FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Fresno State softball team suffered an 8-7 road loss to the Colorado State Rams on Saturday afternoon at Ram Field.
Fresno State (20-27, 9-9 Mountain West) had built a 5-0 lead on Colorado State (25-17, 9-8 MW) before the Rams charged back in the sixth and then won on a walk-off fielding error in the bottom of the seventh.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Fresno State scored the first five runs of the game, which included three runs in the first, one in the second and another in the sixth to build a 5-0 lead on Colorado State.
The three in the first all came on one swing of the bat when Fresno State right fielder Juliana Wilson crushed a three-run homer to light up the scoreboard.
Emma Martinez and Taryn Irigoyen then delivered RBI singles in the second and sixth frames, respectively, for the Bulldogs.
The defensive highlight of the game came in the bottom of the fourth when Irigoyen robbed CSU's Hailey Smith of a home run when she leaped and made the catch above the fence in center field.
The Rams scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth to rally for a 6-5 lead.
The Bulldogs answered by turning Keahilele Mattson's one-out walk into a run when Alesia Denby ripped a triple to center field and then took the lead when Vanessa M. Hernandez drove in Denby with a hard-hit RBI single to left.
But CSU completed the comeback bid with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to swipe the win.
NOTES
Fresno State's Keahilele Mattson now owns a season-long nine-game hitting streak.
Fresno State is now 13-4 when leading after five innings.
Fresno State is now 9-3 this season when scoring six or more runs.
This was Fresno State's 18th one-run game this season (8-10 record in those games).
With three RBIs in Saturday's game, Fresno State's Juliana Wilson recorded her fifth multi-RBI game as a Bulldog (third with at least three RBIs in the same game).
NEXT UP
Fresno State and Colorado State will meet one more time this weekend when the Bulldogs and Rams play on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT in the series finale at Ram Field.
The game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network (web/stream) and the Bulldog Sports Network (radio).