Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, April 12
Logan, UT
4:00 PM
Colorado State
21-15, 0
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at
4
Utah State
21-20, 0
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3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Colorado State
0
0
5
0
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12
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Utah State
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1
0
4
11
1
Rams Hold Off Aggies to Take Game One on the Road
4/12/2024 9:49:00 PM | Softball
Colorado State defeats Utah State 5-4 in Logan
LOGAN, Utah – The Colorado State softball team took game one of a three game series against Utah State Friday night as the Rams topped the Aggies 5-4 in a gritty Mountain West matchup.
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Bringing momentum into the fifth weekend of conference play, the Rams credit the win to another big inning and strong pitching in the circle. Senior Sydney Hornbuckle started in the circle for the Rams and threw two scoreless innings to start the game before her offense jumped on the board first.
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Leading off the third inning with the top of the order, Ashley York singled before Maya Matsubara reached base on an error, batting York to third base. Enter Peyton Allen who used her speed to hit an inside the park home run after hitting a ball off the wall in left field, giving the Rams and early 3-0 lead.
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In the next at bat, Danielle Serna rocketed a pitch over the left center wall to go back-to-back with Allen and take a 4-0 lead.
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"Ashley and Maya got things going, they kept hitting balls hard like they've been doing all year and then I was able to get one, Nelly was able to get one and we just kept stringing those hits together," Allen said.
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Still with no outs, Molly Gates kept the bat passing through the CSU lineup with a single to left center. Hornbuckle then stepped to the plate and helped her own cause by scoring Gates with an RBI double in the right center gap. The Rams left the top of the third with a 5-0 lead.
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The Aggies responded in the bottom half of the third with three runs of their own. All three runs came off of back-to-back two-out singles, but the lead still belonged to the Rams.
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Hornbuckle continued to throw in the circle when after two more scoreless innings, Utah State threatened once more with one run in the sixth inning. Now with only a one run lead, head coach Jen Fisher opted to go with sophomore pitcher Giselle Bentley to close out the game in the save attempt.
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Bentley dominated the bottom of the seventh inning, closing the door on the Aggies by recording three outs on only seven pitches for a one-two-three seventh inning save.
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"Sydney just stays so calm out there and she just keeps giving us good innings and she plays such good defense. So, to see her and Giselle complement each other and for them to have each other's back, they make each other better," Fisher said. "It was awesome to see Giselle just go in there and kind of blow some smoke after Syd had done such a great job too."
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"That's the Giselle I know and that's the Giselle that she wants to be every day and I just love the fire that she brings," Allen said "I love the energy she brings, and I mean that's who she is. She's going to come in and she's going to do her best and she's confident that she can beat anyone that goes up against her."
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Hornbuckle finished the day with the win going six complete innings with three strikeouts, seven flyouts and eight groundouts while Bentley earned her first save of the season as the Rams took the early one game lead in the weekend series.
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The one-run win marks the third consecutive win for the Rams.
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"It's always good just to get the first win on the road, but I mean, we're going to have to come back tomorrow and the rest of the weekend is going to be a fight."
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Colorado State will play Utah State again Saturday afternoon in Logan with the first pitch scheduled for noon mountain time.
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Bringing momentum into the fifth weekend of conference play, the Rams credit the win to another big inning and strong pitching in the circle. Senior Sydney Hornbuckle started in the circle for the Rams and threw two scoreless innings to start the game before her offense jumped on the board first.
Â
Leading off the third inning with the top of the order, Ashley York singled before Maya Matsubara reached base on an error, batting York to third base. Enter Peyton Allen who used her speed to hit an inside the park home run after hitting a ball off the wall in left field, giving the Rams and early 3-0 lead.
Â
In the next at bat, Danielle Serna rocketed a pitch over the left center wall to go back-to-back with Allen and take a 4-0 lead.
Â
"Ashley and Maya got things going, they kept hitting balls hard like they've been doing all year and then I was able to get one, Nelly was able to get one and we just kept stringing those hits together," Allen said.
Â
Still with no outs, Molly Gates kept the bat passing through the CSU lineup with a single to left center. Hornbuckle then stepped to the plate and helped her own cause by scoring Gates with an RBI double in the right center gap. The Rams left the top of the third with a 5-0 lead.
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The Aggies responded in the bottom half of the third with three runs of their own. All three runs came off of back-to-back two-out singles, but the lead still belonged to the Rams.
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Hornbuckle continued to throw in the circle when after two more scoreless innings, Utah State threatened once more with one run in the sixth inning. Now with only a one run lead, head coach Jen Fisher opted to go with sophomore pitcher Giselle Bentley to close out the game in the save attempt.
Â
Bentley dominated the bottom of the seventh inning, closing the door on the Aggies by recording three outs on only seven pitches for a one-two-three seventh inning save.
Â
"Sydney just stays so calm out there and she just keeps giving us good innings and she plays such good defense. So, to see her and Giselle complement each other and for them to have each other's back, they make each other better," Fisher said. "It was awesome to see Giselle just go in there and kind of blow some smoke after Syd had done such a great job too."
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"That's the Giselle I know and that's the Giselle that she wants to be every day and I just love the fire that she brings," Allen said "I love the energy she brings, and I mean that's who she is. She's going to come in and she's going to do her best and she's confident that she can beat anyone that goes up against her."
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Hornbuckle finished the day with the win going six complete innings with three strikeouts, seven flyouts and eight groundouts while Bentley earned her first save of the season as the Rams took the early one game lead in the weekend series.
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The one-run win marks the third consecutive win for the Rams.
Â
"It's always good just to get the first win on the road, but I mean, we're going to have to come back tomorrow and the rest of the weekend is going to be a fight."
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Colorado State will play Utah State again Saturday afternoon in Logan with the first pitch scheduled for noon mountain time.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hornbuckle, Sydney (10-6)
L: SMITH, Denay (6-6)
S: Bentley, Giselle (1)
Batting:
2B: Allen, Peyton 1 ; Hornbuckle, Sydney 1
HR: Allen, Peyton 1 ; Serna, Danielle 1
RBI: Allen, Peyton 3 ; Serna, Danielle 1 ; Hornbuckle, Sydney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: York, Ashley 1 ; Matsubara, Maya 1 ; Allen, Peyton 1 ; Serna, Danielle 1 ; Gates, Molly 1
Batting:
HR: MEDINA, C. 1
RBI: GONZALEZ, G 2 ; ASHNER, Ali 1 ; MEDINA, C. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: FIFITA, A 1 ; SILVA, T. 1 ; MATEJ, Grace 1 ; MEDINA, C. 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P/UT
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P/INF
/ Softball
OF
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