THIS WEEK
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team will be hosting #1 Colorado Mesa University (CMU) in a four-game series at Mountain Lion Park beginning Friday, Mar. 22 at 3 p.m. The double header on Saturday, Mar. 23 will feature games at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively. The series finale on Sunday, Mar. 24 will take place at 12 p.m.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
In the program's brief history, UCCS has an overall record of 2-7 against Colorado Mesa, scoring 35 runs on 69 hits in those nine matchups. Despite their losing record, the Mountain Lions have consistently played well against CMU as five of their seven losses have come by two runs or less. UCCS' best series performance against Colorado Mesa came in the inaugural year of the program when they split a four-game series. In that series, UCCS scored 18 runs on 33 hits including four doubles, one triple and five home runs. 

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
Colorado Mesa currently has an impressive overall record of 20-2, which includes an 8-0 start in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). In their most recent series, the Mavericks swept then ranked #9 Colorado School of Mines in a four-game series. In that series, the Mavericks scored 37 runs on 46 hits including eight doubles, two triples and eight home runs. Offensively, CMU has a team batting average of .328 (second in the RMAC), 253 hits (first in the RMAC), 59 doubles (first in the RMAC), 23 home runs (fifth in the RMAC), and 169 RBI (first in the RMAC). Individually, sophomore Jordan Stubbings and seniors Hunter Douglas and Dominic DeMarco lead the team. Stubbings leads the team in batting average (.382) and is second on the team in hits (29, eighth in the RMAC) and doubles (nine, tied for third in the RMAC). He also has one home run and 13 RBI this season. Douglas ranks second on the team in batting average hitting .376, but leads the team in hits (32, fifth in the RMAC), home runs (six) and RBI (24, tied for fourth in the RMAC). DeMarco has the third highest batting average for the Mavericks at .363, the second most home runs with four, is tied for second with Stubbings for hits with 29 and ranks third on the team in RBI with 16. Another sophomore, Spencer Bramwell, is amongst the team leaders offensively as well, even though he has only played in 16 of the 22 games for CMU. Bramwell is hitting .358, ranks third on the team in hits and home runs with 24 and three respectively, and has 15 RBI. 

Defensively, senior right handers JR McDermott (4-0) and Garret Hutson (3-0) lead a deep pitching staff for the Mavericks. McDermott has started six games this season and has allowed four runs (all earned) on 27 hits and racked up 39 strikeouts (second on the team, fifth in the RMAC). He has an imposing 1.10 ERA and is holding opposing batters to a .223 batting average. Hutson has started four of his six appearances this season and has allowed nine runs (six earned) on 17 hits and has a team high 41 strikeouts (third in the RMAC), awarding him an impressive 1.78 ERA. He is also holding batters to a .155 batting average this year. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Mountain Lions struggled last weekend as they dropped four games to #29 Dixie State University, two of which came by one run. In those two one run losses, UCCS would attempt two late inning comebacks, one of which included a seven run seventh inning in the second game on Sunday. Unfortunately, Dixie State was able to get the outs necessary to thwart the comeback attempts and sweep the Mountain Lions. UCCS' best performance came in the aforementioned second game on Sunday, where they out hit Dixie State 12-8 in seven innings, including two doubles, one triple and three home runs in a tough 10-11 loss. As a team, UCCS tallied 27 hits including four doubles and six home runs in the series, bringing their season totals to 214 (fourth in the RMAC), 47 (fourth in the RMAC) and 31 (first in the RMAC). Individually, Jake Anderson (.299 BA) was the standout performer for the Mountain Lions as he went 5 for 13 with a double, two home runs (both coming in one game) and a team high nine RBI. Those nine RBI bring his season total to 24, which ranks second on the team and is tied for fourth in the RMAC. Evan Richards (.351 BA), Matthew Clarke (.462 BA, third in the RMAC) and Cody Norton (.273 BA) also played well for UCCS this past weekend. Richards and Clarke both had five hits to go along with Anderson's five, with Richards hitting two home runs and driving in three RBI. Those two home runs and three RBI give Richards nine and 25 on the year, both of which rank third in the RMAC. Clarke's five hits give him 36 for the season, which leads the RMAC. Norton only had three hits but made them count as he tallied two home runs and three RBI. Defensively, Jonathan Cowles (1-5) had the best outing for the Mountain Lions as he went six complete innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with four strikeouts in a game where UCCS struggled to string together hits. Having played CMU close in the past, and the fact that the Mountain Lions are 9-2 at home, UCCS will looks to get back on track this weekend.

WEATHER FORECAST
The forecast for this weekend in Colorado Springs shows high temperatures of 53, 55 and 50 degrees for Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. Partly cloudy skies are expected for Friday and Saturday, with wind gusting up to 20 miles per hour on Friday. There are afternoon rain/snow showers expected on Sunday with wind gusts of up to 11 miles per hour. For any schedule changes due to weather, stay tuned to gomountainlions.com.

UP NEXT
UCCS continues its RMAC schedule by hosting New Mexico Highlands University in a four-game series beginning Friday, Mar. 29 at 3 p.m. at Mountain Lion Park. The double-header on Saturday, Mar. 30 features games at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. and the series finale will take place Sunday, Mar. 31 at 12 p.m.