Colorado State softball finished its final home game of the season with a 10-2 loss to Fresno State Sunday. On top of that, the Rams hosted festivities for their five graduating players before the game.
Brooke Bohlender, Carolina Buffaloe, Jordan West, Morgan Crosby and Morgan Coleman received rounds of applause from the crowd as they were introduced. They went out before the game and caught ceremonial pitches from their fathers in a heartwarming moment to honor their CSU careers.
“I mean, it’s crazy that four years later I finally played my last game here,” Bohlender said. “But obviously (it was) very emotional because I love playing here, and this is my home. And I decided to stay in Fort Collins, and so just playing four years at my home has been the biggest blessing.”
Unfortunately for the Rams, they faced one of the best pitchers in the Mountain West throughout the bout. They had issues getting good hits on FSU’s pitcher Serayah Neiss, who only allowed six hits in six innings. Even when the Rams got good hits, they were forced into covered spots of the field for quick outs.
“(Neiss) had three different (pitching) speeds, so it was kind of hard,” West said. “She’s a good pitcher, so give her props. We were just hunting the strike zone and looking for our pitch and just attacking on the pitches that we wanted.”
However, several of the senior Rams picked up hits in their last home game.
Bohlender got a great ball that she took full advantage of and hit a double on the special day, and she walked across home plate off an Abby Edwards single. Buffaloe got a good hit in the same inning that helped load the bases for the Rams. Crosby followed that up by drawing in a walk to force a runner home to give the Rams their second run of the game.
“I’m glad I got a hit off of Serayah Neiss,” Bohlender said. “It felt good — it kind of pumped up the energy. So yeah, it always feels great.”
Reagan Wick started the game as pitcher, however, she didn’t get the ideal beginning. On the first at-bat of the game, Natalie Elias reached on base from a wild Ram throw to first. She then managed to make it to third to set up the first run of the game.
After the rough start, Wick gave up a grand slam that put the Bulldogs up by five runs. Despite that, Wick recovered from then on by not allowing any runs till the fourth inning.
Even though the Rams still have another series on the road, this was a special moment for the CSU community. The families and fans showed up for this final home game to wish the Rams their best and to congratulate them on their hard work despite the loss.
“I think it’s an honor to be able to coach them.” coach Jen Fisher said. “I started out as a junior college coach, and I just feel like I never had enough time — two years just wasn’t enough time. It’s really (an) honor to do this for a living and to have done it longer than any other coach at CSU. I think it’s actually kind of surprising because it’s gone so fast — the years that I’ve been here. We’ve had some amazing, amazing players, and this group is right up there with some of the best people and the best students that we’ve ever known.”
Reach Alex Graser at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter at @AlexGraser5354.
