Game notes: CSU ends February in Palm Springs

Feb. 24, 2016

Complete Release (PDF)  | Season Stats

The Colorado State Rams softball team will look build on a solid three-win weekend at the Mary Nutter Memorial in Palm Springs, California, this Friday through Sunday. CSU will play five games, including three against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the polls.

All the games at the Mary Nutter Memorial will be streamed live by FloSoftball. A paid subscription is required to stream the games. More information can be found at the FloSoftball website. 

LOOKING AHEAD - Mary Nutter Memorial
The Rams enter the Mary Nutter Memorial looking to add wins to their 3-7 record, facing five dynamic teams before competing against Northern Colorado for the first in-state face off of the year.

-Long Beach State arrives in Palm Springs with a 6-3 record and is receiving votes in both major polls. Currently, the 49er’s are on a four game win streak after competing in the Stanford Tournament. Long Beach State’s Cielo Meza leads the team with a 1.91 ERA, giving up 21 hits, nine runs, and 11 walks while striking out 37. The freshman pitcher has appeared and started in five games and posted three wins with two losses to account for four complete games. In all games, the Rams lead the Prospectors 6-2.

-No. 17/12 Missouri opened their season last weekend in the Citrus Classic, leaving with a perfect 6-0 record. Over the course of the weekend, the Tigers scored a total of 55 runs against six different opponents. One player, Rylee Pierce, was given SEC Softball Player of the Week honors for her collegiate debut and play over the weekend. Pierce notched ten runs, ten hits, two doubles, two stolen bases, three homeruns, and eight RBIs, contributing to her .476 batting average. Colorado State and Missouri have met three times before with the Rams leading the Tigers 2-1.

-No. 25/25 California is 6-3 in overall play while facing ranked opponents such as 18/19 Kentucky in the Campbell/Cartier Classic. The pitching staff for the Golden Bears holds a 2.65 ERA over 60.1 innings, giving up 27 runs and 16 walks while striking out 58 batters. The Golden Bears lead the Rams 3-9 overall, having faced each other in Palm Springs before on Feb. 28, 2010. California won 9-1 in five innings.

-LIU Brooklyn enters the Mary Nutter Memorial with a 4-6 overall record. Their win against Hofstra over the weekend broke a six game losing streak that started against No. 13/15 Florida State. The Rams and the Blackbirds will meet for the first time on the field for their first game on Sunday, facing Whitney West who currently leads the team with a .467 batting average. The senior outfielder has posted five runs, 14 hits, one double, two triples, five walks, and two RBIs over 30 at bats.

-Loyola Marymount enters their second week in the Mary Nutter Classic with a 6-4 record. During their first week of the Mary Nutter Classic played a ten inning game against George Washington to win 4-3. Over ten games, Stephanie Maciel, the Lions’ senior shortstop has recorded a .484 batting average with eight runs, 15 hits, one double, seven RBIs, and two walks. In all games, Colorado State leads Loyola Marymount 6-2.

-For their first home game of the season, CSU faces in state rival, Northern Colorado who enters the weekend with a 3-7 record. UNC’s junior infielder Erica Dick, holds a .393 batting average with three runs, 11 hits, two triples, one homerun, seven RBIs, two walks, and a .643 slugging percentage. The Bears lead the series 30-38. Last year the Green and Gold took both games, winning 8-6 in Greeley and shutting the Bears out 6-0 at home.

WEEKEND REVIEW - DEMARINI DESERT CLASSIC (Feb. 19-21)
The Colorado State Rams won their first three games of the season at the DeMarini Desert Classic hosted by UNLV, Feb. 19-21.

CSU dominated Portland State to open the tournament, winning on a three-run walk-off home run by catcher Jaelyn Manzanares in the fifth inning to win 9-0. Holly Reinke only allowed one hit in the game and allowed no walks.

After losing to Southern Utah on Friday evening, CSU bounced back with a pair of wins over 2015 conference champions on Saturday. The Rams began the day with a 10-6 win in extra innings over BYU, with Manzanares and Lauren Buchanan each scoring two runs. Buchanan hit her first home run in the game, and CSU scored six runs in the top of the eighth to seal the win. CSU then beat Cal State Northridge 6-4, scoring two runs in each of the final three innings. Kristina Akiona and Hannah McCorkhill each homered in the victory, while Bridgette Hutton tallied her first career win.

CSU closed the weekend with a tough 3-1 defeat to Grand Canyon. Haley Hutton scored the team’s lone run in the first inning.

FISHER’s THOUGHTS
On her team’s preparation for another tough weekend against nationally-competitive teams...
“I think they’re doing a pretty good job of not worrying too much about who we play, and just executing our game plan. They feel pretty strongly that they can play with just about anybody. I like our preparation and I like our attitude when we go out there against anybody. We seem to be pretty even when we get out there, which is good.”

On her team’s developing confidence through two weekends of the season...
“I think we are looking to gain more confidence. I think once we start walking the walk, we will be in a good place. We are still finding ourselves, but this past weekend was good for that because we had the offensive explosion that we know we are capable of. The pitching and the defense have been pretty solid, and the pitchers have been playing great defense. They’ve been keeping us in games. We just need a little more swag at the plate, and then we will be where we need to be.”

On her team’s offense...
“The team is starting to understand that there are so many people on this team that can hit the ball. So far, our strikeouts have been low and we are battling and we are showing that we are a tough out at the plate. Our lineup isn’t solidified at all; you’ve seen a lot of people move in and out of different places in the order besides Haley (Hutton) and Madison (Kilcrease). I am hoping we will see more offensive production like what we saw this past weekend.”

