DENVER –
Melissa Martinek went a combined six-for-eight at the plate with a home run, a triple and two doubles, and led the University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team in a pair of setbacks to Regis this afternoon. The Mountain Lions (2-7, 1-3 RMAC) dropped 6-3 and 9-6 games to Regis (11-9, 3-1 RMAC) to finish the four-game conference-opening series for the teams.
Martinek went three-for-four with a run in both games today. She hit her first home run of the season in game one and followed with two doubles and a triple in the second game. Martinek recorded back-to-back games with three or more hits for the second time in her career and the first since a doubleheader against Fort Lewis on Feb. 27, 2016.
Martinek's home run came in the third inning and provided a 2-1 lead for UCCS against Regis.
Christina Patton allowed a home run in the first inning, but retired the other 10 batters through the beginning of the fourth inning before Regis retook the lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning. The Rangers scored two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth for a 6-2 lead going into the seventh.
Whitney Weber scored in the seventh off a two-out single from Martinek to the right field, but a strikeout with runners on the corners ended the rally chances for UCCS in the 6-3 loss in game one. Patton struck out two batters in a 4.2-inning start in the loss.
The Mountain Lions scored first in the final game of the series with a single from
Alex Cook to score
Whitney Weber and Nobles in the third inning.
Megan Duffy hit her first career home run and scored
Claire Nibbe for a 4-0 UCCS lead in the fourth inning.
The Rangers answered back with a two-run home run and took advantage of an error to cut the Mountain Lion lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth. Martinek hit a triple in the fifth and scored on a wild pitch to make it a 5-3 advantage, but Regis tied the game in the bottom of the fifth with a bases loaded single for a 5-5 game.
Regis scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of home runs and opened a 9-5 lead going into the seventh. Cook scored off a single from
Lexi Belligan in the seventh, and Belligan reached second on the throw while Martinek moved to third with no outs, but the Rangers recorded outs on the next three batters to close the 9-6 decision in the series finale.
Meghan Waidler took the loss in four innings of relief. Duffy went two-for-three in the second game.
UCCS will return to the Denver area for the next four-game series with MSU Denver March 4-5. The Roadrunners (10-7, 4-0 RMAC) opened their conference season with a four-game sweep of Colorado State-Pueblo.
