Nightmare on the mound.

Of course not for Colorado State softball, who took care of business both times in their Sunday afternoon doubleheader, beating Maine 17-1  in their first game and Idaho State 7-0 in their second game. 

CSU’s batters feasted on opposing pitchers all afternoon having little misfortunes in their at-bats. CSU’s stellar hitting extended their win streak to nine, all of which has been at home.

CSU put up a season-high 14 hits in the first game of the afternoon, which they followed up their game against Idaho State with 13.

“We were just talking about not being complacent at the plate, attacking our pitches, being disciplined,” Danielle Serna said. “Also (I want to) just give a shoutout to our pitching staff since I’m on it.”

A shoutout well deserved.

CSU outscored their opponents 24-1, with the one run coming against sophomore Delaney Saugstad, who has only pitched for six innings this season.

“I’m really impressed with all of our pitching staff and our catchers,” coach Jen Fisher said. “I just became the pitching coach in January and that’s a testament to their maturity and just the people that they are. It’s tough to be a senior, or a fifth-year, but they’ve made it really easy.”

CSU set the tone early and as Idaho State sat beyond the fences, bearing witness to the blood bath that the Rams were imposing, they almost certainly thought about their impending doom. 

The third inning thrashing that led into fourth inning fireworks was the stretch that had Maine thinking about that plane ride back home. Scoring 13 of their season-high 17 runs in just those two innings would lead to things ending short for the Black Bears after just five innings.

“It’s been amazing to play in front of Ram fans,” Serna said. “Just to feed off of the environment here that we’ve already built and just to continue to be comfortable and love every moment of it.”

Sydney Hornbuckle (6-3) picking up the win was never in doubt, her shutout in three innings pitched is now the second game in a row she hasn’t allowed a run, after pitching a full-game shutout against Drake on Saturday.

Pitch-after-pitch the Rams made solid contact in their at-bats. It got to a point where it seemed like retiring the inning bordered on impossible. The biggest culprit in the Rams rout of the Black Bears was Peyton Allen, who continues to be on fire at home.

“I was just trying to stay relaxed, just trying to hit something hard,” Allen said. “My teammates got on base for me, so I was just trying to score runs, not do anything too major.”

Allen started the year off slow, coming into the home stretch batting just .237. That however has steadily climbed to a solid .323.

Allen hit her second grand slam of the season and third home run in five games. And while she’ll tell you grand slams don’t happen often, actions always speak louder than words. 

“Just being at home, getting those extra days of work, it’s paid off clearly,” Allen said. “But I’m still just trying to see the ball good, see it when it’s pitched there and just hammer it when it is.”

Her 2-for-3 game against Maine was capped off by a new career-high of six RBIs. Bringing players home has truly become a specialty for the graduate infielder. While the bats didn’t stay as red-hot in the latter half of the day, there weren’t many complaints to be had about CSU’s performance on the field.

The Rams performance started with Serna (7-4) who picked up another win on the mound. The combined shutout from Serna and Reagan Wick showcased the Rams ability to be elite on both sides of the ball.

“It’s amazing,” Serna said. “I think it makes my job a lot easier starting and knowing that Reagan has my back no matter what. She’s come in and saved me a lot of times, in multiple games, but she’s amazing.”

Serna’s stayed busy all day, on the mound, but also in the box. She hit a combined 4-for-6 in both games for an RBI and two runs.

The Rams continue to crush the competition at home and have made games at Ram Field impossible to win. With Drake on the menu for Monday, the Rams will look to feast en route to a potential 10-game win streak.

“It’s just a lot of fun to see that we can apply that pressure and keep applying it to these good teams,” Allen said. “And I think it just shows how good we are and how good we can be and that we’re still going to grow. But, It’s been a lot of fun and I love this team, so I’m excited to see what we do.”

Reach Damon Cook at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dwcook2001.

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