On her squad’s expectations for this tournament...
“This is a big tournament. A lot of ranked teams go every year. There’s a lot of publicity, and there’s a lot of young teams that go out to this tournament. I think our expectation is to make sure that we are demonstrating the hard work that we have put in. Our expectation is to execute our pitches, execute at the plate and make good pitches. Our expectation is to start beating some of these teams that we are right there with.”

HUTTON CHASING RECORDS
CSU junior shortstop Haley Hutton is already one of the Rams’ most efficient offensive players of all-time, and when her career is over, she may have legendary statistics. Currently, Hutton ranks first in school history in batting average (minimum 250 career at-bats) at .393, 11 points higher than second all-time. Hutton also has 73 career bases on balls, and needs just two to reach the top-five all-time in CSU history.

REINKE RUNNING THE SHOW
Senior Holly Reinke, CSU’s ace pitcher, ranks first in the Mountain West in both opposing batting average (.197) and total innings pitched (39.2). Reinke also boasts an ERA of 2.29 and has 17 strikeouts, including eight looking (third in the league). Reinke allowed only one hit with no walks in CSU’s five-inning 9-0 win over Portland State on Feb. 19.

RAMS PICKED SEVENTH IN MOUNTAIN WEST PRESEASON POLL
The Colorado State Rams were picked to finish seventh in a tight Mountain West by the league’s coaches. CSU totaled 27 points, just seven points off from fourth-place New Mexico. Fresno State received eight of nine possible first-place votes to be tabbed as the league favorites, with San Diego State garnering the other first-place vote in second.

A LOOK BACK AT 2015
CSU finished the 2015 season with a 27-29 overall record and went 8-16 in the Mountain West, placing seventh among the conference. The record broke the three year span of finishing above .500 since Head Coach Jen Fisher’s start. Despite the missed mark, the Rams still recorded great plays and notable feats.

CSU played against four ranked teams and against three teams receiving top 25 votes. With tough competition, the Rams played admirably, like the game against 15/14 Minnesota where they led through the sixth inning. In March, the Green and Gold began their 11 game win streak, starting when the team swept their opponents in their home tournament. The 11 game win streak was the program’s longest since 2003 and the fourth-best ever. Against San Jose State, the top hitting team in the Mountain West last season, Colorado State shut them out in back-to-back contests on April 2 and 3. It was the first time CSU has posted back-to-back shutouts since 2013, and the first time the Rams have done it on the road since 2003. CSU posted two record shattering statistics in 2015, showing their patience on the bases and at the plate. The Rams posted the second most stolen bases (61) and the most walks (224) in program history.

Of course, none of the above could be possible without the individuals on the team. An incredible individual feat was by the hand of Molly Randle, who on Feb. 14 against IPFW posted the first no-hitter for the Rams in 2010. Other unique feats include ten Rams who led in the Mountain West in 17 different categories. .

MEET THE NEWCOMERS
The Rams have seven new players on their roster this year, adding diversity not only on the field, but in skill level too. Below shows who the new faces are and where they come from.
-Kristina Akiona – Transfers to CSU from Hawai’i where she posted two multiple RBI games as a junior and was a 2015 UH Scholar In Athlete.
-Hayleigh Evans – Moves from Creighton to CSU after playing in 17 games and earning a spot on the Big East All-Academic Team while playing for the Blue Jays.
-Lauren Buchanan –Posted the Kansas state RBI career record in 2012-15 and graduated fifth among her class overall with Bishop Carroll Catholic high school.
-Bridgette Hutton – The third sister of the Hutton trinity who helped lead the Valley High School softball team to many honors, like the Patriot League’s 1st Team All-Conference spot four years in a row.
-Kirsten Kauk - While playing for Bartlesville high school, she was chosen as the All-Metro Honorable Mention, All-District Utility, and All-Region Outfielder
-Monica Navarrete - Capped her high school career as Offensive Player of the Year among the Matadors and named to the 1st Team All-League
-Amber Nelson – Assisted the Murrieta Valley high school softball team to win All-League honors three times in her four-year career

RETURNING RAMS
The Rams have numerous returning players that contributed heavily last season, led by all-conference honoree Haley Hutton. Hutton and fellow infielder Savannah Clark on CollegeSportsMadness.com’s Preseason All-Mountain West Second Team.
Infielder Haley Hutton became the sixth player in CSU history to take all-conference honors as both a freshman and sophomore after starting all 56 games a year ago. She led the team with a .363 batting average, .482 on-base percentage and .469 slugging percentage. Her 65 hits, 44 runs scored and 84 total bases were additionally team highs, also adding 26 RBI and eight stolen bases. Hutton’s 34 walks were tied for the most in the MW this season and rank second in CSU single-season history. She also ranked sixth in the MW for runs and eighth for on-base percentage. Hutton led all fielders with 175 assists at shortstop, her first at that position after playing second base as a freshman.
Infielder Savannah Clark ranked third on the team in batting average (.318) and tied for the team lead with 12 doubles and 36 RBIs.
Catcher Jaelyn Manzanares also started all 56 games, tying for second on the team with seven home runs and tied for the team lead with 36 RBIs. She also ranked fourth on the squad with a .425 on-base percentage.
The Rams return a large portion of its pitching from last season, including Holly Reinke, who led the team with 28 starts and 36 total appearances.

UP NEXT
Colorado State extends their home stretch, facing Nebraska-Omaha and Idaho State for two games apiece starting March 5-6. CSU will face off against Nebraska-Omaha first on Saturday at 12:30 pm MT. Entry into Ram Field is free and live stats links can be found at www.CSURams.com. Fans are also encouraged to follow @CSUSoftball on Twitter for the latest information and updates.

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