COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Opening Day weekend for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Mountain Lions ended on a high note as they defeated the No. 6 California Polytechnic University, Pomona Broncos 12-6 at Mountain Lion Park Sunday afternoon. As was the trend of the weekend, the game saw another high number of combined hits, 21 in total. The Mountain Lions carried the momentum from their Saturday sweep as they recorded 13 hits to Cal Poly's nine and took the series overall 3-1.
Junior pitcher
Daniel Silva got the ball to start the game for the Mountain Lions and preceded to throw five scoreless innings without giving up a hit. Silva gave up three runs on five hits and recorded one walk and four strikeouts in seven full innings of work.
Matthew Clarke and
Ryan Schmidt provided the power for UCCS, as Schmidt finished 2-for-4 with a grand slam in the sixth and Clarke finished 2-for-5 and added a solo home run in the seventh.
Unlike the earlier games in this series, it was a slow start for both teams as neither team tallied a run until the third inning. Clarke doubled to center and was later brought in by
Matt McDermott, who hit a double of his own to left field. After McDermott was thrown out at home on a hit from
Tyler Matheny, Cal Poly recorded two errors on at-bats by
Jake Anderson and
Evan Richards which allowed Matheny to score.
Cal Poly continued to fight by scoring two runs of their own in the sixth. However, the Mountain Lions again responded with the grand slam hit by
Ryan Schmidt, which made the score 6-2.
After each team recorded a run in the seventh, Cal Poly put up two more in the eighth off of a home run and two doubles to bring the score to 7-5. UCCS would again respond in kind with a five-run inning to make the score 12-5.
The Broncos would tally one more run in the ninth, but sophomore pitcher
Dagin Renck closed the game out with UCCS winning 12-6.
After a tough start to the series, the Mountain Lions would find their stride offensively, recording 42 hits in the weekend games including 10 home runs. Their pitching was also effective as they recorded two wins Saturday and the series clinching win Sunday.
UCCS will look to stay hot as they take on Central Missouri University next weekend at Mountain Park, starting Friday, February 8 at 2 p.m.