THIS WEEK
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team is traveling to Durango, Colorado this weekend for another pod series featuring Fort Lewis College and Colorado School of Mines. The Mountain Lions will play Fort Lewis at 11 a.m. and Colorado School of Mines at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 30. On Sunday, Mar. 31 UCCS will play Colorado School of Mines at 12 p.m. and Fort Lewis at 2 p.m.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
After winning both matchups this past weekend, the Mountain Lions now have a record 22-4 against Fort Lewis. In the two games this past weekend, UCCS outscored the Skyhawks 18-9 and racked up 22 hits including four doubles and four home runs. On Sunday, UCCS dominated Fort Lewis 13-5, hitting three doubles and all four home runs in that game.

UCCS has an all-time record of 5-13-1 against Colorado School of Mines, scoring 68 total runs in those 19 matchups for an average runs per game of about 3.6. The best single season performance for the Mountain Lions came in 2015, when they defeated the Orediggers in two games by a combined score of 17-5. The Mountain Lions had 18 total hits in the two game, including two doubles and one home run which came in a 13-5 win for UCCS. Last season, the Mountain Lions struggled against the Orediggers, losing all four of the games played by a combined score of 17-8.

SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS AND OREDIGGERS
Fort Lewis has continued to struggle this season as they currently have an overall record of 9-24, which includes a 4-16 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). Two of those three conference wins came 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. This past weekend, the Skyhawks picked up their third conference win against Regis by a score of 9-7, a game where they tallied 14 hits including one double and two home runs. Collectively, the Skyhawks are hitting .294 this season and have 274 total hits (second in the RMAC), 50 doubles (third in the RMAC) and 36 home runs (second in the RMAC). 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 is still leading the team in every offensive category except triples, which Hollestelle leads with two. She has a batting average of .481 (third in the RMAC), 50 hits (first in the RMAC), 11 doubles, 12 home runs (first in the RMAC), 30 RBI (sixth in the RMAC) and 32 runs scored (fourth in the RMAC) this season. Hefley is hitting .379 this season, is third on the team in hits (33) and RBI (21), and has nine doubles and five home runs on the season. Hollestelle is third on the team in batting average (.339) but is second on the team in hits (38), home runs (six), RBI (22) and runs scored (30) this year. Defensively, Emily Morris (3-6) and Kassidy Trumbo (2-7) are the two main pitchers for Fort Lewis as they have each appeared in 19 games this season. Morris has a 5.54 ERA and has given up 58 runs (43 earned) on 78 hits with 53 strikeouts in her 16 appearances (seven starts). Trumbo has a 5.63 ERA this season and has given up 78 runs (56 earned) on 111 hits with 37 strikeouts.

Colorado School of Mines has an overall record 14-11 this season, including an impressive 13-4 record in the RMAC. The Orediggers had a rough 1-7 start to the season, but have bounced back in conference play, winning 13 of their 17 games, including nine of their last 12. In their most recent series, Mines won three-of-four games against Dixie State University, totaling 17 runs on 24 hits including six doubles and two home runs. For the season, Mines has a team batting average of .290 (eighth in the RMAC), 188 hits (ninth in the RMAC) 38 doubles (tied for seventh in the RMAC), seven home runs and 111 RBI (eighth in the RMAC). However, the team has been significantly better in conference play as shown by their .329 team batting average in conference games, third highest in the RMAC. Individually, Mines is led by freshman Kendall Murphy and junior Clara Larson. Murphy leads the team in batting average (.385), hits (30), doubles (11, tied for fifth in the RMAC), and is tied with Larson for the team lead in home runs with two. She also has 19 RBI on the season, which ranks second on the team. Larson has a batting average of .363, 29 hits and seven doubles, all rank second on the team. She is leading the team in triples (three), home runs (two, tied with Murphy) and RBI (23). Kara Jones is another leader for the Orediggers, even though she has not played in 75 percent of the game this year. Jones has a .345 batting average, 19 hits, three doubles and 14 RBI on the season. Defensively, Claire Stringfellow (6-5) and Sydney Marchando (8-3) lead the pitching staff. Stringfellow has appeared in 19 games this season (started nine) and has allowed 38 runs (19 earned) on 67 hits with 26 strikeouts, giving her a team leading 2.01 ERA. Marchando has appeared in 15 games this season (started 11) and has given up 32 runs (28 earned) on 68 hits with a team high 69 strikeouts, awarding her a 2.62 ERA.

LAST TIME OUT
The Mountain Lions were able to bounce back from their sweep at Dixie State as they won three out of their four games this past weekend, making their record 15-16 on the season and 11-8 in the RMAC. After losing the opening game of the pod series to Regis University 2-1, UCCS won their next three games, sweeping Fort Lewis and getting a revenge win against Regis on Sunday. In total, the Mountain Lions scored 29 runs on 37 hits including six doubles and seven home runs; bringing their season totals to 244 hits (fifth in the RMAC), 49 doubles (fourth in the RMAC), 31 home runs (third in the RMAC), 182 runs scored and 168 RBI (both rank fourth in the RMAC).

Individually, Melissa Martinek (.392 BA) Rayle Glover (.388 BA) and Peyton Reisman (.387 BA) led the Mountain Lions, as they combined for 21 of the 37 total hits for the UCCS. Martinek had six hits on the weekend, 50 percent of which were home runs and led to seven RBI. She had a four-hit game against Fort Lewis on Sunday that included two of her three home runs and five of her seven RBI. Her three home runs and seven RBI give her season totals of eight and 34, both of which rank fifth in the RMAC. Glover finished the weekend with a team high eight hits, which included one double, one home run and six RBI. Glover now has nine home runs and 29 RBI this season, giving her a tie for second most in the RMAC in home runs and the ninth most RBI in the RMAC. Reisman finished the series with seven hits (two doubles), the second most behind Glover, and five RBI. Taylor Reidhead also had a notable series offensively. Though she only had three hits, two of them were home runs and she accounted for five RBI of her own.

Defensively, the Mountain Lions pitching staff threw well in the series, even in the loss. Reidhead started two games, including the only loss of the weekend where she pitched well, throwing a complete game and giving up only two runs (both earned) on two hits with 12 strikeouts. In her winning start, she went four innings and gave up five runs (all earned) on six hits with three strikeouts in a dominating UCCS win. Cami Duffey (5-4) pitched well in two no-decision starts, throwing a combined nine innings and allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits with five total strikeouts. Braelyne Crenshaw (4-6) picked up two wins and one save in relief over the weekend. Crenshaw threw a combined eight innings (three appearances) and allowed only one run (earned) on six hits with five total strikeouts.

WEATHER FORECAST
The forecast for this weekend in Durango, Colorado shows good conditions for softball, with high temperatures of 49 and 51 degrees for Saturday and Sunday respectively. Both days show mostly sunny skies, low chance of precipitation and wind gusts of only nine miles per hour. For any updates regarding schedule changes due to weather, stay tuned to gomountainlions.com.

UP NEXT
UCCS will be hosting Colorado Christian University in a four-game series beginning next Saturday, April 6. The double header on Saturday is scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday's double header is scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.