THIS WEEK 
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team will be hosting a pod series featuring Regis University and Fort Lewis College this weekend starting Saturday, Mar. 23. On Saturday, UCCS is scheduled to play Regis at 11 a.m. and Fort Lewis at 3 p.m. On Sunday, Mar. 24, UCCS is scheduled play Fort Lewis at 10 a.m. and Regis at 2 p.m.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Against Regis, the Mountain Lions have an all-time record of 6-16, averaging around five runs per game historically. UCCS' best single season performance against Regis came in their inaugural season of 2013 where they outscored the Rangers 42-11 in five total games. Last season, the Mountain Lions did not fare well against the Rangers as they went 0-5 including a tough one run loss (9-10) in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) tournament. UCCS will look to turn the tide this weekend. 

The Mountain Lions have fared much better against Fort Lewis historically, as they own an impressive 20-4 record against the Skyhawks, while averaging just over eight runs per game. UCCS' best single season performance against the Skyhawks came last season as they won all four of their matchups. In those four games, the Mountain Lions scored 39 runs on 46 hits including four doubles, three triples and three home runs. The Mountain Lion will look to continue their dominance against Fort Lewis this weekend.

SCOUTING THE RANGERS AND SKYHAWKS
To this point in the season, Regis has an overall record of 9-6, including a 6-3 record in the RMAC. In their most recent series, the Rangers split four games with Chadron State College, scoring 26 runs on 29 hits including four doubles, one triple and seven home runs. As a team, the Rangers are hitting .313 with 22 doubles and 18 home runs. Individually, Regis is currently being led by freshman Carly Beard and juniors Analece Apodaca and Kynra Nelson. Beard is leading the team in batting average (.500) and hits (17), and has two doubles, one home run and seven RBI this season. Apodaca currently has a batting average of .375 this year, is second on the team in hits with 15, and leads the team in home runs and RBI with four and 18 respectively. She also has the third most doubles on the team with three and has one of the team's three triples on the year. Nelson has a batting average of .347 this season but is tied with Carly Beard for the team lead in hits with 17. She also accounts for one of the team's three triples this year and has driven in seven RBI. Defensively, junior Taylor Armitage (6-4) and sophomore Maisie Mortimer (3-2) lead the pitching staff for the Rangers. Armitage has started nine games this season and has given up 40 runs (23 earned) on 73 hits and has a team high 36 strikeouts, giving her a 2.82 ERA. Mortimer has allowed 17 runs (all earned) on 34 hits in her five starts this year, which adds up to a 4.41 ERA. 

Fort Lewis has struggled this year as they currently have an overall record of 8-21, which includes a 3-13 record in the RMAC. Two of those three conference wins came in their most recent series against Black Hills State University as they split the series with the Yellow Jackets. In that series, the Skyhawks scored 24 runs on 35 hits including eight doubles, four triples and two home runs. Collectively, the Skyhawks are hitting .291 this season with 45 doubles and 29 home runs. Individually, Fort Lewis is led by senior Angelique Elemen, sophomore Mckenna Hefley, and junior Taylor Hollestelle as they rank first, second and third in batting average on the team respectively. Elemen leads the team in every offensive category except triples. She has a batting average of .461, 41 hits, nine doubles, 11 home runs, 25 RBI and 27 runs scored this season. Hefley is hitting .373 this season, is third on the team in hits (28) and RBI (18), and has eight doubles and three home runs on the season. Hollestelle is third on the team in batting average (.333) but is second on the team in hits (34), home runs (five), RBI (21) and runs scored (26) this year. Defensively, Mandy Lorenson has the best ERA and record this season for the Skyhawks at 1.35 and 1-0 this year, but she has only pitched in two games. Emily Morris (3-6) and Kassidy Trumbo (2-6) are the two main pitchers for Fort Lewis as they have each appeared in 16 games this season. Morris has a 5.65 ERA and has given up 53 runs (42 earned) on 73 hits with 51 strikeouts in her 16 appearances (seven starts). Trumbo has a 5.81 ERA this season and has given up 67 runs (49 earned) on 95 hits with 33 strikeouts. 

LAST TIME OUT
UCCS struggled again this past weekend as they lost all four games against Dixie State University. The Mountain Lions scored 11 runs on 20 hits in the four games, including six doubles and one home run. Those offensive statistics bring their season totals to 207 hits (fifth in the RMAC), 43 doubles (fourth in the RMAC) and 24 home runs (third in the RMAC). Their best performance of the weekend came in the first game as they tallied seven hits including four doubles and took Dixie State into extra innings. Unfortunately, UCCS would fall just short as the Trailblazers managed to hit a walk-off single in the eighth inning and take the win 6-5. On a positive note, UCCS had 13 different players record at least one hit in the series. 

Individually, Alex Cook (.300 BA) had a team high four hits and tied with Meghan Waidler (.200 BA) and Rayle Glover (.364 BA) for the most RBI in the series with two. Melissa Martinek (.400 BA), Sawyer Brewster (.286 BA), Payton Romines (.254 BA) and Rayle Glover all had two hits in the series, which was second behind Cook. Glover also hit the only home run for the Mountain Lions, giving her eight on the season which leads the team and ranks second in the RMAC. Defensively, the Mountain Lion pitching staff struggled against the Trailblazers as they finished the weekend with a combined ERA of 5.25. Cami Duffey (5-4) finished the series with a 2.33 ERA but went 0-2 in her two appearances, giving up five runs (two earned) on 10 hits in six combined innings. Braelyne Crenshaw (2-6) finished with an 0-1 record in two appearances and gave up eight runs (seven earned) on 13 hits in just over eight combined innings. Taylor Reidhead (5-5) also went 0-1 with a no-decision in two starts as she gave up 11 runs (all earned) on 12 hits in 12 innings of work. Overall, it was not a great showing for UCCS. However, they have a chance get back on track this weekend at home where they are undefeated in seven games. 

WEATHER FORECAST
The forecast shows high temperatures of 55 and 50 degrees respectively for Saturday and Sunday of this coming weekend. Expect partly cloudy skies in the morning to turn to overcast in the afternoon on Saturday and afternoon showers on Sunday. For any schedule changes or updates due to weather, stay tuned to gomountainlions.com.

UP NEXT
UCCS will be traveling to Durango, Colorado next weekend to take on two RMAC opponents, Fort Lewis College for the second straight weekend and Colorado School of Mines. On Saturday, Mar. 30, the Mountain Lions are scheduled to play Fort Lewis at 11 a.m. and Colorado School of Mines at 1 p.m. On Sunday, Mar. 31, UCCS will take on Colorado School of Mines at 12 p.m. and Fort Lewis at 2 p.m.