SAN ANGELO, Texas – The No. 24 University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team comes up short against No. 1 Colorado Mesa University 11-9 in the opening game of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament on Thursday.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #24 UCCS 9, #1 CMU 11
Records: UCCS (30-12, 22-10 RMAC), Colorado Mesa (42-5, 34-2 RMAC)
Location: Foster Field at First Community Credit Union Stadium| San Angelo, Texas.
All-Time Series: UCCS trails the all-time series 7-15 against CMU.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The No. 24 team in the nation wasted no time putting up their first runs of the game as UCCS scored four runs against the RMAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year Andrew Morris through the first two innings of play.
• UCCS received some help from the Mavericks to score the first run of the ballgame in the top of the first as
Jake Anderson reached on an error by the shortstop and
Jaeden Hegmann scoring on the play. Anderson then worked himself into scoring position where
Aaron Faragallah drove him in with an RBI single for the early 2-0 lead as both runs came in on two outs.
• A second pair of runs came across in the top of the second for the Mountain Lions as situational hitting gave UCCS their third run with
Walker Rumsey scoring
Michael Bennin on a sacrifice fly to right field. UCCS was able to generate momentum once again in the inning as
Matt McDermott reached base off a CMU error with two outs. Back-to-back singles then came off the UCCS bats with
Evan Richards driving in McDermott for the 4-0 advantage.
• Graduate student
Jonathan Cowles started on the bump for the Mountain Lions and held the Mavericks scoreless through the first two innings before CMU's Hunter McGeary hit a two-run home run to cut the deficit in half during the third inning.
• In the top of the fourth, UCCS jumped out on top of the Mavericks once again as Hegmann hit a sac fly to deep center field to score McDermott and give the Mountain Lions a three-run lead, 5-2.
• UCCS' three-run lead diminished in the fifth as the Mavericks loaded the bases up and plated two runs after a Conrad Villafuerte double ended Cowles day on the mound. Reliever
Hayden Salverda entered the game with runners on second and third and no outs as CMU came to score two more runs with a single and squeeze bunt. An inning later, the Mavericks added one more run with a solo homer to record the 7-5 lead as
Creede Jeffers entered the sixth to close out the inning with the Mountain Lions facing a two-run deficit in the seventh.
• With CMU's Morris still on the bump, the Mountain Lions chipped away at the starting pitcher to register a four-run seventh inning for the third lead change of the game. Hegmann got the Mountain Lions started with a leadoff double and the first runs scored as he took advantage of a CMU error to make it a one-run ballgame. With one out, Faragallah drove a double to left field in the next at-bat to bring around Anderson to score and tie up the game 7-7. Then with one swing of the bat, Bennin sent a no doubter over the left field wall for a two-run home run and the 9-7 lead.
• In the bottom of the seventh, Jeffers recorded two outs before exiting the game with a walk that left bases loaded for UCCS'
Jon Sotto as he entered to face McGeary. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, McGeary homered for the grand slam to bring the final score to 11-9.
STATS FROM THE GAME
•
Jonathan Cowles gave up six earned runs off seven hits as he pitched four full innings with three walks and five strikeouts.
•
Hayden Salverda allowed one run off two hits after punching out one in his one inning of relief.
•
Creede Jeffers went 1.2 IP after giving up three runs off one hit and three walks as he moves to 2-2 on the year.
•
Jon Sotto finished the game by going 1.1 IP with one run allowed and one hit.
• The Mountain Lions outhit the Mavericks 13-12 with five different Mountain Lions notching an RBI in the game.
• Designated Hitter
Aaron Faragallah and catcher
Michael Bennin each registered a team high two RBI. Faragallah finishes 2-for-4 with a double as Bennin turns in a 3-for-4 day with a home run.
•
Jaeden Hegmann and
Kiichi Sato also record 3-for-4 days as Hegmann registers a double and RBI.
• CMU's Hunter McGeary finishes 2-for-3 with two home runs and a game high six RBI.
UP NEXT:
UCCS is set to play at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon as the Mountain Lions will face the loser of West Texas A&M University and Angelo State University for game three of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament.
SOCIAL:
Twitter - @GoMountainLions
Instagram - @gomountainlions
Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
