After shutting out Marist 17-0 last weekend, CSU came into their first game of Mountain West play on a hot streak.
Attacking the plate right off the bat, CSU had a strong start on both offense and defense and defeated UNLV 2-0.
“We really executed the game plan in the first inning,” CSU softball coach Jen Fisher said. “It proved to be the distance.”
A battle from behind in the count, junior Cassey Mosser got on base with a walk in the first inning and scored on an Emily Phol RBI single.
With runners on first and third with two outs, CSU remained in scoring position with the heart of the line up still to come.
A single into left field by junior Alysa Greckel drove in the second run for the Rams.
CSU had trouble getting players on base after the first inning.
Junior Ashlie Ortega led off the third for the Rams with a fly ball into deep left center field. Ortega reached second base on that hit, but failed to advance with a pop-out and strike out to follow.
Unable to kick off their offense, UNLV had two hits on the night and two fielding errors.
Senior Kacie McCarthy took control of the defense from the mound and shut down the UNLV offense for her fifth shutout of the season.
McCarthy threw 68 pitches in seven innings and only allowed three hits to improve to 12-6 on the season.
“We really try to teach our team that we need to play one hundred percent each game,” Fisher said. “We can not worry about how hungry UNLV will be.”
The Rams increase their record to 15-14 overall and 1-0 in Mountain West play on Thursday evening. UNLV falls to 14-19 on the season and 0-1 in the MW.
Still too early to predict a repeat of last years sweep over UNLV, the Rams need to focus on putting players on base and advancing the runner.
“Our game plans gotta be to lay off the junk,” Fisher said. “Its a constant struggle and thats why we play the game.”
The two will play again on Friday at 4p.m. at Ram Field.
Softball Beat Reporter Haleigh Hamblin can be reached at sports@collegian.com.
