Preview: Rams host Spartans in huge conference series

Colorado State Rams (23-12, 7-5 MW) vs. San Jose State Spartans (25-14, 9-5 MW)
April 20-22 | Ram Field | Fort Collins, Colo.
Live Stats | CSU Notes

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THE WEEKEND
• The Rams continue Mountain West action hosting San Jose State this weekend.
• Colorado State will face San Jose State for a three-game series starting Friday, April 20 at 4 p.m.
• The two teams will also play Saturday morning starting at 11 a.m., and finish Sunday at 12 p.m.
• Saturday's game will precede the Rams' spring football game starting at 12 p.m., at the CSU Stadium.

ON DECK
• Following the home series with the Spartans, the Rams will head to San Diego State to close the month, April 27-29.

RAMS AT A GLANCE
• Colorado State won its third Mountain West series last week with a 2-1 record at Utah State - its third MW series win is the most since the 2014 season where the Rams won four series and finished with a 13-11 record in the Mountain West.
• The Rams won the first game 3-0 to earn their fifth shutout of the season - third against a Mountain West opponent. CSU has recorded a shutout in each of its conference series.
• Colorado State dropped game two 7-6 after the Aggies scored seven runs to steal the lead as CSU ran out of time.
• CSU won game three against Utah State to secure its third conference series victory.
• Colorado State's pitching staff is spinning a great season so far, carrying a 2.81 ERA to lead all of the Mountain West.
• Bridgette Hutton is the primary slinger, holding a 12-6 record and a 2.74 ERA. Allison Petty follows with a 2.27 ERA and is 4-3.
• Lauren Buchanan has been carrying a big bat as of lately, recording a hit in each of the last four games. She leads the Rams with a .410 batting average and slugging .619 with a .488 on-base mark. In the last six games, she's batting .455 with 10 hits, four doubles and six RBI.
• Corina Gamboa leads CSU with seven home runs and is fourth in batting with a .368 mark. She also has 27 RBI and eight doubles.
• The Rams are 23-12 through 35 games, which is their best record since 2014 when the team was 25-10. CSU is also batting nearly the same as that year with just a one above, (.312).
• Even though CSU isn't hitting as many homers as the 2014 team (32), they have hit more doubles and triples than any team has at this point of the season since 2008.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
• San Jose State enters the weekend with a 25-14 overall record and 9-5 in the Mountain West.
• The Spartans suffered their first Mountain West series sweep last week against Fresno State at home. SJS was leading the conference heading into the weekend, but three-straight losses dropped them into second behind Fresno State.
• SJS has won conference series against San Diego State, Boise State, UNLV and Nevada.
• The Spartans have recorded one shutout in conference play against Boise State, but were shutout twice last week against the Bulldogs in the series opener and finale.
• San Jose State is carrying a four-game skid into Fort Collins, with its last win coming against Nevada on April 6.

SERIES HISTORY
• Colorado State holds a 17-15 all-time record against the Spartans.
• The Rams won the series last year, 2-1 record in San Jose, which was just one-of-two conference series wins for the season.
• The Rams are 5-5 in the last 10 games in the series, including 6-4 in last 10 matchups in Fort Collins.

LAST TEN VS...
                DATE       TEAM      RESULT
                4/9/17   at San Jose State L 2-3
                4/9/17   at San Jose State W 5-0
                4/7/17   at San Jose State W 1-0
                4/4/16   SAN JOSE STATE   L 4-12 (6)
                4/3/16   SAN JOSE STATE   L 5-13 (6)
                4/3/16   SAN JOSE STATE   W 9-3
                4/4/15   at San Jose State L 0-8 (5)
                4/3/15   at San Jose State W 1-0
                4/2/15   at San Jose State W 6-0
                5/10/14 SAN JOSE STATE   L 1-4

DONALDSON NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Sophomore Haley Donaldson was named Mountain West Player of the Week on April 10.
• Donaldson was the second CSU softball player to earn a weekly award from the conference this season. The honor was also the first of her career.
• The sophomore led Colorado State last week in nearly every category offensively. She finished a .571 batting mark, eight hits, including four doubles and a home run.
• The human development and family studies major drove in five runs, while slugging 1.071 and posting a .647 on-base percentage. • Donaldson registered a hit in all four games last week, including three games with two-or-more hits and one with three base hits.
• Donaldson also finished perfect at short for the week with six assists and five putouts.

