Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, May 8
Fort Collins, CO
12 PM MT
Colorado State
12-19, 6-10
4
vs
7
San Diego State
26-13, 11-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
San Diego State
0
3
0
1
0
3
0
7
10
0
Colorado State
0
0
0
0
3
1
0
4
7
2
Rams Drop Pair to San Diego State
5/8/2021 6:41:00 PM | Softball
Gamboa gives her sister a cherished keepsake at the end
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Absolutely nothing was going to come between Sophia Gamboa and retrieving the ball.
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Her older sister, Colorado State senior third baseman Corina Gamboa, had just ripped a two-run homer in the seventh inning in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader with San Diego State at Ram Field. It bounced off the base of the light standard in left field – right where the Gamboa clan was sitting – and Sophia chased it down and raised it high as her sister was circling the bases with her sixth home run of the season.
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Normally, somebody from the team would track it down and put in the bucket for future practice balls, but no one was about to ask Sophia for it back.
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"I've known Sophia since she was like 6, ever since I started recruiting her sister," CSU coach Jen Fisher. "I was jumping up and down when I saw Sophia was the one that got it. So yeah, Sophia's keeping that one for sure."
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It was a Saturday afternoon where the Rams couldn't seem to get out of their own way in dropping a pair to the Aztecs, 7-4 in the opener, 5-2 in the second. The Rams know all too well they had their chances. San Diego State hit the ball well enough, collecting 17 hits on the day, but CSU pitching created more traffic with 12 walks and hitting four Aztec batters. Then a two-out error erupted into a three-run frame in the second game, with four unearned runs total.
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Colorado State has struggled offensively most of the year, and while it did again on the day, there were baserunners to work with. Three times in the second game they left the bases loaded. In the opener, the Rams had the tying run at the plate.
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When a team is not so far away, the little things can make the obstacles seem so much larger.
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"That's the thing about this game, you have to pitch well, you've got to play defense and you got to hit," Fisher said. "When those things are out of whack, one is going well and the other is going terrible. I think we've got to have that mental toughness that never has a bad day. I think we're getting there. It's not a lack of effort, I tell you that."
Â
The Rams were without table-setter Ashely Michelena, which didn't help. Through the season, the Rams have had some hot hitters, but it's never really been contagious enough to string together productive innings. Maya Matsubara had four hits in the two games, including a run-producing triple. Gamboa is swinging it well, collecting four hits herself with three extra-base hits to drive in three.
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But those eight hits account for the 11 the team had combined. But Matsubara remembers what it was like to be on the other side of it in her freshman campaign.
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"I feel like I'm more taking it pitch-by-pitch," she said. "I know when I was struggling before, I was super amped up and I was thinking about my at-bats when I was on defense. There needs to be a separation and taking it one pitch at a time.
Â
"It's a tough mental battle. We're trying to get each other up, but that's also hard, because it's a personal thing to get through it yourself at times. We're so close. We think so much about every little thing. We have approaches and certain mindsets we're supposed to be in. I think thinking about that at times over-amps us and makes us tight. You definitely can't play tight."
Â
That's the thing for all of them. Every one of them wants to be the spark to get a fire started, or produce the gapper to clear the bases in those select moments when a game can break open. But it's hard to be clutch when you're clutching the bat too tightly.
Â
The hard part, Gamboa said, is realizing something small can lead to something big. Not every at-bat has to be grand, just productive.
Â
"We're pressing too much on it. I think our energy was a little flat, and I don't think we were selective in the box," she said. "I think that comes from pressing and wanting to score runs, and it just wasn't going in our favor. The thing with that is our mindset has to be passing the bat. You don't have to do anything too big, just a little poke will do it. Anything can win us a game, even an error. Just get it in play."
Â
There were some big hits by both teams, especially on a day when the wind was swirling. SDSU took a lead in the first game on a three-run homer from Sara Lillie, and Shelby Thompson added a two-run shot later when the Rams had closed the gap to 4-3. Tara Shadowen provided some life with her eighth home run of the season in the sixth.
Â
The Rams were stalled in the second game with only two hits through six innings, none of them coming with traffic via hit batsmen, walks or errors, and that would prove costly.
Â
"They really want to perform, but that's on us as coaches. We've got to figure out a way to free them up and help them play the game and help them play aggressively," Fisher said. "This game is so contagious. I haven't seen three errors in a game from us in I don't know how long.
Â
"I feel a lot of that pressing. They're pressing, coaches are pressing. This game is pretty brutal at times."
Â
Matsubara opened the seventh with a sharp single, but it was two outs later when Gamboa drove the ball deep to her family.
She knew where they were, and deep down she was hoping she could fulfil a request from her sister, which she nearly did in the first game.Â
"I'd like to think they're my good luck. When they watch me, it's a great feeling," she said. "My little sister is out there with my old glove, and she told me, 'hit a home run to me.' It was nice to be able to do that and give her that ball."
Â
Long after the games had concluded, Sophia was still clutching it tight. She not only was going to have her sister autograph it for her, but her understanding was the entire CSU roster would. It was a keepsake of a happy moment for her family and for her sister.
Â
The Rams are in search of those with the season coming to a close – just four games remaining, including Sunday's series finale with the Aztecs (noon), and they're hoping just around the corner, they'll produce a few the whole team can embrace.
Â
Â
Her older sister, Colorado State senior third baseman Corina Gamboa, had just ripped a two-run homer in the seventh inning in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader with San Diego State at Ram Field. It bounced off the base of the light standard in left field – right where the Gamboa clan was sitting – and Sophia chased it down and raised it high as her sister was circling the bases with her sixth home run of the season.
Â
Normally, somebody from the team would track it down and put in the bucket for future practice balls, but no one was about to ask Sophia for it back.
