Ending in the fifth inning, Colorado State softball beat Montana 9-1 with a mercy ruling.
Even though the weather didn’t bring any heat, the Rams brought their own with hot bats and orange uniforms Sunday. After a long winless series against Utah State, the Rams bounced back with an impressive outing with seven different hitters getting a knock-on base.
“It feels good to come out and our bats to be firing,” coach Jen Fisher said. “We (have) got to respect everybody and fear no one. But, you know, we took care of business — it’s basically what we were supposed to do.”
At first, the game looked like it was going to be close when Giselle Bentley gave up a homer to the third batter in the rotation. Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, Bentley never slipped up again.
The Grizzlies only got two hits in the entire game due to Bentley and the Rams’ complete shutdown performance on defense.
“Giselle just needs to go out and attack, and that’s what she does,” Carolina Buffaloe said. “She doesn’t let it affect her, and she just goes right back to the other batter she gets it done.”
The third inning was the start to a party that would never end; Lauren Stucky started the party that would eventually bury the Grizzlies. She went toe-to-toe with the pitcher, fending off any ball that came near the box. Stucky had the dugout on their feet chanting as she took an easy 10-plus pitch at bat ending with a walk.
That walk got the team fired up like never before.
“Lauren had such an amazing at-bat, and the dugout just knows how to bring the energy and feed into those little moments and make them into something big,” Brooke Bohlender said. “So that’s what we did and then we started that big inning.”
The Rams put up an impressive state line for a shortened game. CSU had ten hits, four walks, two home runs, four hits for extra bases and only three runners left on base. It was a good day on the field for the Rams.
Bohlender encapsulated the energy of the game. She started the day with a deep ball for a one-run RBI double to tie the game 1-1 in the first inning. In her next at-bat in the third, she kept an, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” mentality where she hit another double for a one-run RBI, putting the Rams ahead 3-1.
Another impressive player was Buffaloe, who hit a solo home run in the second inning and a triple in the third. Despite the muddy conditions, she had four putouts to top everything off.
“You know what Isaiah Stevens says, you don’t lose in orange,” Buffaloe said.
Reach Alex Graser at sports@collegian.com or on X @AlexGraser5354.
