Rachel Pierce

PREVIEW | Softball to Open 2020 Season with Six Games in Lubbock, Texas

2/5/2020 12:01:00 PM

By: Sarah Meier, Associate Athletic Director

This Week's Games

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team will travel to Lubbock, Texas to play their first games of the season at the Lubbock Sport College Invitational. The Mountain Lions will play six games at the PlainsCapital Park facility against Fort Hays State University (0-0), LCU (3-0), University of Nebraska-Kearney (0-0), St. Edward's University (0-0), Newman University (0-0) and Eastern New Mexico University (1-0).
The Mountains Lions will start the action on Friday, Feb. 7 against the Tigers at 9 a.m. (MT), followed by a 1:30 p.m. game against host school LCU.
On Saturday, the Mountain Lions will face the UNK Lopers at 9 a.m. (MT) and finish the day against St. Edward's University at 4 p.m.
UCCS will play their final two games of the weekend on Sunday against Newman University (9 a.m.) and Eastern New Mexico University (11 a.m.)

Game Coverage

Live stream and live stats will be available for several of the games this weekend:
- Live Stream: https://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/
- Live Stats: https://statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=lubb

Weather Forecast

The Mountain Lions will escape the cold of early February and head to the sunny skies of Texas. Friday's opening day forecast is slated to be sunny with a high of 63. Saturday's temperature will drop just below 60 degrees with clear skies, before

RMAC Standings

The Mountain Lions and all 13 RMAC schools will begin conference play Feb. 22-23. UCCS, along with Chadron State College, Colorado Mesa University, Colorado State-Pueblo, and Fort Lewis College will play their first games of the season this weekend. The other eight teams opened their season this past weekend with Colorado Christian University and MSU Denver earning the best record of the weekend as both teams went 3-2.

The Series

UCCS leads the all-time series against Fort Hays State University, 2-1. All three games were played in a home series for UCCS in 2018.
LCU has won both meetings against the Mountain Lions. The last time the two teams squared off was Feb. 11, 2019 (L, 10-0).
In their only game against each other, UCCS defeated the Lopers, 4-2, in Las Vegas, Nev. in 2016.
In 2015, the Mountain Lions and St. Edward's squared off against each other, with SEU winning the contest. Saturday's game will only be the second time both teams have met each other.
On Sunday, Newman University and the Mountain Lions will play each other for the first time in program history.
In 2014, UCCS swept Eastern New Mexico on the road to take a 2-0 series lead.

Hot Takes

UCCS finished the 2019 campaign with the sixth best record in the league to qualify for the conference championship tournament, owning a 23-16 RMAC record (.590) and a 28-26 overall record (.519).
UCCS was selected sixth overall with 86 points in the 2020 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason poll.
Dixie State University edged Colorado Mesa University to be the favorite in this year's preseason poll. The Trailblazers received seven first place votes and 133 points, two more than the defending RMAC champions CMU (three first-place votes, 131 points).
The Mountain Lions return 12 letterwinners from last year's team – Bryn Horton, Saleen Quinonez, Taylor White, Sawyer Brewster, Kaley Wagner, Payton Romines, Shae Bushey, Alex Cook, Meghan Waidler, Cami Duffey, Peyton Reisman and Braelyne Crenshaw – and add seven new faces to the program – Morgan Hernandez-Belew, Taylor Harrison, Brianna Santos, Courtnie Heller, Lexi Rayburn, Solana Martinez and Gabrielle Cronin.

UCCS Under Coach Ricki Rothbauer-Stubbs

The 2020 season marks Ricki Rothbauer-Stubbs fifth season at the helm of the Mountain Lions, and her 10^th season as a head coach. In her first four seasons at UCCS, Rothbauer-Stubbs is 93-104 overall. In nine seasons as a head coach, she owns a 184-274 overall record. Rothbauer-Stubbs spent her first four seasons as a head coach at Texas A&M-Kingsville (68-144), followed by one season at Northwestern Oklahoma (23-26). She recorded her first winning season in 2019 when she led UCCS to a 28-26 overall record.

Upcoming Games

The Mountain Lions will stay on the road next weekend when they travel to Oklahoma City, Okla. and Edmond, Okla. for the OCU/UCO Invitational. The Mountain Lions will take on Rogers State, Central Oklahoma University, Oklahoma Christian University, Northeastern State University and LCU.