Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
11-5
Maine
2-6
Recap: Maine mounts late rally, tops Rams 6-5
3/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Colorado State Rams saw their six-game win streak come to an end on Friday, as they lost to Maine, 6-5, to open the Colorado State Classic II at Ram Field.
CSU (11-5) had won six in a row and nine of its last 10 before Friday. Maine (2-6) picked up its first win of the weekend after falling to No. 25 Wisconsin earlier in the day.
Maine used a three-run home run to take a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh. Faythe Goins hit the three-run bomb over the left field wall as a pinch-hit hero for the Black Bears.
The power portion of the CSU lineup was due up in the bottom half, and Hannah McCorkhill gave the team some hope with a leadoff solo shot over the center field wall to cut the Black Bears' lead to 2.
Amber Nelson was the next batter for the Rams, and promptly hit what looked to be a routine single to left field. The Maine fielder mistakenly let the ball slip right past, and after a poor relay throw to third, Nelson came all the way around to score to cut the deficit to just 1 with no outs.
Lauren Buchanan, who entered the contest with 3 home runs of her own, was up next for CSU, but was struck out on a called third strike. The next two Rams each grounded out to seal the win for the Black Bears.
Maine also held a 3-2 lead through four innings, but Nelson came through with her sixth homer of the year to knot the score at 3-3.
The Rams led 2-0 after two innings before Maine's Erika Leonard hit a two-run blast to left center in the top of the third. A Buchanan sacrifice fly (scoring Haley Hutton) and a throwing error on Maine's catcher (scoring Danni Klein from third base) put the Rams on the board twice early.
IN THEIR WORDS…
"I don't think our offense underperformed. I think we scored enough runs to be able to win that game. We had a couple miscues on defense that really hurt us and our pitchers didn't change speeds enough. I don't see leaving eight runners on base as a bad thing, I think it's a sign that the offense is being productive." - Head Coach Jen Fisher on the offense leaving eight runners on base, but not letting the team down
STAT OF THE GAME…
.615 - The top four spots in the CSU order were very productive all game, going a combined 8-for-13 with four walks. Haley Hutton was 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, and Amber Nelson was 3-for-4 with a homer and two runs scored.
NEXT…
CSU, Maine and No. 25 Wisconsin will continue play at the Colorado State Classic II tomorrow. Maine and Wisconsin will face off at 10 a.m., followed by CSU's first matchup with the nationally-ranked Badgers. The CSU-Wisconsin matchup will be streamed live at csurams.com/videos.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: BogdanovichE (1-2)
L: Petty, Alison (0-1)
S: Kennedy, A. (1)
Batting:
HR: Leonard, E. 1 ; Derrick, A. 1 ; Goins, F. 1
RBI: Leonard, E. 2 ; Derrick, A. 1 ; Goins, F. 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Leonard, E. 1 ; Derrick, A. 1 ; Niland, K. 1 ; Douglass, C. 1 ; Carlson, R. 1 ; Goins, F. 1
Batting:
HR: McCorkhill, Hannah 1 ; Nelson, Amber 1
RBI: McCorkhill, Hannah 1 ; Nelson, Amber 1 ; Buchanan, Lauren 1
SF: Buchanan, Lauren 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hutton, Haley 1 ; McCorkhill, Hannah 1 ; Nelson, Amber 2 ; Klein, Danni 1
SB: Arcarese, Taryn 1 ; Klein, Danni 1
