COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Strong pitching, rock solid defense and an explosive offense led the University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team to three wins at Mountain Lion Field against Black Hills State University on Sunday.
 
The Mountain Lions were the road team in the series, which was originally scheduled to be played in Spearfish, S.D.  The wins improve UCCS to 22-21 on the season, 15-4 on their home field, and 18-13 in the Rocky Mountain Atheltic Conference.  The Mountain Lions are sitting in sixth place in the league standings with two regular season weekends remaining.
 
Game 1 | UCCS 7, BHSU 1
Game two of the series was started on Saturday but was halted in the second inning due to weather.  Both teams resumed the game at 10 a.m. as the Mountain Lions carried over a 2-0 lead from Saturday. 
 
Braelyne Crenshaw and the defense started strong Sunday morning, retiring all three batters to start the game.  BHSU recorded their first hit of the day in the third inning with two outs, but Payton Romines caught a pop up at second base to leave BHSU with one runner on base. 
 
UCCS took a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning.  With two outs on the board, Peyton Reisman blasted a double down the left field line to score Melissa Martinek.
 
BHSU's first run of the series and their only run of the game came from Maddie London's home run in the fourth inning.
 
Romines extended the Mountain Lions in the fifth inning when she led off the inning with her sixth home run of the season.  UCCS charted three runs on two hits in the fifth inning after drawing two walks from Meghan Waidler and Martinek, a hit in the box to Leigh Lancaster, and a double from Alex Cook that scored Waidler and Lancaster.
 
In the top of the sixth inning, Lancaster hit a sacrifice fly to score Romines for the seventh and final run of the game for UCCS. 
 
Crenshaw was supported defensively with three innings of sitting down all three batters for BHSU, including two innings holding BHSU to one hit each.
 
Crenshaw pitched the complete game, fanning three batters and allowing only one run on five hits. 
 
Martinek paced the offense, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored.  Romines added three hits, two runs and two RBI. 
 
Defensively, Reisman posted 10 putouts at first base as UCCS was perfect in the field on 21 chances.
 
Game 2 | UCCS 12, BHSU 3 (5 innings)
Taylor Reidhead earned her second win of the weekend and ninth on the season after working the first three innings in the circle, allowing three runs (two earned) and striking out four batters.  Cami Duffey secured the Mountain Lion win, working the final two innings and allowing only one hit.  Duffey entered the circle with a 10-3 Mountain Lion lead.
 
Lexi Andersen's double to left center in the second inning scored Romines for the first run of the game.  Lancaster hit a ball to first base for the out, but not before scoring Sawyer Brewster for a 2-0 lead.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, the Yellow Jackets posted three runs for their first and only lead of the series, 3-2.
 
The Mountain Lions blew the game open in the third frame with eight runs on eight hits, four of which were doubles.  Cook posted two doubles, scored twice and added a RBI.  Romines added a double, a run and RBI, while Reisman posted a single, double, scored one run and drove one run in.
 
UCCS held the Yellow Jackets to six hits as they stranded seven base runners, including four in scoring position.
 
Game 3 | UCCS 3, BHSU 0
The series finale featured a pitching dual between Duffey and the Yellow Jackets Crystal Amarai.  Duffey won the battle for her first shutout of the season and fourth complete game in the books.  She held BHSU to four hits as the defense forced BHSU to three-up, three-down in the third and seventh frames, while not allowing more than one hit in an inning. 
 
Glover's single to first base with two outs resulted in Martinek scoring from second base to give UCCS the 1-0 edge in the first inning. 
 
Both teams remained scoreless in the next four innings, combining for only four hits. 
 
UCCS took advantage of a BHSU error in the sixth inning, leading to two runs.  Reisman led off the inning with a walk and was relieved of base running duties from Sierra Batchelor.  With two outs on the board, Romines reached first base on a fielding error by the right fielder and advanced to second base while Batchelor round three bases to give UCCS a 2-0 advantage.  Bryn Horton entered the game as a pinch runner for Romines, the same time Waidler entered as a pinch hitter.  Waidler drew a walk to reach base before Lancaster singled to center field to plate Horton for the insurance run and 3-0 shutout win.
 
Reisman tallied two of the Mountain Lions five hits while adding eight putouts at first base.
 
UCCS will hit the road April 19-20 to take on the league-leading Colorado Mesa University Mavericks.  Friday's action will start at 12 p.m.