The Colorado State softball team began its final series of regular-season play against Grand Canyon April 30. The Rams lost 10-5 Thursday in the first game of a three-game series.
Despite the loss, CSU showed fight. Throughout the game, there were several moments when the Rams showed promise, but GCU maintained the lead till the end.
In the top of the second inning, GCU had already plated the first three runs of the game and had the bases loaded. CSU had not recorded a hit at this time.
Starting pitcher Giselle Bentley limited the damage and stopped the bleeding at three runs.
“I think there’s the bend-don’t-break mentality that we’ve been kind of trying to go with, and Giselle got out of that second inning, bases loaded,” head coach Jen Fisher said. “I thought ‘OK, she’s good.'”
CSU responded in the third by keeping the Lopes to zero runs, Jailey Wilson then tied the game back up with a three-run blast.
“My first at-bat, they came (inside) on me,” Wilson said. “I knew they were probably thinking they’re going to do it again, so I had to make an adjustment.”
After the win, GCU’s record stands at 46-7, ranking them as the first place in the Mountain West Conference. The challenge level is high, but the Rams are ready to take on the other two games of the series.
“Honestly, I think anyone in this conference is beatable,” Wilson said. “Just coming in with that mindset that we can definitely beat this team, I definitely think we can give them a run for their money, no matter what the score was.”
Unfortunately for CSU, the Lopes pushed farther ahead in the seventh inning to secure the victory, pushing the Rams to their 25th loss of the season.
“I feel like overall, our mentality was really solid,” Fisher said. “We got to see a lot of their pitching so far, and I thought we made them throw a lot of pitches.”
With the long season down to two regular-season games, the team is able to look back on the season and see the progression since the start of the year. Coming into the series against GCU, the Rams had just swept Utah State and were looking to be playing their best ball at the right time.
“I feel like we’re much further along where we would have been two and half months ago, that’s always a good feeling as a coach,” Fisher said.
In addition to Wilson, Abby Edwards also recorded a two-run home run, emphasizing the power of CSU’s lineup is something they can rely on in the next upcoming games.
“Both Abby and Jailey got those balls so far out in front and kept them fair, it was so awesome to see,” Fisher said. “That’s the kind of power that they have. I think that definitely puts some pressure on GCU.”
CSU will look to take a game from the Lopes over the next two days and hopes to use the good and the bad of Thursday’s game as motivation.
“We definitely lit a fire under them,” Wilson said. “It was an intense game. We definitely sent a message today.”
Reach Caleb Morrow at sports@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegianSpts.
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