When short stop Ashlie Ortega took the final swing of the game, the ball cracked against her bat and sent it flying out of the park. In the sixth inning of the game, the CSU softball team had swept the UTEP Miners in its three-game series at Ram Field in Fort Collins.

“It was a really good game and the execution was huge for us,” Ortega said. “This game went really well for us and it puts us back on track for conference.”

In their weekend series against UTEP, the Rams took all three victories, ending the games with 14-0, 7-2 and 9-1 victories, enacting the eight-run mercy rule twice. The Rams are now riding a seven-game winning streak with the conclusion of their non-conference schedule for the 2014 season, which finished 19-6.

In their final match up against the Miners, the Rams dominated the field in every capacity. The Rams scored runs in every inning of the game, none of the batters struck out, and because their hitting was so on par, the Rams went through three of UTEP’s pitchers.

“It’s important to be able to hit all types of pitching,” head coach Jen Fisher said. “We did a very good job of being disciplined and waiting for our pitch on every pitcher, so that was good for us”

Throughout every inning of the game, the Rams were going full bore, getting the bases loaded and hitting balls deep into the outfield. Eight of the 13 players on the roster had at least one run throughout the game on Sunday and center fielder Jaleyn Manzanares ended her afternoon with four RBIs.

“This weekend was definitely good for us, everyone has been working hard each taking care of their own job and being really focused on team,” Fisher said. “But, at the same time, thinking of what do I need to do personally to make sure that what has happened in some of our losses doesn’t happen again.”

In front of a crowd that was filled with old friends and family members, the softball team proudly took this sweep. Taking the time to appreciate this win, especially after coming off of four hard losses to Utah State and UNC.

“This is great for us going into conference since we have our away series coming  up in vegas next week,” Ortega said. “It shows what we can do and what we’re capable of doing as a team so  these are three really huge team wins for us. Winning today was a good feeling especially in front of a crowd full of family.”

NEXT UP: The Rams (22-9, 3-3 MW) will face UNLV (15-21, 5-3 MW) in a three-game series on the road.

Collegian Reporter Hannah Cornish can be reached at sports@collegian.com and on Twitter at @HMCornish.

Breakout: CSU’s sweep over UTEP

• Improves the Rams to 22-9
• Continues current winning streak, now at 7 games
• Wraps up CSU’s non-conference 2014 slate, finishing 19-6