Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
UNLV
Rams Drop Close Decision To Rebels MWC Tourney
5/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 11, 2006
The No. 5 seeded Colorado State University softball team (26-25, 6-14 MWC) dropped the first game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament to the No. 4 seeded UNLV Rebels (25-35, 8-12 MWC) on Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas, Nev. The Rebels edged out the Rams 5-4.
The Rams jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the top half of the first inning when senior Jennifer Gardner scored off a single by sophomore Julia Kloppe. Junior Jessica Strickland added a run after notching her 18th double of the season, second on the single season charts. The Rebels scored the next four runs of the game to push their lead to 4-2, adding one run in the first and second and two runs in the fourth inning.
Colorado State tied the game, adding their last two runs of the game in the top of the fourth inning when sophomore Lauren Cusick scored on a throwing error by Rebel catcher Britney Hillyer. Senior Katie Dean stole second base before scoring on a fielding error to tie the game 4-4.
But the Rams were unable to hold off the Rebels, playing in front of a home crowd, from scoring the game-winning home run in the bottom of the fourth.
Junior Jessica Strickland led the Rams, going 3-for-4 from the plate with one run. Sophomore Lauren Cusick posted a 2-for-3 performance with one run and one RBI.
Strickland started the game, pitching the first 2.1 innings for the Rams and allowing allowing four runs on five hits. Freshman Kim Klabough pitched 3.2 innings in relief of Strickland to pick up the loss, falling to 14-8 on the season. She allowed one run on two hits while striking out two batters.
The Rams will continue play in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, facing No. 2 seeded BYU Friday at 2 p.m. PT tomorrow in Las Vegas, Nev.
