COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team could not complete the series sweep against Metropolitan State University Denver on Saturday, as the Roadrunners edged out the Mountain Lions at a final score of 5-2 at Mountain Lion Park.
Sophomore
Matt Berg continues to swing the bat well as he finished 2-for-4 with one run scored in the ball game. Senior
Cody Norton added two hits, as he threw in one walk for his 2-for-3 afternoon. The middle part of the lineup provided both of UCCS' RBI as
Jake Anderson increased his team high RBI count to 47, and
Ryan Schmidt tacked on an RBI from the clean-up spot.
It turned out to be a slow offensive day for the Mountain Lions, after they scored their only two runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. Berg provided the offensive burst with a single through the right side. Wasting no time to put runs on the board, Anderson ripped a ball down the right field line for a stand up RBI triple. Looking to get Anderson in, Schmidt answered with a high chopping groundball up the middle to bring a run across for the second run of the inning.
After the first inning, the Roadrunners came to silence the Mountain Lions for the remainder of the game as starting pitcher Branden Dehority recorded his third win of the season, allowing two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts. Dehority kept the Mountain Lions off-balance as UCCS had a hard time finding the sweet part of the barrel Saturday afternoon.
MSU Denver quickly retaliated in the top of the second to tie up the game 2-2, with the long ball proving to be a difference maker in the game as the Roadrunners scored three of their five runs off home runs. A two-run home run in the fourth and a solo home run in the fifth broke the 2-2 tie, as UCCS starting pitcher
Daniel Silva finished the day allowing five runs on six hits in seven full innings of work.
Saturday's loss places the Mountain Lions (26-16, 18-10 RMAC) in fifth place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with two more series to go. UCCS will be back in action next weekend as they host their final home series of the regular season with a match-up against Colorado School of Mines. Game one of the four game series is set for Friday, Apr. 27 at 3 p.m. inside Mountain Lion Park.