Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, May 12
Fort Collins, CO
4:00 PM
Colorado State
18-26, 9-13
4
vs
6
Boise State
38-10, 17-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Boise State
1
2
0
0
0
3
0
6
6
0
Colorado State
0
0
0
0
4
0
0
4
10
0
Rams' Thunder Trumped By Broncos
5/12/2022 7:24:00 PM | Softball
Three-homer inning not enough in home loss
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – At some point, a hit with impact was needed.
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Colorado State wasn't lacking for contact Thursday afternoon at Ram Field, but the Rams were lacking runs and playing from behind, nonetheless. Boise State, still hopeful it can come away with some portion of the Mountain West title on the final weekend of the regular season, had jumped out with exactly what the Rams were lacking – some thump – and used it again later to secure a 6-4 victory at Ram Field.
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"I think we've been playing well at home. We've been hitting the ball well at home," CSU coach Jen Fisher said. "Hannah Bailey is a tough pitcher, and she works really well. There's a reason they have nearly 40 wins. I thought we did a good job, we put some pressure on her to throw strikes and I kept thinking, if we could get something up in the air, it will go."
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The Broncos (38-10, 17-5 MW) used a double to set up a sacrifice fly in the first, then extended the lead in the second with a two-run homer from lead-off batter Abby Bumcrot for a 3-0 advantage. By that time, the guest already had three extra-base hits on a day when they'd accumulate six.
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Threatening isn't the same as scoring, and after some missed chances, the Rams (18-26, 9-13) latterly rubbed some life into the offense.
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A four-run fifth put Colorado State in front, the product of a three-homer frame. It started with an unlikely source, Jordan West at the bottom of the order – her first hit of the year and first collegiate home run -- and ended when Danielle Serna launched a ball to deep left field.
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All season, the Rams have talked about passing the bat down the line. This time, it was sharing the luck.
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"Hey, we hit three home runs in one inning, and you don't see that a lot, and it was really cool Jordan hit her first home run," said Hailey Smith, who's two-run blast between them tied the game. "It was fun, because we had a thing going on between the three people who did hit home runs.
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"Jordan comes up and asks Nelly can you rub me and give me some power, and she said, ask Hailey. So, I rubbed her helmet and said you have to give it back when I go up. She hit hers, and then she runs up before I go up and rubs my helmet and I hit my home run, so then I run up to Nelly and rub her helmet. It was really fun, because the whole team knew, and we were really excited."
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The fireworks gave Smith a two-hit day pushing her average up to .371, with Ashley York in front of her collecting a pair of hits. As a team, the Rams had 10 hits and won that battle, but the Broncos would match their home run output on the day the next inning to regain the lead, with both Kelsey Hall and Alison Seng going deep.
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It's the type of loss against a league leader where Fisher knows her team was right in it, but they missed a few things. Some cleaner defense – even on an errorless day – could have made a difference, but she was also going to ask herself "what-if" about the fourth inning.
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Peyton Allen led off with a double, then Kaitlyn Cook singled to move her to third. With Maya Matsubara at the plate, Cook stole second base as Matsubara struck out, but after a complaint from the Boise State dugout, the officials discussed the play and called Cook out.
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Instead of two runners in scoring position with one out, the Rams were down to one with two gone in the stanza. Fisher naturally wasn't happy about the reversal, but she said mistakes are made, even inserting her decision to send Cook in the first place in the equation. It also made her think about a change already taking place in some part of the country.
Â
'I think there's human error, and we're working on going to replay," she said. "It's new this year in our sport, and we've had quite a few missed calls both ways. I think replay is coming into our sport and I think it's going to be a good thing. It will be a good thing not just for the student-athletes, but for the officials. I notice in places where they're using it, they look at it, change a call if they need to and move on. There's no ego involved."
Â
The fifth was the only frame the Rams scored, but it proved to Smith what the team is capable against even the best of teams in the conference. The fifth also showed her what her team is like when they are at their peak.
Â
"It's just like everybody is all together, we're super loud and it's so much fun," she said. "It's like a jungle up in there, like everyone is doing something, yelling, cheering for each other, and that's my favorite part of the game, for sure. When something happens, we all cheer for each other, and I love that about us."
Â
The three-game set continues Friday with a 4 p.m. start, the series wrapping up with Saturday's Senior Day honors, with first pitch slated for noon.
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Colorado State wasn't lacking for contact Thursday afternoon at Ram Field, but the Rams were lacking runs and playing from behind, nonetheless. Boise State, still hopeful it can come away with some portion of the Mountain West title on the final weekend of the regular season, had jumped out with exactly what the Rams were lacking – some thump – and used it again later to secure a 6-4 victory at Ram Field.