HITTING STREAKS
• Haley Donaldson carries a team-best seven-game hitting streak into the San Jose State series. In those seven games she has posted 13 hits, including six RBI and six doubles
• Corina Gamboa follows with a six-game streak, with three RBI and four runs scored.

RAMS IN NON-LEAGUE PLAY
• CSU finished 16-7 in non-conference games this season after picking up three wins in its final week of non-conference action.
• The Rams went 2-1 at Kansas March 30 -31 before finish the schedule defeating Northern Colorado for the second time this season with a 9-1 victory in five innings on Tuesday.
• The Rams posted a 19-7 mark against non-conference competition in 2017. That included a 10-3 record across the team's three home tournaments and six wins against teams from the Big Ten or Big 12.

FRESNO STATE SERIES
• Despite dropping the series at Fresno State, 2-1. The Rams put up a fight against the Bulldogs in its first Mountain West Conference series away from Fort Collins.
• The Rams offense hit their way into early leads in each game, but could not hold on down the stretch.
• Colorado State picked up a 4-0 victory in the second game to force a rubber match in the final game of the series. The shutout was the first for the Rams at Margie Wright Diamond and just the second win against the Bulldogs in Fresno, Calif.
• The shutout was also just the second time in series history for the Rams - April 28, 1997 at Ram Field.
• The win was the first in Fresno, since May 4, 2014 - the first and only win at Margie Wright Diamond.
• Colorado State lead 3-0 heading into the fifth inning in the final game, but Fresno State scored four runs over the last three innings to steal the series.

SEASON START
• The Rams started the season 4-0 of the first time since 2014 with a perfect record at the Texas Classic.
• Colorado State then improved its record to 7-0 at the Hillenbrand Invite to have its best start since 1997 when the team started 8-0.
• With a victory over Northern Colorado to open Ram Field, the Rams were 8-1 for the first time since 2008 when the team began, 10-1.

CONFERENCE OPENING RECORDS
• The Rams are now 7-12 in Mountain West Conference opening games dating back to the leagues start in 2000 season.
• CSU is 4-5 in home opening Mountain West games, after a walk-off victory over Nevada this season.
• Colorado State is 3-7 opening conference games away from Ram Field.

HUTTON NAMED PITCHER OF THE WEEK
• Junior Bridgette Hutton was named Mountain West Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 21.
• Hutton was the first CSU softball player to earn a weekly award from the conference this season. The honor was also the second of her career.
• The psychology major posted a 2-1 record at the Hillenbrand Invitational, including hurling two complete games and the first shutout of the season with a 5-0 win over Tory.
• The Platteville, Colo., native allowed just four runs in the three games she appeared in, posting a 1.56 ERA.

TRANSFERS MAKING A MARK
• Transfer Sarah Muzik is making her mark for the Rams as the junior is second on the team with a .400 batting average and .488 slugging mark, while carrying a .453 on-base tick.
• The Hawai'i transfer also has recorded a team-best 50 hits and is 11-for-13 in stolen bases. Her 50 hits is on pace to break into the top-10 for most in a single season.

PETAKOFF'S PITCHING PROWESS
• Redshirt senior Larisa Petakoff is off to a great start, holding the team's best record with a 3-0 in 20 1/3 innings pitched.
• She has appeared in 10 games and allowed just 25 hits and seven earned runs.
• She also has earned the only save, coming against Montana at the Hillenbrand Invite.

GAMBOA HEATING UP AT THE HOT CORNER
• Sophomore Corina Gamboa has established herself as a threat at third base. So far this season, Gamboa posted 27 RBI with seven home runs.
• She is currently fourth on the team with a .368 batting average and second slugging .623.

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