Updated 11:55 a.m.
Tuesday’s CSU baseball game against Metro State at City Park has been postponed, the team announced via Twitter.
No make up date was given.
The Rams will next play CU in Johnstown April 12 at 6:30 p.m.
Original story
After splitting a four game series in Greeley against Northern Colorado last weekend, the CSU club baseball team is ready to return to City Park to take on Metro State University tonight at 5:30 p.m.
The game gives the Rams a chance to get back on the field shortly after they outscored Northern Colorado 24-17 last weekend, but failed to win the series in Greeley.
“I think the Metro State game is a pretty big deal just because we had a couple letdowns this past weekend,” CSU first baseman Brad Spies said.
“And it’s a good way for us to kind of gauge where we’re at and work on things we need to work on because obviously it’s not a conference game but it still gives us a good opportunity to go out and see some live pitching.”
Metro State is a division-II club baseball team, while the Rams compete at the division-I level, but that when the Roadrunners come to Fort Collins tonight, they will likely not be intimidated.
“Any time when we get to play some of these bigger schools, we always look at it as kind of a measuring stick (game),” Metro State coach Kenny Hutchinson said. “But at the same time, we’re really looking at it as a chance to prove that we do measure up because we really think we do.”
Standing in Metro State’s way will be the Rams, who are looking to gain momentum ahead of their four-game series against CU-Boulder this weekend.
CSU plays each one of its NCBA Mid America-West Conference games during the weekend this season, but the team has scheduled games during the week like the one tonight purposely in order to keep themselves sharp while preparing for conference games.
“It gives us just a good advantage because a lot of club teams don’t do that,” CSU shortstop Colton Duffy said. “Getting to play in the middle of the week like (CSU coach Nick Childs) said, it just kind of keeps us rolling with the flow of playing games.”
The Rams plan to send sophomore starting pitcher Brooks Carlson to the mound first tonight while shuffling through some of their other pitchers throughout the rest of the game in order to keep each starter sharp.
The opportunity to get back on the mound in a non-conference game could be a good scenario for a Rams’ pitching staff, which pitched well in two games against UNC, but failed to hold the Northern Colorado offense at bay while surrendering 16 combined runs in its two losses.
“I think it’s a good time for them to kind of figure out ways to get better,” Spies said. “Obviously, if they did struggle against UNC, it’s a good time to build that confidence back up. It’s just a good tune-up game really, it’s a non-conference game which is nice and it’s just a good way to get things rolling in the right direction again.”
Assistant Sports Editor Andrew Schaller can be reached at sports@collegian.com
