SAN DIEGO, Calif. – After a busy Saturday afternoon out in San Diego, Calif., the University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team took the series against Point Loma Nazarene University with a 5-2 win, and a 5-3 win in today's double-header.

Game one's extra inning thriller had solid pitching performances by both teams as UCCS' starting pitcher Colin Cicere allowed only two runs off six hits, two walks with five strikeouts and recording the no-decision, as relief pitcher Dagin Renck picked up his second win of the season with one and two thirds innings pitched. On the other side, Sea Lions' starter Jerry Quemada went six innings giving up one run on five hits, three walks, and nine strikeouts, as he received the no decision.

PLNU struck first in game one of the double-header as they brought one run across in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a short-lived 1-0 lead over UCCS. The Mountain Lions responded right back in the top half of the fifth with a run of their own to bring the ball game back even. Matt McDermott led the inning off with a walk and ended up at third after a sacrifice bunt by Matt Clarke, and a groundout to second by Evan Richards. Jake Anderson then stepped up with two outs to rip a double down the left field line to bring the score to 1-1.

Roles then reversed as the Mountain Lions took the lead in the seventh inning when McDermott provided an offensive spark by leading off the inning with a solo home run to bring his RBI count up to 10 on the season, and give UCCS the 2-1 lead. As PLNU's lead was short earlier in the game, so was UCCS' as the Sea Lions matched the Mountain Lions' one run with three consecutive singles to start the bottom of the eighth inning, ending Cicere's day on the mound. Jon Sotto then came in relief to provide a putout at second as one Point Loma run scored in the process to bring the score even once again, 2-2.

In the ninth inning, both teams had a chance to bring the go ahead and winning run across as they each had bases loaded and one out, but neither team could come up with that key at-bat.

However, the Mountain Lions came away with those key at-bats in the 11^th inning as McDermott got things going again for UCCS with a single to represent the go-ahead run. After a little small ball by Clarke to move the go-ahead run into scoring position, Richards drove in McDermott with a single to right center to give UCCS the 3-2 lead. Later in the inning, John Mallon drew a walk after Richards advanced to third on an Anderson groundout, to setup Cody Norton with an RBI opportunity. Norton delivered as he drove in Mallon and Richards with a base hit to left to add two more insurance runs.

From there, the game was given to closer Cam Aufderheide who retired the side to give UCCS the 5-2 win, and bag his second save of the season.

Game two was another close one as the Mountain Lions took advantage of Point Loma's mistakes on their way to winning their second game of the series.

The Sea Lions put the first runs on the board in the second inning by recording two runs off of two hits to take a 2-0 lead. Similar to earlier in the day, UCCS quickly matched their two runs in the top of the third as PLNU had a hard time taking care of the ball. McDermott reached first with a single to left center as Matt Berg followed up with a hard hit up the middle. Berg's hit turned into a few throwing errors by the Sea Lions that scored McDermott and put Berg on third. Tyler Matheny was able to score Berg to make the score 2-2 with a squeeze bunt that Matheny beat out for a base hit.

With the game tied 2-2, the Mountain Lions kept battling and created some momentum in the sixth inning with the help of the middle part of their lineup. Richards and Mallon each drew a walk while Norton and Ryan Schmidt drove in a run on base hits to make the score 4-2. Norton later scored on a passed ball to add a third run in the inning, and make the score 5-2 in favor of UCCS.

PLNU came back to show a bit of life in the bottom half of the sixth as they were able to score one run, but the Sea Lions would be held to just the one run as the Mountain Lions claimed game two with a final score of 5-3.

Between the two games on Saturday, UCCS combined for 19 hits as they out-hit the Sea Lions in both games. McDermott contributed four of those hits as he went 4-for-8 on the day with an RBI, double, solo home run, and scored four runs from the nine-hole as he currently has a perfect .500 average on the season. Norton hit just below .500 for the day going 4-for-10 with two RBI and a double.

The Mountain Lions now have a 7-3 record and are off to their best start in program history. UCCS will be on the road again next weekend as they travel to Stephenville, Texas to face off against Tarleton State University.