Â
"I think we've been playing well at home. We've been hitting the ball well at home," CSU coach Jen Fisher said. "Hannah Bailey is a tough pitcher, and she works really well. There's a reason they have nearly 40 wins. I thought we did a good job, we put some pressure on her to throw strikes and I kept thinking, if we could get something up in the air, it will go."
Â
The Broncos (38-10, 17-5 MW) used a double to set up a sacrifice fly in the first, then extended the lead in the second with a two-run homer from lead-off batter Abby Bumcrot for a 3-0 advantage. By that time, the guest already had three extra-base hits on a day when they'd accumulate six.
Â
Threatening isn't the same as scoring, and after some missed chances, the Rams (18-26, 9-13) latterly rubbed some life into the offense.
Â
A four-run fifth put Colorado State in front, the product of a three-homer frame. It started with an unlikely source, Jordan West at the bottom of the order – her first hit of the year and first collegiate home run -- and ended when Danielle Serna launched a ball to deep left field.
Â
All season, the Rams have talked about passing the bat down the line. This time, it was sharing the luck.
Â
"Hey, we hit three home runs in one inning, and you don't see that a lot, and it was really cool Jordan hit her first home run," said Hailey Smith, who's two-run blast between them tied the game. "It was fun, because we had a thing going on between the three people who did hit home runs.
Â
"Jordan comes up and asks Nelly can you rub me and give me some power, and she said, ask Hailey. So, I rubbed her helmet and said you have to give it back when I go up. She hit hers, and then she runs up before I go up and rubs my helmet and I hit my home run, so then I run up to Nelly and rub her helmet. It was really fun, because the whole team knew, and we were really excited."
Â
The fireworks gave Smith a two-hit day pushing her average up to .371, with Ashley York in front of her collecting a pair of hits. As a team, the Rams had 10 hits and won that battle, but the Broncos would match their home run output on the day the next inning to regain the lead, with both Kelsey Hall and Alison Seng going deep.
Â
It's the type of loss against a league leader where Fisher knows her team was right in it, but they missed a few things. Some cleaner defense – even on an errorless day – could have made a difference, but she was also going to ask herself "what-if" about the fourth inning.
Â
Peyton Allen led off with a double, then Kaitlyn Cook singled to move her to third. With Maya Matsubara at the plate, Cook stole second base as Matsubara struck out, but after a complaint from the Boise State dugout, the officials discussed the play and called Cook out.
Â
Instead of two runners in scoring position with one out, the Rams were down to one with two gone in the stanza. Fisher naturally wasn't happy about the reversal, but she said mistakes are made, even inserting her decision to send Cook in the first place in the equation. It also made her think about a change already taking place in some part of the country.
Â
'I think there's human error, and we're working on going to replay," she said. "It's new this year in our sport, and we've had quite a few missed calls both ways. I think replay is coming into our sport and I think it's going to be a good thing. It will be a good thing not just for the student-athletes, but for the officials. I notice in places where they're using it, they look at it, change a call if they need to and move on. There's no ego involved."
Â
The fifth was the only frame the Rams scored, but it proved to Smith what the team is capable against even the best of teams in the conference. The fifth also showed her what her team is like when they are at their peak.
Â
"It's just like everybody is all together, we're super loud and it's so much fun," she said. "It's like a jungle up in there, like everyone is doing something, yelling, cheering for each other, and that's my favorite part of the game, for sure. When something happens, we all cheer for each other, and I love that about us."
Â
The three-game set continues Friday with a 4 p.m. start, the series wrapping up with Saturday's Senior Day honors, with first pitch slated for noon.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: JOHNSON, Sara (9-2)
L: Hornbuckle, Sydney (6-9)
Batting:
2B: BUMCROT, Abby 1 ; LALOR, Kelsey 1 ; BENNETT, Autumn 1
HR: BUMCROT, Abby 1 ; HALL, Kelsey 1 ; SENG, Alison 1
RBI: BUMCROT, Abby 2 ; HALL, Kelsey 1 ; FLORES, Alycia 1 ; SENG, Alison 2
SF: FLORES, Alycia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BUMCROT, Abby 2 ; HALL, Kelsey 1 ; FLORES, Alycia 1 ; SENG, Alison 1 ; BENNETT, Autumn 1
CS: BUMCROT, Abby 1
HBP: BUMCROT, Abby 1
Batting:
2B: Allen, Peyton 1
HR: Smith, Hailey 1 ; Serna, Danielle 1 ; West, Jordan 1
RBI: Smith, Hailey 2 ; Serna, Danielle 1 ; West, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: York, Ashley 1 ; Smith, Hailey 1 ; Serna, Danielle 1 ; West, Jordan 1
CS: Cook, Kaitlyn 1
HBP: McGuffin, Jalyn 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
MI/C
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
MINF
/ SoftballP/INF
/ Softball1B
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballOF
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