Wednesday, May 7, 1997

FORT COLLINS-- The Colorado State University softball team is ranked 10th in this week's USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. This is the second straight week the Rams (47-12, 24-6 Western Athletic Conference) have been at No. 10 and the seventh straight week Colorado State has been ranked in the top 25.

Arizona stays in the No. 1 spot, followed by South Carolina, Iowa, Fresno State and UCLA.

Colorado State has clinched a tie for the WAC championship with two games remaining in its regular season. The Rams host WAC rival San Diego State in a 11 a.m. doubleheader Friday at Ram Field. Either one win by the Rams or one loss by Fresno State on its four-game trip at Hawaii clinches the WAC title outright for Colorado State. The title would be the first since the Rams joined the WAC in 1991 and the third in 21 years of softball competition at Colorado State. The Rams took back-to-back conference titles in the old High Country Athletic Conference in 1989 and 1990.

A WAC championship also would mean an automatic berth into next week's NCAA Regionals and would mark the first softball postseason berth in school history. Pairings and sites will be announced by the NCAA Sunday night.