THIS WEEK
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team will play host to New Mexico Highlands University this weekend with the first game slated for Friday, Mar. 29 at 3 p.m. Saturday will feature a double header with games scheduled for 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively. The series finale will take place on Sunday, Mar. 31 at 12 p.m.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
UCCS has an all-time record of 7-2 against New Mexico Highlands, scoring a total of 73 runs in those nine games. The Mountain Lions' best series performance against the Cowboys came in their inaugural season when they swept them 4-0, scoring 20 runs on 37 hits including nine doubles and three home runs. UCCS' best performance in a single game versus the Cowboys came last season when they dominated New Mexico Highlands 21-1. In that game, the Mountain Lions had 11 different players record a hit and tallied 18 as a team, including five doubles and three home runs.

SCOUTING THE COWBOYS
The Cowboys currently post a record of 9-15 overall, with a 2-10 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). After being swept in their first two conference matchups, New Mexico Highlands split their most recent series against #16 Dixie State University. In their two wins, the Cowboys scored 15 runs on 22 hits including three doubles, one triple and four home runs. As a team, New Mexico Highlands has a batting average of .318 (fourth in the RMAC), 235 total hits, 46 doubles, 22 home runs and 151 RBI (all rank sixth in the RMAC). Individually, the Cowboys are led by senior Auggie Francis, junior Gaylan Young and sophomore Jared Brown. Francis is far and away the team's leader in batting average (.477, first in the RMAC) and hits (41, second in the RMAC). However, he also leads the team in triples (five, first in the RMAC), home runs (five), and on base percentage (56 percent, first in the RMAC) and ranks third the team in RBI (19). Young has a batting average of .324, is second on the team in hits (24) and home runs (two) and leads the team in RBI with 22. Brown has a batting average of .344, ranks third on the team in hits (22), and is tied with Francis with five home runs and 19 RBI, both of which ranks first and third on the team respectively. Defensively, New Mexico Highlands is a staff that pitches by committee, as half of their pitchers have pitched in at least 10 innings and eight of their 14 pitchers have appeared in at least six games. Individually, Kyle Bledsoe leads the starting staff with a 3-3 record and a 6.61 ERA. He has given up 28 runs (23 earned) on 41 hits and has a team high 23 strikeouts. J.T. Mossberg leads the relief staff, as he has appeared in eight games as a relief pitcher and has a 1-1 record with a 3.86 ERA. He has given up 10 runs (eight earned) on 18 hits and has 12 strikeouts.

LAST TIME OUT
The Mountain Lions gave #1 Colorado Mesa University all they could handle as they split the series 2-2 this past weekend. After a tough loss in the opening game, UCCS bounced back and split the Saturday double header with the Mavericks, making the series finale on Sunday the deciding game. In what would prove to be the closest game of the series, UCCS edged out CMU for the win. The Mountain Lions scored 21 runs on 37 hits in the series, including 11 doubles and two home runs. The best game of the series for the Mountain Lions came on Saturday as they took down CMU 12-3, racking up 14 hits in the process including six doubles and two home runs. Those numbers bring UCCS' season totals to 251 hits (fifth in the RMAC), 58 doubles (fourth in the RMAC), 33 home runs (third in the RMAC), and 175 RBI (fifth in the RMAC), all adding up to a team batting average of .302 (sixth in the RMAC). Individually, Matthew Clarke (.457 BA, second in the RMAC), Evan Richards (.333 BA) and Jake Anderson (.315 BA) were the offensive leaders for UCCS in the series, as they totaled 16 hits between the three of them. Clarke had the most hits for the Mountain Lions, going 7-for-16 with three doubles, one home run and three RBI. Clarke now has 43 hits on the season which leads the RMAC, and 11 doubles which is tied for the lead in the RMAC with four other players including teammate Matt McDermott, who had three hits (two doubles) and two RBI in the series. Richards had only three hits in the series, but made the most of them as he tallied a double and his tenth home run of the season, giving him a tie for third most in the RMAC. His two RBI recorded in the series give him 27 on the year, ranking fourth in the RMAC. Anderson continued his hot streak as he tallied six hits in the series, including two doubles. He also had four RBI, giving him 28 for the season and 23 in conference play, which ranks third and second in the RMAC respectively.

Defensively, the pitching staff for UCCS performed well against the #1 team in the nation. Jonathan Cowles (1-6), Colin Cicere (2-1) and Daniel Silva (4-1) all pitched well in their starts, with Cicere and Silva picking up the two wins for UCCS. Cowles started the Friday matchup and had a solid outing in a losing effort. He pitched 7 1/3 innings, and had only surrendered one run through six of those innings. Unfortunately, things fell apart for the Mountain Lions in the seventh and eighth, and Cowles would end his day giving up seven runs (four earned) on nine hits with five strikeouts. Cicere pitched in the first game of the Saturday double header and went 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs (all earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts in a winning effort. Silva had the best start of the weekend for the Mountain Lions, going eight complete innings and allowing only two runs (both earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts. UCCS went into the ninth with a one run lead, bringing Cam Aufderheide to the mound to close out the game. Aufderheide delivered, as he sat the Mavericks down in order with two strikeouts to earn his fourth save of the season.

WEATHER FORECAST
The forecast for this weekend shows high temperatures of 47, 41 and 50 degrees for Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. On Friday, expect cloudy conditions with some rain showers and winds of up to 25 miles per hour. Saturday shows potential for snow showers in the morning, but overall it will be a cloudy day with 10 to 15 mile per hour winds. Sunday is expected to be a sunny day with winds only up to 11 miles per hour. For any schedule changes due to weather, stay tuned to gomountainlions.com.

UP NEXT
UCCS will be traveling to Alamosa, Colorado next weekend (April 5-7) to take on Adams State University in a four-game series. The first game is scheduled for Friday, April 5 at 3 p.m. The Saturday double header features games at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 7 will feature the series finale at 12 p.m.