Tuesday, March 18, 1997

RAMS WIN TITLE AT NIST... Colorado State battled back from the loser's bracket to win the National Invitational Softball Tournament Sunday. The Rams won their last five games of the tournament, including Sunday victories over No. 15 Missouri and No. 12 Arizona State. Colorado State fought its way back from a 2-0 deficit in its first game vs. Arizona State to win 3-2, forcing the "if"game for the tournament championship. The Rams then pounded out nine hits in the finale to take the second game 6-1. Tournament defensive MVP Nikki Johnson started and won the last five games of the tournament for the Rams. Johnson compiled a 7-1 record with a 1.44 ERA, striking out 42 in 43.2 innings pitched. This year marked the fourth straight that Colorado State has finished in the top three at the NIST, placing third in both '94 and '95, and second last year. The tournament win wrapped up a successful 16-game, 11-day road trip for the Rams, as they compiled a 12-4 record in California.

RAMS OFF TO BEST WAC START EVER... Colorado State won four of six conference games on its California road trip, making for the Rams' best start since joining the Western Athletic Conference in 1991. Colorado State started the trip with a doubleheader sweep of San Jose State, 9-4 and 6-5. Freshman Alyson Carter homered in each of the games and had five hits in the twin bill to lead the Rams. Sarah Fredstrom also went 4 for 4 with five RBI in game one. The Rams then traveled to Fresno to take on the second-ranked Bulldogs in a locally televised doubleheader. Colorado State opened a 2-0 lead in game one, but Fresno State answered with four runs in the third inning and three more in the fourth to put the game away. In game two, the Rams were held to four hits by Bulldog freshman pitcher Amanda Scott in losing 5-0. Colorado State rebounded from the losses with a doubleheader sweep of No. 25 San Diego State. Fredstrom and Kelley Spence each had two hits and two RBI to lead the Rams to a 5-2 in game one. Carter hit her third home run of the season to lead a 10-hit attack in game two as the Rams completed the sweep with a 7-3 victory. Carter had four RBI and Bernadette Lamb added a two-run double for the Rams.

JOHNSON NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK... Senior pitcher Nikki Johnson Monday was named WAC player of the week. For the week of March 9-16, she was 8-1 with a 1.52 ERA, striking out 49 in 50.2 innings. Johnson leads the conference in strikeouts with 120 on the season, 48 ahead of the next highest conference pitcher. This past weekend, she broke the school records for career wins and career innings pitched. Johnson now has 47 wins at Colorado State to top Kristy Wirth's 41 set from 1988-91. Her 467.2 innings pitched breaks Wirth's mark of 425.1. Johnson also leads the WAC in wins with 15 this season.

RAMS VS. THE TOP 25... Colorado State went 5-1 against teams ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 Poll during its California road trip. The Rams went 1-1 vs. No. 15 Missouri, 2-0 vs. No. 12 Arizona State and 2-0 vs. No. 25 San Diego State. For the season, the Rams are 5-4 vs. the top 25, with a loss to No. 1 Arizona and two losses to No. 2 Fresno State.

BUFORD BREAKS SCHOOL STOLEN BASE RECORD... Junior second baseman Jennifer Buford broke the school record for career stolen bases over the weekend. She now has 35, topping Tina Trujillo's 33 set from 1989-92. Buford has 13 stolen bases on the season, one shy of Trujillo's single-season school record of 14 set in 1992. As a team, Colorado State has 44 stolen bases on the season, just eight shy of the school record of 52 set in 1989.

FREDSTROM WINS OFFENSIVE MVP HONORS AT NIST... 1996 first-team all-WAC shortstop Sarah Fredstrom added another honor to her ever-growing list when she was named offensive MVP at the NIST. Fredstrom was 16 for 34 (.471) with 14 RBI in 10 games. In the Rams' 7-0 win over Notre Dame late Saturday night, she hit a grand slam and had six RBI. For the season, she leads the WAC in RBI with 33, is tied for first in doubles with nine, is third in hits with 39 and eighth in batting average at .390.

RAMS AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS... Several other Rams are among the WAC leaders. Alyson Carter is sixth in batting average at .421 and second in hits with 40; Amber Solano leads the league in runs with 30, one ahead of second-place Jennifer Buford; and Kelley Spence is tied for second in RBI with 25.

RAMS TRAVEL TO OMAHA THIS WEEKEND... The Rams wrap up their pre-conference tournament schedule Saturday and Sunday at the Creighton Invitational in Omaha. Colorado State will meet up twice each with Drake, Missouri-Kansas City and Creighton.

WAC HOME OPENER ON HORIZON... After the Creighton Invite, Colorado State returns to Ram Field for its 1997 WAC home opener. March 29 the Rams take on Tulsa in a doubleheader set for 1:00 p.m. March 30 the two teams meet again for another 1:00 p.m. doubleheader.