Colorado State University Athletics
Sunday, March 22
Fort Collins, Colo.
12:00 PM
Colorado State
18-16, 0
2
vs
11
Fresno State
22-10, 0
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Fresno State
0
0
3
6
2
11
14
1
Colorado State
0
2
0
0
0
2
6
3
Softball recap: Rams defeated by Bulldogs in series finale
3/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 22, 2015
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State closed its series against preseason favorite Fresno State on Sunday, falling, 11-2, in five innings. The loss is CSU's fourth in a row after an 11-game win streak to begin March.
Unlike the first two games, CSU (18-16, 0-3 MW) was able to hold the Bulldogs (22-10, 3-0 MW) scoreless in the first frame, and even took the lead in the second inning. Junior Jaelyn Manzanares led off the inning with a walk, and the Rams had runners on the corner following a Madison Kilcrease single. That's when sophomore Taryn Arcarese came up with the big two-out base hit, bringing in both runners. It was the Rams' first lead of the series.
"I think our base hitters are doing a good job of putting the ball into play," Head Coach Jen Fisher said. "It was good to see Taryn hit the ball hard into the ground; that's what we need out of her. Her role in the bottom of the order is to put it into play and turn it over. I was happy with Taryn and Madison for getting on and getting a couple of hits. At the top of the order, Haley (Hutton) and Haley (David) did their job with putting the ball into play and putting pressure on defense. The middle of the order couldn't square anything up again, which is frustrating."
The lead would be short-lived, though, as Fresno State scored three runs in the third inning and piled on eight more over the next two innings. The Bulldogs led off the third inning with four-consecutive hits, with three of them scoring. In the fourth, CSU had to use three pitchers, as the Bulldogs scored six times. They collected five hits, with four coming after a CSU error. Four of the runs that inning were unearned.
Freshman Logan Losh closed the inning by getting her only batter faced to line out with the bases loaded, escaping further damage. In the fifth, though, Fresno State recorded three hits off Losh, scoring two more times to set up a much-needed rally for CSU.
The Rams had the leadoff hitter reach base, but couldn't do anything else, falling in five innings to one of the league's top pitchers, Jill Compton. CSU had at least one base runner in each inning except one, but never more than one in an inning except for the second.
"I think it boils down to Compton being that good," Fisher said. "She holds a lot of teams down and you have to play perfect defense against her. You have to work to manufacture a couple of runs. We didn't play perfect defense today, yesterday, or Friday. If we can just clean a few things up - because you know we're diving for balls, playing hard and we're making a few great plays - but we're throwing away some of it away on simpler plays or we're not quite finishing. Offensively, I don't know if you can work to beat Compton and get double-digit hits off her; you have to work to manufacture anything that you can."
Haley Hutton went 3-for-3 on the day, continuing her hot weekend. In the three games, the sophomore went 8-for-9. Kilcrease went 2-for-2, scoring one of CSU's two runs, while Arcarese went 1-for-2 with two RBI. Freshman Trinity Harrington took the loss, pitching three innings and striking out three. Junior Holly Reinke pitched two-thirds of an inning, while Losh went one and one-third.
CSU will play its final non-conference game on Wednesday, hosting Northern Colorado at 4 p.m. at Ram Field. The Rams beat the Bears, 8-6, earlier this month. They will have the weekend off before jumping back into Mountain West play the first weekend of April.
Unlike the first two games, CSU (18-16, 0-3 MW) was able to hold the Bulldogs (22-10, 3-0 MW) scoreless in the first frame, and even took the lead in the second inning. Junior Jaelyn Manzanares led off the inning with a walk, and the Rams had runners on the corner following a Madison Kilcrease single. That's when sophomore Taryn Arcarese came up with the big two-out base hit, bringing in both runners. It was the Rams' first lead of the series.
"I think our base hitters are doing a good job of putting the ball into play," Head Coach Jen Fisher said. "It was good to see Taryn hit the ball hard into the ground; that's what we need out of her. Her role in the bottom of the order is to put it into play and turn it over. I was happy with Taryn and Madison for getting on and getting a couple of hits. At the top of the order, Haley (Hutton) and Haley (David) did their job with putting the ball into play and putting pressure on defense. The middle of the order couldn't square anything up again, which is frustrating."
The lead would be short-lived, though, as Fresno State scored three runs in the third inning and piled on eight more over the next two innings. The Bulldogs led off the third inning with four-consecutive hits, with three of them scoring. In the fourth, CSU had to use three pitchers, as the Bulldogs scored six times. They collected five hits, with four coming after a CSU error. Four of the runs that inning were unearned.
Freshman Logan Losh closed the inning by getting her only batter faced to line out with the bases loaded, escaping further damage. In the fifth, though, Fresno State recorded three hits off Losh, scoring two more times to set up a much-needed rally for CSU.
The Rams had the leadoff hitter reach base, but couldn't do anything else, falling in five innings to one of the league's top pitchers, Jill Compton. CSU had at least one base runner in each inning except one, but never more than one in an inning except for the second.
"I think it boils down to Compton being that good," Fisher said. "She holds a lot of teams down and you have to play perfect defense against her. You have to work to manufacture a couple of runs. We didn't play perfect defense today, yesterday, or Friday. If we can just clean a few things up - because you know we're diving for balls, playing hard and we're making a few great plays - but we're throwing away some of it away on simpler plays or we're not quite finishing. Offensively, I don't know if you can work to beat Compton and get double-digit hits off her; you have to work to manufacture anything that you can."
Haley Hutton went 3-for-3 on the day, continuing her hot weekend. In the three games, the sophomore went 8-for-9. Kilcrease went 2-for-2, scoring one of CSU's two runs, while Arcarese went 1-for-2 with two RBI. Freshman Trinity Harrington took the loss, pitching three innings and striking out three. Junior Holly Reinke pitched two-thirds of an inning, while Losh went one and one-third.
CSU will play its final non-conference game on Wednesday, hosting Northern Colorado at 4 p.m. at Ram Field. The Rams beat the Bears, 8-6, earlier this month. They will have the weekend off before jumping back into Mountain West play the first weekend of April.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: COMPTON, J (13-7)
L: Harrington, Trinity (2-3)
Batting:
2B: VILLALPANDO 1
RBI: RIVERS, M 1 ; SOLOMON, M 2 ; WILLIS, K 2 ; GUMZ, P 4 ; VILLALPANDO 1 ; LEEHONG, C 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MOSS, B 1 ; RIVERS, M 3 ; SOLOMON, M 3 ; GUMZ, P 1 ; VILLALPANDO 1 ; LEEHONG, C 1 ; SMITH, W 1
SB: RIVERS, M 1
HBP: LEEHONG, C 1
Batting:
RBI: Arcarese, Taryn 1
SH: David, Haley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Manzanares, Jaelyn 1 ; Kilcrease, Madison 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
3
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
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