CHADRON, Neb. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning and senior
Dani Fonseca struck out four batters in the last two innings as the Mountain Lions (21-21, 18-19 RMAC) clinched an RMAC Tournament appearance with an 8-5 extra win at Chadron State (27-17-1, 21-11 RMAC) in the regular season finalize for both teams. The Eagles won the first game 5-4 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Mountain Lions will be the No. 6 seed in the RMAC Tournament. It is the 13th RMAC Tournament appearance in program history and the third in the last four seasons. Colorado Mesa will host the tournament April 28-30 at the CMU Softball Field in Grand Junction, Colo.
UCCS finished with 11 hits in the second game for the best performance since 11 hits against Colorado Christian on March 25, and the best away from Mountain Lion Field since 12 hits against Stanislaus State on Feb. 7. The Mountain Lions finished the regular season with a 4-2 record against two of the top three teams in the RMAC.
Haley Smith hit her fifth home run of the season in the second inning to provide a 1-0 lead for the Mountain Lions in the second game. Chadron State responded with its own run in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 1-1.
The first five batters for UCCS reached base in the fourth inning with three hits and two walks. The Mountain Lions went through the batting order in the inning and scored three runs off of four hits to take a 4-1 lead against the Eagles. Chadron State took its first lead of the game with a four-run fifth inning.
Kylie Barnard tied the game with her fifth home run of the season in the sixth inning and the Mountain Lions put runners on second and third before a pop-out ended the inning with the score still tied. Both teams went down in order in the bottom of the sixth and the top of the seventh. UCCS recorded two outs from the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh before a Chadron batter was hit by a pitch and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Fonseca closed out the inning with a strikeout and the Mountain Lions went to extra innings for the third time this season.
Barnard and
Whitney Weber both led off the eighth inning with walks, and the pair moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by
Amanda Nobles.
Nikki Hoffman scored Barnard on a single up the middle, and a wild pitch scored Weber and moved Hoffman over to second base. Another wild pitch allowed Hoffman to take third base, and she should score on a single up the middle by Fonseca. Fonseca then struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the eighth and
Paige Duncan closed out the game with an unassisted ground out at first base.
Hoffman and Fonseca both finished with three hits while Smith and Barnard both added a pair. Barnard scored two of the eight runs. Fonseca pitched three innings and allowed no hits to earn her eighth win of the season.
Chadron State opened the day with a run in each of the first two innings. Hoffman hit her fifth home run of the season to lead off the third inning, and the Mountain Lions took the lead at 4-2 with three runs in the fourth inning. Weber hit a double to left field to score
Melissa Martinek, and then scored with Barnard on an error in the outfield. The Eagles responded with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, and then retook the lead with two runs in the sixth. Chadron retired the Mountain Lions in order in the seventh to secure the 5-4 decision in game one.
Hoffman went a combined five-of-nine today and led the Mountain Lions with three RBIs. Barnard finished with a 1.500 slugging percentage with a home run and double on her two hits and drew three walks from the Eagle pitches.
UCCS will play in the first round of the RMAC Tournament on Thursday, April 28, as the No. 6 seed against Chadron State. The Mountain Lions will then play the winner or loser of the MSU Denver and Colorado State-Pueblo game in the second round of the double elimination tournament.
