Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, March 28
Fort Collins, CO
2:00 PM
Colorado State
16-17, 4-4
6
vs
3
Boise State
18-19, 4-4
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Boise State
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
8
1
Colorado State
1
3
1
0
0
1
X
6
9
2
Adjustments Prove Crucial Against Boise State
3/28/2026 5:15:00 PM | Softball
For the second game in the series CSU comes out with win
Adaptation requires a little learning first.
After dropping the first game of the series to Boise State in a 13-2 loss, Colorado State understood adjustment was necessary. So the Rams studied. The way the Broncos' short game strategy affected the outcome. How their singles slowly amounted pressure on defensive plays.
And it paid off in a 6-3 win.
One of the Rams' first and most impactful adjustments came in the circle. Pitcher Giselle Bentley did not see action in Friday's opener, as Andrea Kaskowiak and Raegan Wick carried the load. On Saturday, Bentley took the start — and delivered. She held Boise State scoreless until the final inning, immediately altering the tone of the matchup.
"I think my mindset was just, you know, attack the zone, attack the hitters, trust my stuff, hit my spots," Bentley said. "I can't do anything about the game yesterday, so just, like, flush that. Try to make something happen — really just trusting what I've been working on, trusting the defense to make plays and the hitters to do their job."
And with the change, came fecund dividends on opposing ends of innings. With a defensive lock-in carrying the Broncos scoreless, offensive plays proved high-yielding.
It carried to the bottom of the second. Allyson Moody opened the frame with a hit which pushed her to second where she soon crossed home after on a powerful shot to left field from Abby Edwards. With momentum building, Colorado State tallied three runs in the inning to take a 4–0 lead.
"I think that everybody came out just ready to play," Autumn Rutherford said. "We had a little talk yesterday and again this morning — our motivational talk. Everyone was like, we're coming out hard. We're not going to let them do what they did again. We're just going to be ready to play and ready to win."
It was an urgency which carried into the later innings. In the bottom of the third, Moody scored again after a Broncos error extended the inning, adding to Colorado State's growing advantage.
The contrast from the previous day was sharp. The Rams flipped the narrative, countering Boise State's strategy with short plays of their own, consistent pitching and aggressive baserunning.
It was exactly what head coach Jen Fisher had hoped to see after Friday's defeat.
"We talked so much about competing," Fisher said. "We have two young coaches who just finished their playing careers, and they're trying to help our team understand what it truly means to compete. I don't think we quite understood that yesterday. Today, the big emphasis was competing every pitch. I thought Giselle really set the tone in that first inning, and Jac Smith did as well — it showed us what competing every pitch actually looks like."
Offensively, the production was evenly distributed. Five runs were driven in by four different batters, with Rutherford accounting for her second RBI on a hit in the bottom of the sixth to extend the Rams' lead to 6–0.
The effort was visible across the field.
"It was just the grittiness," Rutherford said. "That's a word we've been using a lot. It's grit. Going all out, protecting our pitchers, hitting the ball hard, then coming back on defense and backing it up. Even when they get hits, not letting that momentum build and breaking it so we can take control again."
CSU appeared poised for a shutout heading into the final inning, but late miscues allowed BSU to break through. A catching error by Bradie Poteet-Herrera brought one run across, followed quickly by a two-score home run from Mya Flindt which added to the Broncos on the board.
Still, the Rams never lost their composure.
"I think we all really had each other's back today," Bentley said. "The infielders were great about talking to me and keeping me locked in. Kaylynn (English) and Jac (Smith) were always in my ear. If there's a mistake, I know I can get them another ball, and they know they can make the next play."
Though the final inning tested CSU defensively, the outcome was already defined by what the Rams learned earlier in the day. After Friday's loss exposed gaps that film alone couldn't fill, Saturday offered clarity in real time. The adjustments were visible, the response measured and the result reflected a team which absorbed the lesson and applied it when it mattered.
After dropping the first game of the series to Boise State in a 13-2 loss, Colorado State understood adjustment was necessary. So the Rams studied. The way the Broncos' short game strategy affected the outcome. How their singles slowly amounted pressure on defensive plays.
