Colorado State University Athletics
Softball preview: Rams face road tests at Utah, BYU
4/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 20, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
This week…
The Rams depart Fort Collins this week, traveling to Utah for three Mountain West Conference contests. CSU will first take on the Utah Utes on Thursday at 4 p.m. MT in Salt Lake City. The Rams will then head to Provo to face BYU twice. The first game is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT on Friday and will be broadcast live on BYU-TV (DirecTV channel 374, Dish Network channel 9397, Comcast channel 232). The game will be replayed on The Mtn. on Saturday at 3 p.m. MT (Comcast channel 411, DirecTV 616). The second game will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT.
Previously…
The Rams finished a tough six-game homestand on Sunday and did not register a win. They faced in-state rival Northern Colorado for the fourth and final time this season and lost in a 10-1 decision that evened the season series at 2-2. The New Mexico Lobos then came to Fort Collins to resume conference play, but the Rams were outscored 32-11 over two games. CSU also incurred the eight-run rule in four consecutive games at home. The Rams’ current home record is currently 1-10 with five more games scheduled.
Conference play in 2010…
Last season, the Rams notched a 7-8 record in conference play, helping them to a 29-20 overall record and fourth-place finish in the conference. Of the 15 MWC games on the schedule, the Rams played seven at home, winning four. Between April 17 and May 13, CSU strung together three consecutive conference victories, defeating BYU, New Mexico and San Diego State.
Home stretch…
CSU heads into the final 12 games of the season looking to snap a six-game losing streak. In 2010, the Rams went 6-6 in their final 12 games.
Utah…
The Utes’ overall record is currently 24-17 (2-1 MWC), good for third place in the Mountain West behind San Diego State and BYU. Their last win came against conference-rival UNLV on Saturday in a 14-1 decision that ended in five innings. In 2010, Utah finished the season with a 26-29 record (4-11 MWC) and placed fifth in the conference. Utah is 55-42 all-time against CSU.
BYU…
The Cougars are currently 24-15 (2-1 MWC) and sit in second place in the conference standings. They are the defending Mountain West champions (46-13 overall, 12-3 MWC) and were projected to repeat in 2011 by the six MWC head coaches in the preseason poll. On Tuesday, junior first baseman Stacie Graham was named MWC Softball co-Player of the Week (with New Mexico’s Stefanie Carramusa), while senior Paige Affleck was named Pitcher of the Week. Affleck went 2-1 with a 0.00 ERA over 20.1 innings last week. The Cougars have boasted a Player of the Week four times this season and have had a player named Pitcher of the Week three times. Against the Rams, BYU is 25-17 all-time.
On the road again…
On Thursday, CSU begins its fifth road trip of the season. The Rams are 1-7 in road games this season and they have notched a 5-16 record in neutral games for a 6-23 record in games played away from Ram Field.
Mountain West rankings...
The Rams are ranked in the top three in three offensive categories: home runs (second, 37), hit by pitch (first, 27) and strikeouts (first, 258). In fielding, the Rams rank first in double plays with 14 (tied with Utah). Individually, freshman Emily Pohl ranks second in the conference in home runs with 10. The catcher has also caught 10 batters stealing and ranks third in that category (tied with New Mexico’s Jessica Garcia). Senior Caitlan Stem cracked the top 10 in doubles (9), good for fourth in the conference. She also ranks in assists, coming in at fifth place with 73. On the pitching side, freshman Desiree Laswell leads the conference in both games finished (19) and games in relief (22).
Score some more...
CSU has scored more than 10 runs on three occasions this season, resulting in a 2-1 record. The first win was in a 12-8 victory over Minnesota on Feb. 12. The second high-scoring victory came on Feb. 25 in an 11-3 win over UC Davis. The loss came against San Diego State, 15-11, on April 9.
When scoring first...
The Rams are 5-8 when scoring first, having collected wins over Northern Colorado (twice), UC Davis, Long Island and Jacksonville. When the opponent scores first, the Rams are 2-22. Those two wins came against Minnesota and Santa Clara.
Strength of schedule…
Seven of the Rams’ 2011 opponents are currently ranked or receiving votes in the two national polls. They have faced No. 5/6 Texas, No. 10/11 Stanford, No. 16/20 Kentucky and No. 19/20 Texas A&M, and have lost all of those matchups. Formerly ranked Texas Tech, which defeated the Rams, 17-5, on March 17, received 34 total votes between the two polls. Conference rival BYU was placed in the preseason poll at Nos. 16 and 20 and received four votes in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. San Diego State received one vote in the same poll.
Freshman success...
The 10 freshmen on CSU’s 2011 squad continue to make an impact on the Rams’ season, contributing both offensively and in the field. Catcher Emily Pohl leads the team in home runs with nine, good for second in the Mountain West Conference. Morghan Doughty and Alysa Greckel rank second and third on the team with seven and six home runs, respectively. Pitcher Alexa Cash earned her first win of the season on March 13 against Long Island, pitching all seven innings and giving up one run. Pitcher Desiree Laswell earned her first win on March 6 against Santa Clara, pitching a complete game and holding the Broncos to four hits. Chelsea Biglow ranks fourth in home runs with five (tied with senior Caitlan Stem). On April 9, Biglow hit a grand slam against MWC rival San Diego State. Biglow also showed strong defense against SDSU; she recorded each putout of the third inning against the Aztecs April 10. A freshman currently leads the team in the categories of slugging percentage (Doughty, .549), on-base percentage (Biglow, .421), runs scored (Doughty, 30), RBI (Biglow, 25), home runs (Pohl, 10), total bases (Doughty tied with Stem, 62), walks (Biglow, 20), hit by pitch (Pohl, 7), stolen bases (Doughty, 6), total plate appearances (Doughty, 138) and games played (Pohl tied with sophomore Brianna Donahue and Stem, 40).
