Colorado State softball defeated Northern Colorado 5-4 Sunday for a second time this weekend, capping off two double-headers undefeated.
Game two of Sunday’s doubleheader followed the Rams’ 5-5 win against Creighton. However, the Bears did not back down; it was a rowdy back-and-forth game with scores occurring in every inning except for the second and final one.
“I think it went really good,” Madi Eslinger said. “We were super loud in the dugout. We had a lot of energy. And, going into it, we just knew we had to just have timely hitting, timely fielding, (making sure) everyone (was) working as a team, no matter what.”
UNC had the upper edge most of the game, and held the lead on CSU up until the bottom of the fifth inning when Eslinger had a timely hit and homered to left field, tying up the score 5-5.
“It definitely brings a lot of energy, and it can bring confidence to other hitters as well,” Eslinger said. “I knew up to bat I was like ‘(I) have got to get a job done here,’ so (it) felt really good.”
Keeping momentum can be a huge factor for a team that is coming off a four-game winning streak, especially after a slower start to the season this year. And after a strong performance, CSU ended the game with three unanswered points.
“We were just in attack mode,” Eslinger said. “I know coach (Jen) Fisher keeps saying, ‘Who wants it more?’ So we want it more. Obviously, we’re gonna keep fighting no matter what, and just keep having that energy and attack.”
Facing a team back-to-back days can be tricky, especially when there’s a need to create a new game plan. But it was one that the Rams were ready to take.
“The key difference was definitely our bats,” Lauren Stucky said. “We definitely score, I think, almost every inning in this game, which was super nice. So, I think it was definitely our bats, our pitching staff, kept us in the game as much as we could, and it was definitely our hitters doing a great job.”
Stucky also had a crucial homer at the bottom of the sixth inning, giving CSU a one-point lead. This ultimately pinned the Bears down heading into the seventh inning.
“In general, we have more of a problem with being too hard on ourselves than being overly confident,” Fisher said. “The message was basically, stay the same, stay consistent, keep doing what we’re doing. Even in games where we’ve gotten only a handful of hits, or we’ve left a lot of runners on, we just have to keep trying the entire year.”
The Rams had a rough start to the season, starting their away play with a 5-10 record. As of now, they’ve put their feet back on the ground and are closer to the higher mark with a 9-10 record.
They’re set to start another weekend full of action as they host the Rams Invitational March 6.
“I think we have all the confidence in the world because we’re going to be on our home field again,” Stucky said. “We’re going to have our own crowd. I think the motivation is just going to be even higher for next weekend.”
Reach Aron Medrano at sports@collegian.com or on social media @AronMedrano27.
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