And it paid off in a 6-3 win.
One of the Rams' first and most impactful adjustments came in the circle. Pitcher Giselle Bentley did not see action in Friday's opener, as Andrea Kaskowiak and Raegan Wick carried the load. On Saturday, Bentley took the start — and delivered. She held Boise State scoreless until the final inning, immediately altering the tone of the matchup.
"I think my mindset was just, you know, attack the zone, attack the hitters, trust my stuff, hit my spots," Bentley said. "I can't do anything about the game yesterday, so just, like, flush that. Try to make something happen — really just trusting what I've been working on, trusting the defense to make plays and the hitters to do their job."
And with the change, came fecund dividends on opposing ends of innings. With a defensive lock-in carrying the Broncos scoreless, offensive plays proved high-yielding.
It carried to the bottom of the second. Allyson Moody opened the frame with a hit which pushed her to second where she soon crossed home after on a powerful shot to left field from Abby Edwards. With momentum building, Colorado State tallied three runs in the inning to take a 4–0 lead.
"I think that everybody came out just ready to play," Autumn Rutherford said. "We had a little talk yesterday and again this morning — our motivational talk. Everyone was like, we're coming out hard. We're not going to let them do what they did again. We're just going to be ready to play and ready to win."
It was an urgency which carried into the later innings. In the bottom of the third, Moody scored again after a Broncos error extended the inning, adding to Colorado State's growing advantage.
The contrast from the previous day was sharp. The Rams flipped the narrative, countering Boise State's strategy with short plays of their own, consistent pitching and aggressive baserunning.
It was exactly what head coach Jen Fisher had hoped to see after Friday's defeat.
"We talked so much about competing," Fisher said. "We have two young coaches who just finished their playing careers, and they're trying to help our team understand what it truly means to compete. I don't think we quite understood that yesterday. Today, the big emphasis was competing every pitch. I thought Giselle really set the tone in that first inning, and Jac Smith did as well — it showed us what competing every pitch actually looks like."
Offensively, the production was evenly distributed. Five runs were driven in by four different batters, with Rutherford accounting for her second RBI on a hit in the bottom of the sixth to extend the Rams' lead to 6–0.
The effort was visible across the field.
"It was just the grittiness," Rutherford said. "That's a word we've been using a lot. It's grit. Going all out, protecting our pitchers, hitting the ball hard, then coming back on defense and backing it up. Even when they get hits, not letting that momentum build and breaking it so we can take control again."
CSU appeared poised for a shutout heading into the final inning, but late miscues allowed BSU to break through. A catching error by Bradie Poteet-Herrera brought one run across, followed quickly by a two-score home run from Mya Flindt which added to the Broncos on the board.
Still, the Rams never lost their composure.
"I think we all really had each other's back today," Bentley said. "The infielders were great about talking to me and keeping me locked in. Kaylynn (English) and Jac (Smith) were always in my ear. If there's a mistake, I know I can get them another ball, and they know they can make the next play."
Though the final inning tested CSU defensively, the outcome was already defined by what the Rams learned earlier in the day. After Friday's loss exposed gaps that film alone couldn't fill, Saturday offered clarity in real time. The adjustments were visible, the response measured and the result reflected a team which absorbed the lesson and applied it when it mattered.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bentley, Giselle (4-6)
L: Bauer, Olivia (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Penberthy, Kate 1
HR: Flindt, Mya 1
RBI: Flindt, Mya 2
SH: Southerland, Quinn 1 ; Stroh, Skylar 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hughes, Chloe 1 ; Stroh, Skylar 1 ; Flindt, Mya 1
HBP: Penberthy, Kate 1
Batting:
2B: Moody, Allyson 1 ; Rutherford, Autumn 1
RBI: Edwards, Abby 1 ; Rutherford, Autumn 2 ; Wilson, Jailey 1 ; Poteet-Herrera, Bradie 1
SH: Smith, Jac 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Moody, Allyson 2 ; English, Kaylynn 1 ; Wilson, Jailey 2 ; Hinson, Lindsey 1
HBP: English, Kaylynn 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballUTL
/ Softball
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