the week of May 30, 2004 when they had seven team rankings. The squad is seventh in batting average (.321), eighth in home runs per game (1.06), eighth in slugging percentage (.498), 21st in doubles per game (1.46) and 23rd in scoring (5.24). Two Rams rank on the individual charts. Senior Tara Harbert is 15th in runs per game (.96) and stolen bases (.52). Junior Jessica Strickland is 16th in RBI per game (1.02), 16th in doubles per game (.34) and 29th in batting average (.416).
Conference Leaders: The Rams rank near the top of the Mountain West in several categories as a team. They are first in batting average (.321) and first in slugging percentage (.498). They are second as a team in runs scored (262), hits (459), RBI (246), doubles (73), triples (11) and home runs (53). Individually, junior Jessica Strickland leads the team, ranking in 11 batting categories. Sophomore Lauren Cusick follows with 10 rankings.
Leaving Her Mark: This season, junior Jessica Strickland has added her name to several of the single season charts at Colorado State. She is currently second in batting average (.416), second in hits (77), fourth in doubles (17), second in home runs (12), fourth in slugging percentage (.724) and fourth in RBI (51).
Career Leaders: Senior Katie Dean moved into fifth in the career charts starting 199 games. Dean is also fifth in career walks with 52. Junior Jessica Strickland has moved into second with 47 doubles, close behind All-American Sarah Fredstrom (1995-98) with 51. Strickland is also third with 24 home runs for her career, second in slugging percentage (.665) and fifth in RBI (110). Senior Tara Harbert has also started to break into the career charts.
Solid Starters: Seniors Katie Dean and Tara Harbert along with sophomore Lauren Cusick were the only Rams to start all 50 regular season games in their defensive positions. Dean covered center field while Harbert and Cusick played second and third base, respectively. Harbert was also the only Ram to start all 50 games in the same batting position, leading off for the Rams in each contest.
Power Surge: This year, Colorado State has more than doubled its home run output from a year ago, notching 53 home runs, just five shy of the single-season record set in 2004. Last year, Colorado State hit only 21 home runs in 52 games. The Rams rank eighth in the nation in home runs per game (1.08) paced by junior Jessica Strickland who leads the team with 12 long balls this season, second on the single-season charts.
Streaking Into the Tourney: Sophomore Lauren Cusick and senior Jennifer Gardner are riding five- and six-game hitting streaks, respectively, heading into the MWC Tournament. Gardner's streak is her longest of the season. Cusick's season long is eight games.