Â
"I've known Sophia since she was like 6, ever since I started recruiting her sister," CSU coach Jen Fisher. "I was jumping up and down when I saw Sophia was the one that got it. So yeah, Sophia's keeping that one for sure."
Â
It was a Saturday afternoon where the Rams couldn't seem to get out of their own way in dropping a pair to the Aztecs, 7-4 in the opener, 5-2 in the second. The Rams know all too well they had their chances. San Diego State hit the ball well enough, collecting 17 hits on the day, but CSU pitching created more traffic with 12 walks and hitting four Aztec batters. Then a two-out error erupted into a three-run frame in the second game, with four unearned runs total.
Â
Colorado State has struggled offensively most of the year, and while it did again on the day, there were baserunners to work with. Three times in the second game they left the bases loaded. In the opener, the Rams had the tying run at the plate.
Â
When a team is not so far away, the little things can make the obstacles seem so much larger.
Â
"That's the thing about this game, you have to pitch well, you've got to play defense and you got to hit," Fisher said. "When those things are out of whack, one is going well and the other is going terrible. I think we've got to have that mental toughness that never has a bad day. I think we're getting there. It's not a lack of effort, I tell you that."
Â
The Rams were without table-setter Ashely Michelena, which didn't help. Through the season, the Rams have had some hot hitters, but it's never really been contagious enough to string together productive innings. Maya Matsubara had four hits in the two games, including a run-producing triple. Gamboa is swinging it well, collecting four hits herself with three extra-base hits to drive in three.
Â
But those eight hits account for the 11 the team had combined. But Matsubara remembers what it was like to be on the other side of it in her freshman campaign.
Â
"I feel like I'm more taking it pitch-by-pitch," she said. "I know when I was struggling before, I was super amped up and I was thinking about my at-bats when I was on defense. There needs to be a separation and taking it one pitch at a time.
Â
"It's a tough mental battle. We're trying to get each other up, but that's also hard, because it's a personal thing to get through it yourself at times. We're so close. We think so much about every little thing. We have approaches and certain mindsets we're supposed to be in. I think thinking about that at times over-amps us and makes us tight. You definitely can't play tight."
Â
That's the thing for all of them. Every one of them wants to be the spark to get a fire started, or produce the gapper to clear the bases in those select moments when a game can break open. But it's hard to be clutch when you're clutching the bat too tightly.
Â
The hard part, Gamboa said, is realizing something small can lead to something big. Not every at-bat has to be grand, just productive.
Â
"We're pressing too much on it. I think our energy was a little flat, and I don't think we were selective in the box," she said. "I think that comes from pressing and wanting to score runs, and it just wasn't going in our favor. The thing with that is our mindset has to be passing the bat. You don't have to do anything too big, just a little poke will do it. Anything can win us a game, even an error. Just get it in play."
Â
There were some big hits by both teams, especially on a day when the wind was swirling. SDSU took a lead in the first game on a three-run homer from Sara Lillie, and Shelby Thompson added a two-run shot later when the Rams had closed the gap to 4-3. Tara Shadowen provided some life with her eighth home run of the season in the sixth.
Â
The Rams were stalled in the second game with only two hits through six innings, none of them coming with traffic via hit batsmen, walks or errors, and that would prove costly.
Â
"They really want to perform, but that's on us as coaches. We've got to figure out a way to free them up and help them play the game and help them play aggressively," Fisher said. "This game is so contagious. I haven't seen three errors in a game from us in I don't know how long.
Â
"I feel a lot of that pressing. They're pressing, coaches are pressing. This game is pretty brutal at times."
Â
Matsubara opened the seventh with a sharp single, but it was two outs later when Gamboa drove the ball deep to her family.
She knew where they were, and deep down she was hoping she could fulfil a request from her sister, which she nearly did in the first game.Â
"I'd like to think they're my good luck. When they watch me, it's a great feeling," she said. "My little sister is out there with my old glove, and she told me, 'hit a home run to me.' It was nice to be able to do that and give her that ball."
Â
Long after the games had concluded, Sophia was still clutching it tight. She not only was going to have her sister autograph it for her, but her understanding was the entire CSU roster would. It was a keepsake of a happy moment for her family and for her sister.
Â
The Rams are in search of those with the season coming to a close – just four games remaining, including Sunday's series finale with the Aztecs (noon), and they're hoping just around the corner, they'll produce a few the whole team can embrace.
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: BALINT, Maggie (16-6)
L: Cabral, Julia (4-6)
Batting:
2B: SCHULTZ, Alexa 1 ; ROMANELLO, Danielle 1
3B: SIESS, Nicole 1
HR: THOMPSON, Shelby 1 ; LILLIE, Sara 1
RBI: THOMPSON, Shelby 3 ; LILLIE, Sara 3 ; SIESS, Nicole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: THOMPSON, Shelby 1 ; ROMANELLO, Danielle 1 ; ADAMS, Taylor 1 ; LILLIE, Sara 2 ; SIESS, Nicole 2
CS: CELIS, Jillian 1
HBP: THOMPSON, Shelby 1 ; ADAMS, Taylor 1
Batting:
2B: Gamboa, Corina 1
3B: Matsubara, Maya 1
HR: Shadowen, Tara 1
RBI: Shadowen, Tara 1 ; Gamboa, Corina 1 ; Matsubara, Maya 1 ; Smith, Hailey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shadowen, Tara 1 ; McVay, Makenna 1 ; Gamboa, Corina 1 ; Matsubara, Maya 1
SB: Smith, Hailey 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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Colorado State Softball: Highlights vs. New Mexico
Sunday, April 07
Colorado State Softball: Highlights vs. San Jose State Game Two
Saturday, March 26
RamWire: Coach Fisher One-On-One
Tuesday, May 14