Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
26-28, 7-15
Nevada
15-36, 5-17
Softball recap: 10-run 2nd ignites Rams to victory
5/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
RENO, Nev. -- Colorado State sent 13 batters to the plate in the second inning Thursday, scoring 10 times en route to a 10-2, five-inning victory at Nevada. The victory opened Game 1 of the Rams' final series of the season.
"It was good to knock (McKenna) Isenberg out," Head Coach Jen Fisher said. "We've been needing to get to the starter all year long, and we did it. The wind was helping us, but we were strategically swinging at pitches that we wanted to swing at. The ladies' approach at the plate was really good."
Freshman Savannah Clark led off the second inning with a single, and advanced to second on a Jaelyn Manzanares sacrifice bunt. Senior Taylor Hutton singled to put runners on the corners before senior Danielle Wikre blasted a home run to left-center to bring in the game's first three runs.
Despite the bases-clearing blast, the inning was far from over. Seven of the next eight batters reached base -- Holly Reinke walked, Madison Kilcrease and Haley Hutton hit infield singles, with two outs Shae Rodriguez hit an RBI single followed by a run-scoring single for Clark and RBI walk by Manzanares. The big blow, though, was a Taylor Hutton grand slam to right-center, bringing the score to 10-0 before the Wolf Pack (15-36, 5-17 MW) came to bat for the second time. In the inning eight batters reached base, with Clark and Taylor Hutton reaching twice.
"Our ladies have been working so hard on their offense," Fisher said. "We've had a hard time breaking out, and this week we've been working on timing. It was fun to see all of their effort working on timing pay off. Wik's home run was a no-doubter off the bat; it probably went a good 50 feet over the fence. It was fun to see Wik and Tay get those big hits like that."
The Rams (26-28, 7-15 MW) didn't cross the plate again, but had one hit in the third, a hit and walk in the fourth and a walk in the fifth. CSU pounded out 10 hits in the game, with Clark, Haley Hutton, Taylor Hutton and Rodriguez recording two apiece. Taylor Hutton (four), Wikre (three) and Rodriguez (two) each drove in multiple runs.
On the other side of the diamond, Reinke and the Rams defense allowed just six hits and two walks. The Wolf Pack went down in order in the first, and in the second had two runners on but Reinke got a key strikeout to end the frame. The junior struck out the side in the third, but sandwiched in between the strikeouts was a solo home run, two singles, an error and a walk. Nevada scored two runs in the frame, but would reach base just twice more over the final two innings.
With one out in the fifth, Nevada's Megan Sweet reached base via a single, but CSU turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the game in five innings. Reinke struck out five in the complete-game victory, allowing one earned run.
"Having a comfortable lead allowed Holly to settle in," Fisher said. "They didn't go away; they hit a home run, but she was able to work out a couple jams and get some key strikeouts. It was a good win all around."
Game 2 of the series will begin Friday at 5 p.m. MT. The contest can be streamed for free through the Mountain West Network. With victories in CSU's final two games, the Rams can finish .500 for the fourth-consecutive season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Reinke, Holly (11-19)
L: ISENBERG, M (5-14)
Batting:
HR: Hutton, Taylor 1 ; Wikre, Danielle 1
RBI: Rodriguez, Shae 2 ; Clark, Savannah 1 ; Hutton, Taylor 4 ; Wikre, Danielle 3
SH: Manzanares, Jaelyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hutton, Haley 1 ; Rodriguez, Shae 1 ; Clark, Savannah 2 ; Manzanares, Jaelyn 1 ; Hutton, Taylor 2 ; Wikre, Danielle 1 ; Kilcrease, Madison 1 ; Arcarese, Taryn 1
SB: Hutton, Haley 1
Batting:
2B: HOPKINS, K 1 ; MCWILLIAMS 1
HR: MENDEZ, A 1
RBI: PURCELL, J 1 ; MENDEZ, A 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HOPKINS, K 1 ; MENDEZ, A 1
