COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colin Cicere struck out 11 batters in a 9-4 victory in game one and Zach Hall hit a pair of home runs in an 11-6 loss in game two as the University of Colorado Colorado Springs split the final day of the series against Colorado Christian at Memorial Park's Spurgeon Field. Scott Martinez also added a pair of home runs in game one as he finished the series with a 1.000 slugging percentage for UCCS (14-13, 9-7 RMAC).

Cicere struck out three straight batters in the top of the seventh after a leadoff double and struck out two batters in the first. The 11 strikeouts are the most this season for a Mountain Lion pitcher and the third-best mark in the RMAC. Cicere allowed only two walks and two runs in his eight-inning start.

UCCS hit four home runs in the first game and matched the season-high from March 10 against Colorado Mesa. Martinez hit his first home run in the fifth inning and hit his second in the seventh inning as part of three straight home runs by the Mountain Lions. Eight of the team's 12 hits in the first game were for extra bases with a triple from Jamie Crabtree and doubles from Colin Ludwig and John Mallon.

Crabtree scored the first run for the Mountain Lions in the second inning after he reached based on a triple. Colorado Christian tied the game in the fourth after back-to-back singles to start the inning but UCCS answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning for a 4-1 advantage. Martinez hit his home run in the fifth and a Mallon scored on a squeeze play on the bunt from Matthew McDermott to push the lead to 6-1 in the sixth.

The three home runs in the seventh inning expanded the Mountain Lion lead to 9-1 and Colorado Christian scored once in the eighth and twice in the ninth to cut the UCCS victory margin to 9-4 in the final innings. Cicere improved to 5-0 this season.

Colorado Christian used a home run in the first inning of the second game for an early 2-0 lead. Zach Hall led off the bottom of the inning with a home run and UCCS added two more runs from Martinez and Ludwig for a 3-2 advantage after the first frame. Hall homered in his second straight at-bat and made it a 5-2 lead for the Mountain Lions in the second inning.

The Cougars scored three in the third inning to tie the game at 5-5, but UCCS retook the lead in the bottom of the third as Ludwig scored on a single by Mallon. Colorado Christian scored two runs with two outs in the fourth inning and held UCCS scoreless the rest of the game while scoring two in the sixth and two in the seventh for the 11-6 decision in the series finale. Ludwig went three-for-four in the second game while Hall and Crabtree both went two-for-four. 

UCCS will start an eight-game road stretch with a four-game series at Colorado School of Mines. The Mountain Lions and Orediggers (15-10, 7-5 RMAC) will start with a single nine-inning game on March 31, at 6 p.m.