COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After three straight weekends at home, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs will travel for the first time since March 6 for a four-game RMAC pod series against Adams State and Regis in Alamosa, Colo. The Mountain Lions (16-12, 13-10 RMAC) will face host Adams State (12-22, 10-12 RMAC) on Saturday at 10 a.m., and on Sunday at 2 p.m., and the Rangers (16-15, 11-9 RMAC) at noon on each day.
UCCS is in the lead of a four-way grouping of teams within two-hundredths of a percentage point in the win-loss record with four weekends left in the regular season. The Mountain Lions are fourth in the overall standings with .565 and are one spot ahead of Regis at .550. Colorado Mines is sixth with a 12-10 record for .545 and Western New Mexico is at .542 with a 13-11 record. Any games in the conference schedule that are cancelled due to weather are not rescheduled, and the win-loss percentage is used to determine the regular season standings and seeding in the postseason tournament.
UCCS split last weekend with Colorado Christian and Western New Mexico in the only full schedule that was played in the conference. The Rangers had their four-game series with Black Hills State cancelled due to weather conditions and Adams State only got in half of its games with Colorado Mesa. The Grizzlies lost its two games to the Mavericks, and Regis is coming off a four-game sweep of Colorado Christian from March 20-21.
Haley Smith has won her last four decisions and earned her second RMAC Pitcher of the Week award after last weekend. She went 2-0 with 10 strikeouts and earned her first collegiate shutout to finish the series with a 9-0 five-inning win against Christian. Smith is fifth in the conference with a 3.11 earned run average and sixth with eight wins.
Dani Fonseca hit two home runs last weekend to improve her season total to eight and her career total to 32. She is in a three-way tie for sixth in UCCS career records and is one away from a tie for fifth with Jessica Belsterling. Fonseca is fourth in the RMAC with a .722 slugging percentage and in home run. She will go into the weekend with an eight-game hitting streak.
Regis and UCCS both rank in the top three of the RMAC in batting average and slugging percentage. Rachel Illias reaches base half of the time for the Rangers and is third in the conference with a .432 batting average. Regis has used only two pitchers this season, both seniors, and they are averaging a 4.74 ERA this season.
Kailin Johnson of Adams State leads the conference with seven triples. Lauren Murphy is leading the pitching staff with a 5-9 record and a .253 opponent batting average.
Live stats and video will be provided by Adams State for all four games this season. Links will be available through GoMountainLions.com. Updates throughout the game will also be provided on the team's Twitter account, @UCCSSoftball.
