Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, March 7
Fort Collins, Colo.
1:30 PM MT
Colorado State
1
vs
9
Kennesaw State
Fisher Wants Rams in Attack Mode
3/7/2020 7:26:00 PM | Softball
Rams face long Sunday to close out Classic
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – She wants her team in an attack mode.
At the plate, in the field, in the circle and on the base paths. Colorado State softball coach Jen Fisher isn't convinced her team is there. Maybe at times here and there, but not full throttle. Her hope for the now 9-11 Rams after dropping a 9-1 decision in the Colorado State Classic to Kennesaw State on Saturday at Ram Field is a simple spark may lead the way.
Who better than leadoff hitter Ashley Michelena to toss the match.
As the team's bats remain sluggish, Fisher's talk to them is to stay within themselves, use what they do best to get them going. In the case of Michelena, her factor is speed, and she put it on full display in a halted game with Idaho State as the sun dropped down below the Rocky Mountains.
Her driving a ball into the gap in the first inning and turning it into a triple was just what the doctor ordered coming off a loss where the Rams had just two hits. But without her daring, she may have been stranded.
Haley Donaldson followed with a ball hit out to second, contact which would fall short of either a line drive or a pop-up, and it definitely wasn't going to clear the infield dirt. Still, Michelena tagged up, and when Bengals' second baseman Shealee Perkins snared it with her back to the plate, Michelena was gone.
"I just knew. I saw the second baseman, she wasn't for sure going to catch it and it was going to be a hard play," Michelena said. "I had a full send. I definitely heard coach say you're going, and we both have good communication and she trusts me. I think it was more instinct than anything.
"It was her back-peddling more than anything, so I knew I had a chance."
No hesitation, which is exactly what Fisher wants.
"I think we've got to get in an attack mode more. If we're sitting back on our heels, then we're not making plays," Fisher said. "The mantra is attack, attack, attack, and I don't' feel we're doing that at the plate, I don't feel we're doing that necessarily on the mound. Maybe that's because this game is so contagious."
The run Michelena scored stood alone on the board for six innings. It was there because in the top of the fifth she chased down a two-out gapper for the final out to keep the Rams in front. She couldn't, however, chase down the two-run shot from Angelica Cano in the top of the sixth, the one leaving the Rams on the short end of the linescore again, with the game suspended by darkness.
The Rams had just two hits in the first game of the day, and just four in the nightcap when the seventh inning awaits Sunday. Michelena had three of them, and stole a base. Those contributions, she said, were her focusing on what she can do, not what she or any of her teammates had not yet done.
"I think just going in there, it's kinda like you have to go in there focused," she said. "You can't let the past at-bats affect you. I think we do a real good job of flipping that switch. We think of the positive and look forward to what we can do and what we can provide, rather than just thinking of what happened in the past."
Fisher admitted she is surprised by the batting woes. Yes, there are some new faces, but enough productive players are around where an order-deep slump seems preposterous. Every Ram is going through it, so the dugout serves as a group therapy session, with nothing but positive encouragement being passes around, according to Ruiz.
What none of the players have done is shrink away from the next opportunity. Just as if they were going strong, they all are in a line to get back in the box and take their hacks. It's not a dreadful experience, it's a learning one, they say.
Like their coach, they're positive the lineup is going to cut loose, and you can't do that from the bench.
"I think we're ready to take it to them," Ruiz said. "We just kind of feed off each other's energy, whether we're successful or unsuccessful at the plate. I think the dugout energy is what fuels us, and I think that's going to fuel our fire tomorrow and we're going to get the job done."
Sunday's schedule will finish out play in the tournament, just not as planned. At 9 a.m. the Rams and Bengals will finish their game (CSU trails 2-1), then Idaho State and Kennesaw State will follow with a full contest. CSU will then take on Purdue, first finishing up the light-delayed contest from Friday (CSU trails 4-3) before another full contest is played out.
At the plate, in the field, in the circle and on the base paths. Colorado State softball coach Jen Fisher isn't convinced her team is there. Maybe at times here and there, but not full throttle. Her hope for the now 9-11 Rams after dropping a 9-1 decision in the Colorado State Classic to Kennesaw State on Saturday at Ram Field is a simple spark may lead the way.
Who better than leadoff hitter Ashley Michelena to toss the match.
As the team's bats remain sluggish, Fisher's talk to them is to stay within themselves, use what they do best to get them going. In the case of Michelena, her factor is speed, and she put it on full display in a halted game with Idaho State as the sun dropped down below the Rocky Mountains.
Her driving a ball into the gap in the first inning and turning it into a triple was just what the doctor ordered coming off a loss where the Rams had just two hits. But without her daring, she may have been stranded.
Haley Donaldson followed with a ball hit out to second, contact which would fall short of either a line drive or a pop-up, and it definitely wasn't going to clear the infield dirt. Still, Michelena tagged up, and when Bengals' second baseman Shealee Perkins snared it with her back to the plate, Michelena was gone.
"I just knew. I saw the second baseman, she wasn't for sure going to catch it and it was going to be a hard play," Michelena said. "I had a full send. I definitely heard coach say you're going, and we both have good communication and she trusts me. I think it was more instinct than anything.
"It was her back-peddling more than anything, so I knew I had a chance."
No hesitation, which is exactly what Fisher wants.
"I think we've got to get in an attack mode more. If we're sitting back on our heels, then we're not making plays," Fisher said. "The mantra is attack, attack, attack, and I don't' feel we're doing that at the plate, I don't feel we're doing that necessarily on the mound. Maybe that's because this game is so contagious."
The run Michelena scored stood alone on the board for six innings. It was there because in the top of the fifth she chased down a two-out gapper for the final out to keep the Rams in front. She couldn't, however, chase down the two-run shot from Angelica Cano in the top of the sixth, the one leaving the Rams on the short end of the linescore again, with the game suspended by darkness.
The Rams had just two hits in the first game of the day, and just four in the nightcap when the seventh inning awaits Sunday. Michelena had three of them, and stole a base. Those contributions, she said, were her focusing on what she can do, not what she or any of her teammates had not yet done.
"I think just going in there, it's kinda like you have to go in there focused," she said. "You can't let the past at-bats affect you. I think we do a real good job of flipping that switch. We think of the positive and look forward to what we can do and what we can provide, rather than just thinking of what happened in the past."
Fisher admitted she is surprised by the batting woes. Yes, there are some new faces, but enough productive players are around where an order-deep slump seems preposterous. Every Ram is going through it, so the dugout serves as a group therapy session, with nothing but positive encouragement being passes around, according to Ruiz.
What none of the players have done is shrink away from the next opportunity. Just as if they were going strong, they all are in a line to get back in the box and take their hacks. It's not a dreadful experience, it's a learning one, they say.
Like their coach, they're positive the lineup is going to cut loose, and you can't do that from the bench.
"I think we're ready to take it to them," Ruiz said. "We just kind of feed off each other's energy, whether we're successful or unsuccessful at the plate. I think the dugout energy is what fuels us, and I think that's going to fuel our fire tomorrow and we're going to get the job done."
Sunday's schedule will finish out play in the tournament, just not as planned. At 9 a.m. the Rams and Bengals will finish their game (CSU trails 2-1), then Idaho State and Kennesaw State will follow with a full contest. CSU will then take on Purdue, first finishing up the light-delayed contest from Friday (CSU trails 4-3) before another full contest is played out.
Players Mentioned
SS
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OF
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