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Rams Host New Mexico for Four
Doubleheaders slated for Saturday and Sunday.
May 6, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Rams will close out Mountain West Conference play with two doubleheaders against last place New Mexico on Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9 at Ram Field in Fort Collins, Colo. Saturday's doubleheader is slated to begin at 12:00 noon, while Sunday's games will begin at 1:00 p.m. The Rams' first scheduled games against New Mexico on April 3, were postponed due to rain in Albuquerque and were rescheduled for Sunday. Last season, the Rams swept four games from the Lobos, including 1-0 and 6-3 victories on the road and 4-0 and 8-2 wins at home. Wrapping-up Utah and BYU: Colorado State returned to Fort Collins with a 3-1 record following the team's last road trip of the season. The Rams started off by completing the season sweep of Utah with 6-2 and 7-5 victories in Salt Lake City. Junior Kerry Farrell finished the Utah series 6-for-7 from the plate with three home runs in two games. Colorado State split with BYU to finish the regular season with a 3-1 record against the Cougars. The Rams dropped game one by a slim 4-3 margin, as a seventh inning rally fell just short, but followed that with the team's eighth shutout of the season as Genevieve Kelly and Jessica Strickland shut down the Cougars to preserve a 1-0 victory for Colorado State. Yori Reaches Century Mark: Fourth-year head coach Mary Yori became only the second coach in Colorado State softball history to reach 100 wins, notching her 100th victory in the Rams' game 6-2 game one victory over Utah on Friday. Yori, who has a career winning percentage of .687 (561-256), now stands at 102-98 at CSU. Clutch Hitting: Junior catcher Kerry Farrell is hitting .625, 254 points higher than her season average, with two outs and runners in scoring position; and has also posted a slugging percentage of 1.000 in that situation and almost a third of her RBI (11 of 34) have come with two outs. Farrell Named Player of the Week: Colorado State junior catcher Kerry Farrell was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week for her part in the Rams' 3-1 record at Utah and BYU last weekend. Farrell hit .538 (7-for-13) from the plate, reaching safely in three of the four games. In game one of the CSU doubleheader against Utah, she went 4-for-4 with two home runs, a double, four RBI and two runs scored. Farrell followed with another home run, a double, three RBI and a run scored as the Rams completed the sweep over the Utes with a 7-5 game two victory. In game two against BYU, Farrell smashed an RBI single in the first inning, which proved to be the difference in Colorado State's 1-0 series ending win. On the week, Farrell had three homers, two doubles, eight RBI and three runs scored, while turning in a 1.385 slugging percentage. She is batting .371, with seven home runs, 34 RBI and a .643 slugging percentage this season. Farrell's honor marks the fourth Rams to be named player of the week this season, and the first of her career. Setting The Table: When leading off an inning, Colorado State hitters are batting .356 on season, 25 points higher than the team's .331 batting average. Lead-off hitters have also improved on the teams .379 on-base percentage, reaching base safely just under 41 percent of the time to lead off an inning. First Round Bye: After improving their conference record to 12-4 with a sweep of Utah and a split with BYU, the Rams have clinched at least second place in the conference as well as a bye in the first round of the MWC Tournament, which the Rams will host May 13-15 at Ram Field. Games are slated to begin at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 13, followed by games at 11:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Rams first round game will be the 4:30 contest. Friday's games will follow the same schedule, with Saturday's schedule to be announced depending on Thursday's and Friday's games. You Can Only Hope To Contain Us: Through 49 games this season, no team has been able to hold Colorado State scoreless. The Rams have not been shut out since March 28, 2003, a 1-0 loss to UNLV. That is a streak of 75 games. Over that same stretch Colorado State has shut out 13 opponents, including Utah, New Mexico and San Diego State during 2003 MWC play. The Rams also recorded their eighth shutout of 2004, a 1-0 victory over BYU on May 1 in Provo, Utah. Huerta's Homers: With her 12th and 13th home runs of the season coming against UNLV and San Diego State, Colorado State freshman Brittany Huerta surpassed Ram greats Holly Schmillen (2000) and Sarah Fredstrom (1996) for first place on the Rams' single-season charts. The Rams have at least ten games still slated to be played, heading into this weekend's matchups with Utah and BYU, to add to her record. Huerta's 13 home runs have also tied her for fifth place on the Colorado State career charts in only her freshman season. Her second home run of the weekend proved to be the difference in the Rams' 2-1 game-two victory over San Diego State. Huerta also ranks near the top of the list for single-season slugging percentage with 0.745, behind Schmillen who owns the top-three spots. Leading-0ff: Junior second baseman Stephanie Roberts has hit in the lead off spot every game, for the second straight season at Colorado State. This season, Roberts is hitting .435 from the No. 1 spot, 58 points higher than her total .374 batting average. When reaching base to lead-off a game, Roberts has scored 20 times, or 74 percent. The Rams, as a team, are 27-4 on the season when scoring in the first inning. Roberts has also led off four-games this season with a home run, including last Friday's 15-0 win over UNLV. Overall, the Rams are 25-5 this season when Roberts has scored a run in the game. Nationally Ranked Rams: Colorado State ranks in the top 25, nationally in four categories including top-five rankings in two of those categories. As a team, the Rams rank fourth in the coutnry with a .331 batting average, only .09 points behind the leader, Arizona. The Rams have also recorded a .975 fielding percentage on the season, the fifth best mark in the coutnry. The team also ranks 2th in the country, scoring an average of 5.22 runs per game, and have compiled a .735 winning percentage, 25th in the nation. Individually four Rams are ranked nationally. Freshmen Jessica Strickland ranks fourth in the nation with six saves on the season, while Kerry Farrell and Ricki rank 17th and 20th, respectively, each averaging .33 doubles per game. Freshman Brittany Huerta rounds out the rankings for the Rams, sitting in the 27th spot with 0.27 home runs per game. Outscoring The Opposition: Through 49 games this season, Colorado State has outscored opponents by nearly 150 runs, 256-107. In onference play, the Rams have scored three times as many runs as their opponents, opening up a 77-31 margin through 12 games.
Next Week: The Rams will host the Mountain West Tournament May 13-15 at Ram Field. Colorado State's first game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, with the following games to be determined by the outcomes of Thursday's games.
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