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Colorado State Travels to New Mexico
Rams enter week 22-9.
April 1, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State (22-9) will travel to Albuquerque, N.M. to begin conference play. The Lobos are currently third in the conference with a record of 25-18, and were picked to finish last in the conference in the pre-season coaches poll. In 2003, the Rams swept the season series with the Lobos, winning 1-0 and 6-3 in New Mexico, and 4-0 and 8-2 in Fort Collins. The Rams will then return to Fort Collins, for their first home action in a month, and they will face Northern Colorado at Ram Field on April 6, beginning at noon. The Bears are currently 4-15 on season, with a doulbeheader scheduled against Regis before facing the Rams. Last season, Colorado State defeated UNC 8-1 and 6-5 in Greeley. Wrapping-up The Rebel Spring Games: CSU went 7-2 during the Florida road swing over Spring Break. The Rams' two losses came in the first two days of the tournament, falling to Yale 6-7 and Liberty 2-3 with an 8-0 victory over Dayton in between. Three games (Colgate, Fordham and Wisconsin-Green Bay) were cancelled due to rain and lightning. However, the Rams rebounded from the down-time to close out the tournament on a season-high six game winning streak which included wins over Southeast Missouri State (7-1), Columbia (2-1), Wagner (7-1), Bucknell (10-0), Iona (9-1), and Jacksonville State (4-2). Masser Back In Action: Senior pitcher Megan Masser saw her first pitching time in two weeks, after nursing an injury to her right arm. Masser made three appearances (10.2 innings), one as a starter, earning a complete game victory over Jacksonville State, and earned her first save of the season, and school record eighth career save in relief of Genevieve Kelly in the Rams 2-1 victory over Columbia. Strickland's Spring Break: Freshman pitcher Jessica Strickland led the way for the Rams as the team notched six straight wins to close out the Rebel Spring Games. Over that six game stretch Strikcland ranked first on the team in batting average (.500), hits (10), at bats (20), runs scored (7), doubles (5), home runs (3), total bases (24) and slugging percentage (1.200). Over the entire tournament, Strickland led the Colorado State pitching staff with 19 innings of work. Rams' Big Bats: Last week, the Rams hit eight home runs in the final seven games of the Rebel Spring Games, moving the season total to 33 and eclipsing the old sinle season mark of 26 set by the 2003 team with at least 22 games still slated to be played this season. Freshman Brittany Huerta, who leads the team, has accounted for almost a quarter of the teams' long balls with eight to her credit. Junior Stephanie Roberts is second on the team with six on the season, followed by sophomore Melanie Laffoon and freshman Jessica Strickland who each have four home runs . Heurta is only one homerun away from tying senior first baseman Ricki Walker for fifth all-time in a single season in the Colorado State record books and would become the only freshman on the list. Conference Openers: Under Coach Mary Yori, the Rams have compiled a 1-2 record in conference-opening games. The Rams' one conference-opening victory came in 2002, Yori's second season, when the Rams defeated New Mexico, this season's first conference opponent by a score of 11-1. Streaking Rams: Colorado State catcher Kerry Farrell had a streak of 106 career starts snapped on Feb. 6 when Stacey Leigh started at catcher against Sacramento State. The longest current streak of games started is 135 by senior Ricki Walker. Juniors Stephanie Roberts and Brittany Burtner have also started over 100 consecutive games for Colorado State with Roberts holding the advantage 134-132. Offensive Explosion: Through 31 games and heading into the first conference match-ups of the season, Colorado State leads the Mountain West in nearly every offensive category including batting average (.333), slugging percentage (.539), on base percentage (.383), runs scored (169), hits (287), RBI (156), doubles (62), home runs (33), and total bases (464). The Rams' .333 batting average and 33 home runs each ranks first all-time by a team in a single season at Colorado State. Walker on CSU All-Time Charts: Senior first baseman Ricki Walker ranks on the CSU Top-Five list in three different categories including career home runs (15), career batting average (.374) and career slugging percentage (.587). Senior Leadership: Through 31 games this season, senior first baseman Ricki Walker is leading the team in batting average (.447), on-base percentage (.523), hits (42), doubles (12), and walks (13). Walker's .447 batting average currently ranks first on the Ram's single-season record books and she is only two doubles away from moving into the fifth spot on that list. Roberts Named MWC Player of the Week: Colorado State junior second baseman Stephanie Roberts was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week for her efforts in the Rams' three-game weekend sweep of Utah State. Roberts, a Parker, Colo., product, hit .727 (8-for-11) with a slugging percentage of 1.636 in the three-game series against Utah State last weekend, with two home runs, seven RBI, five runs scored and a stolen base. She had multiple hits in each game of the series, starting with back-to-back 3-for-4 efforts in CSU's doubleheader sweep over the Aggies on Saturday.
Next Week: The Rams continue conference play on the road, beginning with a doubleheader at San Diego State on April 9, and ending with an April 11, twin bill against UNLV in Las Vegas.
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