Colorado State softball finished another weekend series with a tie after a 7-6 win and a 1-0 loss.
The Rams faced Weber State for the second day in a row Sunday, finishing the series 2-2. CSU’s record is now 9-14 going into conference play. Despite having a losing record, the Rams are not letting it affect their mindset.
“I feel like if we play hard and we play well, then you’re always trying to take two out of three at home and one out of three on the road,” coach Jen Fisher said. “So I feel like I like our chances, and I like our fight.”
The Rams are a young team, and have been consistently facing several teams with more seasoned players on their rosters. The Wildcats had seven upperclassmen playing while the Rams only had four. Despite the difference in experience the Rams kept the fight close.
“I think a lot of people kind of are underestimating us just especially because of how young our team is,” Autumn Rutherford said. “I mean, I think it’s good. We’re scrappy, we’re trying, we’re all putting in 100% effort all the time, and I think that’s kind of cool.”
The Rams won a close game one on a Kaylynn English single that forced Rutherford to dive into home to get the winning run that Rutherford previously set up by stealing third. Rutherford had barely any room to make it home, but with grit and determination, narrowly made it. The Rams won 7-6 against the Wildcats.
“I was just like, ‘Just get there, just try and run as quick as I can, try and touch the home plate,’” Rutherford said.
The Rams started the game on a dominant first inning, scoring six runs to take a commanding lead. English and Brooke Bohlender had back-to-back triples to start off an exciting first inning for CSU. Carolina Buffaloe stole the show, hitting a grand slam to put the Rams up by six.
CSU went quiet on offense for five innings without scoring a single run, allowing the Wildcats to claw back to tie the game. Weber scored six runs over the next four innings putting CSU in a tough situation, making the game tighter than expected.
The Rams almost hurt their chances of winning the game, but were able to find their footing with the return of Giselle Bentley — who had been taken out in the fourth when she gave up three runs. Bentley returned in the fifth and locked down the plate getting three strikeouts to help the Rams recover and win the game.
“I mean, that just feels really good,” Bentley said. “I know that my pitchers and the whole team needed me to lock in, so I just tried my best and I was just trying to figure out where they weren’t going to hit it.”
In the second game, a completely different scene took place compared to the first, featuring a pitcher dual. Reagan Wick pitched all seven innings, only allowing one run. Having only four stockouts and one error, it was a good day on the field, despite the loss.
The Rams had a hard time getting on base — only achieving it four times — while Weber got on six times and pushed in one run, that being the only run of the whole game. CSU only had one at bat that went for an extra base. The Rams were in a jam, unable to find the gap.
CSU held on till the very end, getting two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh to potentially win the game. They extended every at-bat as long as they could but just fell short of the finish line, ending the day with a loss.
Reach Alex Graser at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @AlexGraser5354.
