Preview: Rams close April at San Diego State

Colorado State Rams (24-14, 8-7 MW) vs. San Diego State Aztecs (14-28, 5-10 MW)
April 27-29 | SDSU Softball Stadium | San Diego, Calif.
Live Stats | CSU Notes | SDSU Notes

THE WEEKEND
• The Rams continue Mountain West action this week and close the month of April traveling to San Diego State this weekend.
• Colorado State will face San Diego State for a three-game series starting Friday, April 27 at 7 p.m.
• The two teams will also play Saturday night starting at 7 p.m., and finish Sunday at 1 p.m.

ON DECK
• Following the road series with the Aztecs, the Rams will return home for their finale homestand against Boise State, May 4-6.

RAMS AT A GLANCE
• Colorado State suffered just its second Mountain West series loss last week, dropping two games to San Jose State.
• The Rams came out flat in the first game, dropping the opener 20-4 in five innings.
• CSU looked to rebound in the second game of the series, but suffered a 11-4 defeat.
• Colorado State avoided the sweep with a 10-3 win in the finale.
• Colorado State's pitching staff is spinning a great season so far, carrying a 3.41 ERA.
• Bridgette Hutton is the primary slinger, holding a 12-6 record and a 3.02 ERA. Allison Petty follows with a 2.94 ERA and is 5-4.
• Corina Gamboa has been carrying a big bat as of lately, recording a hit in each of the last nine games. She is third on the team with a .384 batting average and is leading the squad slugging .672.
• In the last nine games, Gamboa is batting .441 with 15 hits, two doubles and nine RBI while slugging .647.
• The Rams are 24-14 with three series left in the regular season. Their record is the best since 2014 when the team was 28-10 at this point in the season. CSU is also batting better than the 2014 team with a .316 mark.
• Even though CSU isn't hitting as many homers as the 2014 team (33), they have hit more doubles and triples than any team has at this point of the season since 2008.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
• San Diego State enters the weekend with a 14-28 overall record and 5-10 in the Mountain West.
• The Aztecs are coming off a touch 2-1 series loss at Fresno State last week. SDSU run ruled the Bulldogs, 10-0 in five innings on Friday night before dropping the last two games of the series.
• SDSU's lone conference series win was at UNLV, while the Aztecs have been swept once in Mountain West action against San Jose State.
• Kelsey Munoz leads the team batting .317, while Katie Byrd follows with a .311 average with 41 hits, nine doubles and 21 RBI.
• Alex Formby and Marissa Moreno leads the Aztecs from the circle. Formby holds a 8-11 record and a 2.66 ERA, while Moreno carries a 4-14 mark and 3.52 ERA.

SERIES HISTORY
• San Diego State holds a 37-59 all-time record against the Rams.
• The Rams have won the last two series, 2-1 one at each team's home field.
• The Rams are 5-5 in the last 10 games in the series and 3-7 in the last 10 road games against San Diego State.-

LAST TEN VS...
                DATE       TEAM      RESULT
                3/26/17 SAN DIEGO STATE                W 11-5
                3/25/17 SAN DIEGO STATE                W 7-4
                3/24/17 SAN DIEGO STATE                L 4-9
                4/9/16   at San Diego State               W 3-1
                4/8/16   at San Diego State               W 6-4
                4/8/16   at San Diego State               L 2-3
                4/19/15 SAN DIEGO STATE                L 4-8
                4/18/15 SAN DIEGO STATE                W 10-9
                4/18/15 SAN DIEGO STATE                L 2-3
                4/27/14 at San Diego State               L 2-4

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 10-game on-base streak into the San Diego State series. In those 10 games she has posted 16 hits, including six RBI and six doubles
• Corina Gamboa follows with a nine-game streak, with nine RBI and seven 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 leading the team with a .402 batting average and .485 slugging mark, while carrying a .451 on-base tick.
• The Hawai'i transfer also has recorded a team-best 53 hits and is 12-for-14 in stolen bases. Her 53 hits is on pace to break into the top-10 for most in a single season.

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 33 RBI with eight home runs.
• She is currently third on the team with a .384 batting average and leads slugging .672.

#CSURams

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results