Coming off a victorious must-win series against conference foe University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Rams head to Nevada to duke it out with the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack. This is an important series for both teams as the Rams aim to keep their first-place position in the Mountain West, while the Wolf Pack looks to get back into contention.
The Wolf Pack sits on a 22-16 overall and 7-5 conference record. Although the Wolf Pack has lost four of their last five games, they are hungry and prepared to defend their home field.
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This three-game series will take place starting April 18 at 5 p.m., then April 19 at 2 p.m. and will conclude April 20 at 1 p.m. This unusual Thursday, Friday, Saturday schedule is due to Easter Sunday, on which no games will take place.
In order to be successful, the Rams will need to stay focused and not overlook the Wolf Pack. Nevada is average in almost all statistical categories in the Mountain West, but they will give the Rams a tough fight.
The Rams are the best hitting team in the Mountain West Conference. They have seven players with batting averages over .300. This is an impressive feat that will give the Rams the advantage in this series.
The Rams took home honors once again this week. Junior Amber Nelson is the latest Ram to earn Mountain West Player of the Week. This honor was fueled by Nelson’s amazing play over the weekend against UNLV. This is Nelson’s second time earning this award as well as the team’s sixth of the season.
For the first time in almost 21 years, Colorado State softball has cracked the Top 25 in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll, coming in at No. 25. The last time the Rams were ranked in the Top 25 was March 4, 1998. Back then, they reached No. 23, and this year the team hopes to top that.
The 1998 team finished the season with a 37-15 overall and a 13-7 Mountain West record, which was good enough for second. This was also the last Colorado State team to reach the NCAA Tournament, where they played against the University of Arizona and California State University, Northridge.
This year, the Rams have a 31-6 overall record with 11 games remaining. In reality, the Rams have a great chance to finish the season with a better record than the 1998 squad. Only time will tell if they can beat their own record.
Junior Guerrero can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @juniorg45.