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Colorado State Upsets San Diego State To Capture MWC Softball Title
Rams receive automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
May 10, 2003 SAN DIEGO - The Colorado State Rams earned their first ever Mountain West Conference softball tournament title with a 3-1 upset victory over top-seeded regular season champion San Diego State Saturday afternoon at SDSU Field in San Diego. With the victory, the Rams earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The Aztecs opened up the game strong by scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff batter Joann Figueroa slapped an infield single to get things started for the Aztecs. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Erin Mahoney and later scored on Janna Kovensky's single to center. Colorado State took control of the game in its half of the third. Sophmore Steph Roberts was awarded first after being hit by Aztec pitcher Celena Velasquez. Catcher Kerry Farrell then singled to center, moving Roberts to second. Both runners advanced on a Jennifer Mahoney single. A Ricki Walker sacrifice fly plated Roberts to knot the score at one. A wild pitch by Velasquez advanced Farrell to third and Mahoney to second, which set the stage for Melanie Laffoon's RBI single, which scored Farrell and Mahoney. Junior pitcher Megan Masser gave up only three hits in the final three innings to earn the complete-game victory for the Rams (37-13 overall) and the Mountain West Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player award. She pitched every inning of the tournament for CSU, giving up only four earned runs and 14 hits, while striking out 11. Celena Velasquez lost her seventh game of the season for the SDSU, which dropped their record to 38-19 on the season. The Aztecs must now wait for Sunday evening to find out if they will receive an at-large berth to the NCAA Championship. 2003 Mountain West Conference All-Tournament Team
Brooke Cadiente, Sr., BYU
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