THIS WEEK
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team will be traveling to Alamosa, Colo. this weekend to take on Adams State University in a four-game series beginning Friday, Apr. 5 at 3 p.m. Saturday, Apr. 6 will feature a double header with games scheduled for 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. The series finale will be on Sunday, Apr. 7 at 12 p.m.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Mountain Lions have an all-time record of 5-3 against Adams State, outscoring the Grizzlies 71-49 in those games. In total, UCCS racked up 89 hits, including 22 doubles, five triples and 11 home runs in those eight games. UCCS' best series performance against Adams State came last season when they went 3-1 in the series and tallied 45 hits including 12 doubles, two triples and eight home runs. That series also featured the Mountain Lions' best single game performance against Adams State, a game they won 15-3 and racked up 17 hits, including two doubles, two triples, and three home runs.

SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Adams State has struggled this season, as they currently hold a record of 6-24 overall, which includes a 3-13 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). Those three RMAC wins came in a series against Colorado Christian University where the Grizzlies outscored the Cougars 28-21 on 38 hits, including four doubles, one triple and one home run. As a team, Adams State ranks in the bottom five of the RMAC in most offensive categories except for triples, where they rank fifth (10). The Grizzlies have a team batting average of .262 (last in the RMAC), 245 hits (ninth in the RMAC), 43 doubles (last in the RMAC), 14 home runs (seventh in the RMAC) and 123 RBI (ninth in the RMAC). Individually, Adams State is led by senior Jared Gay, junior Nico Nintze and sophomore Logan Bistrup, who all rank first, second and third on the team in batting average respectively this year. Gay is batting .352 on the season, is second on the team in hits (32) and triples (two), and leads the team in home runs (five) and RBI (25). Nintze has a batting average of .350, is leading the team in hits with 35, and is second on the team in doubles (six), triples (two), home runs (three) and RBI (18). Bistrup is batting .310 this season and is third on the team in hits (31), home runs (two) and RBI (14). He is also leading the team in triples with four, which is tied for second most in the RMAC. Defensively, the Grizzlies have struggled mightily as their pitching staff has a cumulative ERA of 10.29 this year. Individually, Troy Gutbub has the best record and ERA of any of the starting pitchers at 2-4 and 8.14 respectively. He has given up 40 runs (38 earned) on 54 hits with a team high 44 strikeouts this year. The best ERA on the team belongs to Trent Hughes at 6.75. Hughes has pitched 9 1/3 innings this season as a relief pitcher and has allowed seven runs (all earned) on 11 hits, awarding him a 1-1 record this year.

LAST TIME OUT
The Mountain Lions had a dominant weekend against New Mexico Highlands University as they outscored the Cowboys 42-15 on 43 hits, including 12 doubles, one triple and six home runs in a four-game series sweep. The Mountain Lions were flexing their offensive muscles as they tallied at least one home run in every game of the series. Those series totals bring UCCS' season numbers to 249 runs scored (third in the RMAC), 315 hits (third in the RMAC), 79 doubles (second in the RMAC), seven triples (sixth in the RMAC), 41 home runs (second in the RMAC) and 238 RBI (tied for second in the RMAC).

Individually, UCCS had 10 different players record at least one hit in the series. Jake Anderson (.352 BA) and Cody Norton (.299 BA) led the team with nine and seven hits respectively in the series. Anderson recorded two home runs and a team high eight RBI in the series as well, giving him a total of 36 RBI on the season (fifth in the RMAC). Norton had three doubles and two RBI in the series. Matt McDermott (.424 BA, third in the RMAC) and Evan Richards (.324 BA) were heavily involved offensively as well. McDermott recorded five hits in the series (two doubles, one triple, one home run), including a game in which he went 3-for-3 and was a single short from hitting the cycle. He also drove in six runs in the series and now has 42 hits, 13 doubles, and 31 RBI this year (ranking fourth, second and seventh in the RMAC). Richards had only three hits, but two were home runs which gives him 12 on the season (tied for third in the RMAC). He also had six RBI, giving him 33 for the year which is seventh in the RMAC. John Mallon also played well and though he only had three hits, he managed to drive in seven RBI which was second most on the team for the series. Matthew Clarke (.423 BA, fourth in the RMAC) and Matt Berg (.288 BA) and Ryan Schmidt (.231 BA) were also significant contributors, each tallying four, five and three hits in the series, with Schmidt blasting his second home run of the season on Saturday. Overall, it was a fantastic offensive weekend for UCCS.

Defensively, the Mountain Lion pitching staff performed very well, ending the series with a combined 3.94 ERA. Christian Manmano (1-0) got his first start of the season on Saturday and pitched well in a no-decision effort. He gave up four runs (all earned) on nine hits and struck out one in just under five innings pitched. Hayden Salverda, Christian Lewis and Jon Sotto (2-1) would come in relief of Manmano, with Sotto picking up the win. Colin Cicere (3-1) pitched well as he earned his third win of the season, pitching five innings and giving up only one run (earned) on five hits and striking out five. Daniel Silva (5-1) earned his team high fifth win of the season on Sunday as he went five innings and allowed five runs (all earned) on nine hits and struck out three. The best pitching performance of the weekend belongs to Jonathon Cowles (2-6) as he was great in the series opener. Cowles threw seven complete innings and allowed only one run (unearned) on four hits and struck out two.

WEATHER FORECAST
The forecast for this weekend in Alamosa shows high temperatures of 62 degrees for Friday and Saturday, and 63 degrees on Sunday. Expect partly cloudy skies on Friday and Saturday with winds up to 15 miles per hour. Sunday will feature sunny conditions with winds up to 11 miles per hour. Overall it looks to be a great weekend for baseball. For any updates or schedule changes due to weather, stay tuned to gomountainlions.com.

UP NEXT
UCCS will be traveling to Denver, Colo. to take on Regis University in a four-game series slated to begin on Friday, Apr. 12 at 3 p.m. Saturday, Apr. 13 will feature the typical double header, with games at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. The final game of the series will take place Sunday, Apr. 14 at 12 p.m.