Colorado State University Athletics
CSU softball working hard in off-season
11/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Following one of the program’s most successful seasons ever, the Colorado State softball team is still hungry for more. The Rams’ 32 victories were the most since 2004, their winning percentage was the fifth-best ever and the team had three players named to the NFCA All-Region team for the first time in more than a decade.
But CSU believes it still had more to accomplish, being in the running for a Mountain West title until the final day of the season.
“There’s a lot of drive with this group,” Head Coach Jen Fisher said. “The seniors have been second place or have been in contention going into the final weekend all three years. They want to take the next step.”
The Rams graduated six seniors – including one of their three All-Region selections, Chelsea O’Connor, who led the nation for RBI-per-game – but they bring back their two others, in addition to a slew of other top contributors.
“I think our biggest strength is that we’re mentally though,” Fisher said. “I think that’s going to be a difference for us. We don’t need a superstar; we just need every player in the lineup to be mentally ready every game.”
Junior Holly Reinke leads the pitching staff. As a sophomore, she appeared in 33 of CSU’s 49 games, earning 20 victories – third-most in CSU history and third in the MW in 2014. She also ranked in the top five in the MW for ERA, strikeouts and batting average against.
Sophomore Haley Hutton was one of the nation’s top freshman in 2014, hitting .413 (second in the MW; 49th nationally) while getting on base at a .521 clip (third; 31st). Her 33 walks were the second-most in CSU history, her batting average ranked third and her runs scored – which ranked 14th nationally – were fifth in CSU’s record book.
Hutton’s older sister, Taylor, is a senior on the team, and her younger sister, Bridgette, signed a National Letter of Intent to play for CSU beginning in 2016. Their mother, Chris Oglesby, was an All-Region player for the Rams in the 1980s.
Hutton will shift from second base to shortstop. The Rams will also return their starting catcher, designated player and two outfielders, and are also encouraged by the seven incomers they brought in and their five seniors.
“Our senior leadership is outstanding,” Fisher said. “We had so many seniors last year that I didn’t know what would happen when they took the reins. They’ve done a fantastic job, though. I’m really proud of them.”
The schedule once again includes top competition – including the season opener against Nebraska and tournaments at Texas, Arizona State and Arizona. CSU will play its first home game on March 6, part of the three-day Colorado State Classic.
Other comments from Coach Fisher:
(on strengths from the fall season)
“It was a really successful fall, I thought. We saw a lot of positives from several players – both returners and newcomers. It gave us a chance to try out some new things and determine what we want to do with our lineup. We played some good teams and hung in there and beat some of them.”
(on the pitching staff)
“We have the two freshmen – Logan Losh and Trinity Harrington – who we wanted to get some innings this fall, and then of course sharpen Molly (Randle), Holly (Reinke) and Larissa (Petakoff). I feel very confident in our pitching staff. We’re deep, so that’s exciting.”
(on the infield)
“We have a whole new infield since we moved Haley (Hutton) to short. She’s moved over seamlessly, so that hasn’t been an issue, but we utilized the fall to try and mark down the corners, because we had Alyssa (Greckel) and Chelsea (Biglow) there for four years.”
(on the upcoming schedule)
“Coach (Nick) Longo and our ladies have worked very hard to try and have us ready and stable and strong for that big push in February. We only have eight hours a week with the players right now, and six are spent on strength and conditioning. Right now we’re just trying to stabilize and maintain all the gains we’ve made in that area, and then we’ll come back a few days early from winter break and get going.”
