THIS WEEK
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team will be traveling to Pueblo, Colo. this week to take on Colorado State University – Pueblo (CSU-P) in their final series of the regular season. The game schedule will be different from the usual Friday-Sunday series. The first game of the series will be on Thursday, May 2 at 6 p.m. at the CSU-P baseball field. The next game will be on Friday, May 3 at 7:05 p.m. at the Runyon Sports Complex. Saturday, May 4 will feature a double header back at the CSU-P baseball field, with the game scheduled for 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. respectively.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Since their inaugural season, UCCS has an overall record of 5-4 against the ThunderWolves, which includes a 5-3 regular season record and an 0-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament. In those nine games, the Mountain Lions have averaged about six runs per game and amassed 81 total hits. During the regular season last year, UCCS went 3-1 against CSU-P, scoring 31 runs on 34 hits including 10 doubles and 11 home runs. The Mountain Lions faced CSU-P in the RMAC Tournament last year and fell by a score of 5-11. UCCS will aim to avenge that loss this weekend.

SCOUTING THE THUNDERWOLVES
Approaching the end of the regular season, CSU-P has an overall record of 23-22 which includes an 18-14 record in the RMAC. In their most recent series, the ThunderWolves went 3-1 against New Mexico Highlands University, scoring 38 runs on 47 hits. As a team this season, CSU-P has a batting average of .319 (fifth in the RMAC), 389 runs scored (third in the RMAC), 482 hits (third in the RMAC), 100 doubles (sixth in the RMAC), 16 triples (third in the RMAC), 33 home runs (seventh in the RMAC), and 347 RBI (third in the RMAC). Individually, Easton Adler leads the team in batting average at .411 (third in the RMAC). Dakota Popham ranks second on the team in batting average at .393 (eighth in the RMAC), but leads the team in hits (66, fifth in the RMAC), doubles (20, tied for first in the RMAC), home runs (eight) and RBI (53, second in the RMAC). He also leads the team in runs scored (53, fourth in the RMAC) and slugging percentage (.667, 10^thin the RMAC). Gilbert Sauceda and Rion Santamaria round out the top four players for CSU-P with batting averages of .383 and .372 respectively. Sauceda ranks second on the team in hits (57), doubles (12), and ranks third on the team in RBI with 33. He also has three home runs this season, tied for third most on the team. Santamaria is tied for third on the team in hits with Adler (51) and has four doubles, three home runs (tied for third) and 33 RBI this season (fourth on the team). He also leads the team in triples with four, which is tied for fourth in the RMAC. Defensively, Beau Brieske (6-4) and Josh Dahl (5-4) lead the pitching staff for the ThunderWolves. Brieske has started all 12 of his appearances this season and has allowed 52 runs (37 earned) on 78 hits with an imposing 104 strikeouts, which leads the RMAC. All those numbers add up to a 4.83 ERA to lead the starting pitchers. Dahl has appeared in 12 games as well this season (11 starts) and has allowed 48 runs (42 earned) on 78 hits with 87 strikeouts (third in the RMAC) for his 5.94 ERA. Dahl also leads the RMAC in batters struck out looking with 32, while Brieske ranks fourth in that category with 22. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Mountain Lions lost three of the four games played this past weekend against #25 Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in one of the most offensive baseball series of the season in the RMAC, if not the most. The two teams combined to score 66 runs in four games and amassed a ridiculous 105 combined hits (UCCS 53, CSM 52). The series opener ended up being closer to a football game in terms of the score as UCCS fell to CSM 15-21. The Mountain Lions tallied 22 hits to CSM's 21 in the game, including four doubles and two home runs, one of which was a grand slam. The only win of the series came in a 3-1 Saturday morning win behind the pitching of Colin Cicere. Going into the last series of season, UCCS now has a team batting average of .322 (fourth in the RMAC), 351 runs scored (sixth in the RMAC), 478 hits (fourth in the RMAC), 112 doubles (second in the RMAC), 58 home runs (third in the RMAC), and 330 RBI (fifth in the RMAC). 

Individually, Michael Bennin (.275 BA) and Matt McDermott (.374 BA) led the impressive offensive display for the Mountain Lions. Bennin played in only two of the four games (one start), but totaled six hits (second most for the series), four home runs and 10 RBI to lead the team. McDermott led the team with seven total hits in the series, including three home runs of his own and six RBI. Jake Anderson (.373 BA) had seven hits as well in the series to tie with McDermott for the team lead. He also had one RBI which brings his season totals to 63 hits (eighth in the RMAC) and 48 RBI (fourth in the RMAC). Matthew Clarke (.400 BA, sixth in the RMAC) tied with Bennin for the second most hits on the team with six, including two doubles and two RBI. Clarke's six hits and two doubles give him 70 and 20 respectively this season, both of which rank second and first in the RMAC respectively. Cody Norton (.325 BA), Evan Richards (.318 BA), Walker Rumsey (.245 BA) and Matt Berg (.338 BA) all tallied five hits in the series, with Rumsey leading the group in RBI (three) and Richards leading the group in doubles with two. Defensively, it was a struggle for any pitcher in the series, on both sides, with the outlandish amount of offense that took place. That being said, Christian Manmano (4-0) pitched well in a no decision effort on Saturday. In just under five innings of work, Manmano allowed only two runs (one earned) off of eight hits with a couple of strikeouts, netting him a 1.93 ERA for his appearance. However, for the second straight weekend, the best pitching performance belongs to Colin Cicere (5-2). For the second consecutive week, Cicere pitched a complete game (seven innings) and allowed only one run (earned) on three hits for a 1.29 ERA.

AWARD WINNERS
The Mountain Lions swept the final week of RMAC awards as Michael Bennin was named RMAC Player of the Week and Colin Cicere was named RMAC Pitcher of the Week.

Bennin, a true freshman, batted .600 on the weekend as he finished 6-for-10 against #25 Colorado School of Mines with four home runs and 10 RBI in only two games. Three of his home runs came in one game as he tried to will the Mountain Lions to a comeback win on Sunday. That three home run game is the first ever in the program's history. His other home run was a pinch-hit grand slam on Friday that sparked an attempted comeback in that game as well. 

In his last home outing of his collegiate career, Cicere made it count as he threw a 7-inning complete game to register a 3-1 win over #25 Colorado School of Mines. It's the second weekend in a row that Cicere has thrown a complete game, as he carried a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings to only give up one run on three hits and one walk. The senior also went on to tally a season high seven strikeouts in the win.

WEATHER FORECAST
The forecast for Pueblo, Colo. for Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows high temperatures of 68, 76 and 80 degrees for each day respectively. Expect mostly clear conditions for each day and winds up to 11 miles per hour. For any schedule updates, stay tuned to gomountainlions.com.

UP NEXT
The RMAC Tournament begins next week for baseball. UCCS has clinched a spot in the postseason and will receive their first matchup at the conclusion of the regular season.