Colorado State University Athletics
Rams softball heads to San Diego, Las Vegas
4/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 30, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Game 44 & 45 | Colorado State at San Diego State (dh)
May 2, 2008 | San Diego, Calif. | 6 p.m. MT / 8 p.m. MT
Game 46 | Colorado State at UNLV
May 3, 2008 | Las Vegas, Nev. | 7 p.m. MT
Game 47 | Colorado State at UNLV
May 4, 2008 | Las Vegas, Nev. | 2 p.m. MT
This Week...
Colorado State wraps up its conference road schedule this week in Las Vegas, Nev., and San Diego, Calif. The Rams travel to San Diego State on Friday for a doubleheader with the Aztecs. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. MT followed by a tentative 8 p.m. start for the second game. Colorado State will then head to Las Vegas for games Saturday and Sunday against the Rebels with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. MT Saturday and 2 p.m. MT Sunday.
Last Week...
The Rams closed a seven-game homestand last weekend against conference foe New Mexico. This was the first time that New Mexico and Colorado State played in Fort Collins since the 2006 season due to inclement weather last season that forced the two teams to play four games in Albuquerque, N.M. Las weekend, weather forced the teams to postpone Saturday's game and the Rams and Lobos had to play a doubleheader on Sunday. The Lobos won the first game, 8-2, but the Rams rallied in the second game to take an 11-1 victory.
About San Diego State...
The San Diego State Aztecs host the Rams this weekend with a 37-15 overall record and a 9-5 MWC record. Tonye McCorkle leads the team with a .318 batting average. She has recorded seven doubles, three triples, and a home run with 29 RBI. Leading the Aztecs in the circle is Christina Ross who has a MWC-best 1.06 ERA in 237.2 innings pitched. In those 237.2 innings, Ross has only given up 36 earned runs while striking out 224 batters.
About UNLV...
The UNLV Rebels host the Rams this week with a 23-34-1 overall record and a 3-11 MWC mark. The Rebels are led by Jaci Hull at the plate with a .320 batting average in 58 starts. She also boasts nine doubles, two triples, 13 home runs and 40 RBI. Stephanie Bregante leads the Rebels in the circle with 158 strikeouts in 200 innings pitched.
The Big Five...
Offensively, Colorado State boasts an impressive team batting average (.314) and has recorded a team slugging percentage of .529 on the season. Five Rams (Lauren Cusick, Caitlan Stem, Ashley Munoz, Allison Majam, and Julia Kloppe) are leading the way, currently batting over .300, with Cusick (.399) in second place in the MWC. Those five players have accounted for 68.2 percent (150 of 220) of the team's RBI and are also responsible for 74.1 percent (43 of 58) of the team's home runs.
Yori's Coaching Milestones...
Head Coach Mary Yori, who earlier this season coached in her 1,000th-career game (vs. Utah State, March 8) and won her 200th game at CSU (vs. Texas - San Antonio, Feb. 15), coached in the 400th game of her career at CSU in Game 1 against BYU on April 4. Yori enters Thursday's game vs. San Diego State with a career record of 675-352 (.657) and is 216-194 (.527) at CSU.
Kiss it Goodbye...
Colorado State is currently in second place in the MWC with 58 home runs. That mark places the Rams fourth in the nation on the home runs per game chart behind Arizona, Arizona State and Jacksonville State. Senior Lauren Cusick is tied for the conference lead and leads the team with 17 home runs. She surpassed Ashley Munoz's record 14 single-season homers two weeks ago against UNLV in Game 2 of the televised doubleheader. Cusick also surpassed former Ram Brittany Huerta for the top spot on the all-time home run chart at Colorado State two days later against No. 19/20 San Diego State. Cusick now has 35 career home runs.
Two-Out Rally...
As a team, Colorado State is batting at a .314 clip this season with two outs and 42.2 percent (93 of 220) of the team's RBI this season have come with two outs in an inning. Freshman Caitlan Stem leads the team with a .529 average (18-for-34) in two-out situations. She is followed by senior Lauren Cusick with a .405 (15-for-37) average. Stem has also recorded 17 of her 33 RBI with two outs while Cusick has recorded nine of her 35 RBI with two outs.
Score Some More...
Through 43 games, Colorado State's offense ranks 19th in the country, averaging 5.76 runs per contest. The Rams scored 13 runs in two games this past weekend against the Lobos. In those two games the Rams hit four doubles and four home runs and recorded 18 overall hits. On the season, Colorado State has scored 249 runs on 376 hits. The Rams also have 76 doubles on the season and 58 home runs, which places them second in the MWC.
In the Record Books...
The 2008 squad is closing in on several single-season CSU records. As a team the Rams are currently in the top spot with a .529 slugging percentage, surpassing the 2004 squad with a .521 slugging percentage. They are also in third place in batting average with a .314, just .013 points behind the 2004 squad that sits in first place. Colorado State, which has hit 58 homers in 43 games, needs one more round-tripper to sit in the second spot and surpass the 2004 squad that also hit 58 on the season.
Cusick on the Charts...
Senior Lauren Cusick has already surpassed teammate Ashley Munoz with 17 single-season home runs, and former Ram Brittany Huerta for the all-time home run record with 35, but she is also in position to break more single-season and career records before her senior season is complete. She is currently in fourth place with 52 runs scored on the season and needs just nine more to surpass former Ram Jennifer Buford (1997) for the record. Cusick also needs five more doubles to surpass her former teammate Jessica Strickland (2005) for the top spot. In her career at Colorado State, Cusick has 202 starts and 202 games played and only needs seven more to surpass Kerry Farrell (2002-05) and Stephanie Roberts (2002-05), who each have 208 games started and games played in their career.
Power top to bottom...
This season has been one of the most dominant offensive performances by a CSU team in school history, as the Rams have racked up 58 home runs in just 43 games. Twelve players have hit home runs for Colorado State this season, led by senior Lauren Cusick's school-record 17. No other team in the Mountain West Conference has had more than 10 players homer this season. BYU, New Mexico and UNLV rank second with 10 players homering, while Utah (8) and San Diego State (6) rank last in the conference.
On Deck...
Colorado State returns home for its final homestand of the season. The Rams face BYU in a doubleheader May 8 ,with the first pitch scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MT. Utah and Colorado State play May 9 and May 10 at Ram Field with the first pitch Saturday set for 3 p.m. MT and the first pitch Sunday set for 12 p.m. MT.
