Coach Peterson Gets 300th Win as Mountain Lions go 3-0

Box Score (Game 1) | Box Score (Game 2) | Box Score (Game 3)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (8-4-1 / 3-0 RMAC) defeats Fort Lewis (2-6 / 0-3) in three straight games to start the 2013 conference season. In the process, head coach Scott Peterson gets his 300th win, which is the most all-time by any coach in UCCS history.

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Game 1 Recap

Fort Lewis jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but would be the only time they led all game. Peyton Kornfeind was walked to lead off the bottom of the first inning for UCCS and scored a few plays later when Emily Jennings hit a single to left field. Allie Corids also had an RBI in the inning which gave UCCS a 2-1 lead after the first inning.

Fort Lewis went three-up, three-down in the second inning, but UCCS did not. The Mountain Lions exploded in the second inning as they scored seven runs. Lara Mathewson had a stand up double to the right center fence, which scored two runs. Jennings singled in the next at bat for her second RBI of the game. Corids had an RBI in the inning and TJ Flodman had two as she hit a homerun to left center field for the final runs of the inning.

Fort Lewis began to answer back in the top of the third, as they scored two more runs to and brought the score to 9-3 in favor of UCCS. The Mountain Lions fell silent in the bottom half of the third inning, as did the Skyhawks in the top of the fourth.

UCCS tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as Jessica Belsterling and Emily Jennings hit back-to-back homeruns to begin the inning. Those two runs proved to be the icing on the cake, as UCCS took an eight run lead into the fifth inning. Fort Lewis was unable to add to their score in the fifth, which concluded the game under the run-rule. UCCS defeated Fort Lewis 11-3 in five innings.

Becca Smith had an outstanding outing at the mound, giving up just four hits, two earned runs and recorded seven strikeouts in five innings pitches. Smith improves to 5-2 on the season with the win.

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Game 2 Recap

Both teams were quiet to start the game, as neither team scored in the first inning. The Mountain Lions woke up though in the second inning as they put up three runs. Allie Corids and TJ Flodman each had one RBI. Corids finished with a game-high three hits.

UCCS fell silent again in the third inning, but arose again in the fourth and fifth innings. Belsterling hit a solo homerun, which was followed in the next inning by a three-run homerun off the bat of Emily Jennings.

UCCS added one more run in the 6th inning and won by a final score of 8-3.

Jessica Belsterling not only had a good offensive game, but also pitched a complete game. She allowed five hits, three earned runs, and had four strikeouts to improve to 2-2 on the season.

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Game 3 Recap

UCCS completed the sweep over Fort Lewis in the third game as the Mountain Lions run-ruled the Skyhawks for the second time of the day by a final score of 17-9.

The bats stayed warm for UCCS on the cold and crisp day in Colorado Springs as they scored three runs in the first inning, and followed that up with seven more in the second and five more in the third.

Leading the way for the Mountain Lions in the third game of the triple-header was Allie Corids, who went three-for-four with a game-high five RBIs.

Peyton Kornfeind also had a great outing as she went three-for-three with three runs.

Korey Kulpins earned her first win of the season in this game as she pitched 4.2 innings to improve to 1-0 on the season.
Up Next: The UCCS Mountain Lions will travel to Chadron Nebraska next weekend to take on the Eagles (3-6 / 2-2 RMAC)for a four game series starting on Saturday, March 2.