COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs freshman pitcher
Haley Smith earned two victories in two starts and the Mountain Lion offense combined for six home runs as UCCS (14-10, 11-8 RMAC) swept a tripleheader today against Black Hills State (6-18, 6-13 RMAC). The Mountain Lions won in 11-9, 10-2 and 7-2 games against the Yellow Jackets.
The tripleheader will mark the only games of the four-game series after Saturday's games were cancelled due to low temperatures. The fourth game will not be made up.
Black Hills State held a 5-1 lead after the top of the second inning, and was one run away from earning a run-rule victory with a 9-2 lead after the top of the fifth.
Whitney Weber led off the bottom of the fifth with a single, and
Nikki Hoffman put two Mountain Lions on base after she was hit by the pitcher. UCCS scored two runs with back-to-back RBI doubles from
Melissa Martinek and
Dani Fonseca.
Makenna Smith made it three straight hits with an RBI single to make it a 9-5 game with no outs.
Lexi Belligan cleared the bases with a home run over the center field fence and pull the Mountain Lions within a run at 9-8 to close out the scoring in the six-run inning.
UCCS retired Black Hills State in the top of the sixth and seventh innings and was remained one run short of the Yellow Jackets in the bottom of the seventh.
Paige Duncan reached base on a one-out single and
Amanda Nobles substituted into as a pinch runner.
Jordyn Cusimano took advantage of a fielding error to reach first base and Nobles moved into scoring position at second base.
Kylie Barnard hit her third home run of the season to right field for the walk-off 11-9 win to finish nine unanswered runs for the Mountain Lions.
Cusimano used a well-placed double down the left field line to score Barnard from third in the second inning of the second game as UCCS took the lead at 1-0. Both teams scored two runs in the third inning, with Fonseca hitting a deep two-run home run to left field on her first pitch of the at-bat for her second home run of the day.
The Mountain Lions put their first six batters of the fourth inning on base with two doubles, two walks, a single and a batter hit by a pitch. Belligan added three more RBIs to her total today with a three-RBI double to right center field as part of a six-run inning for a 9-2 lead against the Yellow Jackets. Hoffman and Martinek hit back-to-back singles in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Hoffman scored from second base as Belligan earned her fourth RBI of the game with a double to left field for the 10-2 run-rule victory in five innings.
The final game started as a pitcher's duel as the teams combined for four hits and no runs through the first three-and-a-half innings. Belligan hit her second home run of the day to break the tie with a two-run shot.
Kennedi DeRossett hit her second home run of the season two batters later to make it a 3-0 lead after the fourth inning.
Haley Smith struck out two batters in the top of the fifth in a 1-2-3 inning for the UCCS defense against Black Hills State.
The Mountain Lions opened the bottom of the fifth with four straight singles and scored two runs in the process. UCCS added two more runs in the sixth inning for a 7-0 lead against the Yellow Jackets, and Black Hills State used a two-run home run to make it a 7-2 result in the final game of the day.
Fonseca went six-of-12 in the tripleheader with six RBIs and two home runs and two doubles. She moved into ninth in career home runs with 30. Belligan led the team with nine RBIs off of a pair of home runs and doubles, and Martinek went five-of-eight at the plate with three doubles and a team-high six runs today.
Stephanie Chitkowksi earned the win in the first game in 4.2 innings of relief pitching with three strikeouts. Smith pitched her fifth complete game of the season in the second game, and earned the win in six innings in the third game with five strikeouts.
UCCS will close out a 12-game home stand on Friday and Saturday, March 25-26, in a series with Colorado Christian and Western New Mexico.
