COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team splits two seven inning games, both decided by run rules, including a victory over St. Cloud State University 14-4, and a loss to University of Mary 15-5.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Game 1: UCCS 14, SCSU 4 | Game 2: UCCS 5, UMARY 15
Records: UCCS (4-7, 0-0 RMAC), SCSU (1-4, 0-0 NSIC), UMARY (3-2, 0-0 NSIC)
Facility: Mountain Lion Park | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: This is the first career matchup between SCSU and UCCS giving the Mountain Lions a 1-0 record against SCSU. This is also the first career matchup between UMARY and UCCS dropping the Mountain Lions to an 0-1 record against the Marauders.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME ONE
- It was a rocky start for Jonathan Cowles who took the hill for the Mountain Lions this morning as the SCSU designated hitter launched a ball over the right field wall for an opposite field two-run homerun in the first inning of the ballgame.
- Cowles settled in after giving up the long ball as he pitched a scoreless second and third inning to keep the Mountain Lions within striking distance of the 2-0 SCSU lead.
- After a quick first two innings at the plate, the Mountain Lions were able to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of third after Luis Samorano reached second base on an error by the left fielder. After moving over to third on a groundout to the second baseman, Samorano scored on a Walker Rumsey single to get their first tally of the game.
- In the following at bat, Rumsey stole second base with Jaeden Hegmann at the plate who proceeded to bring Rumsey around to tie the game with an RBI single through the right side of the infield.
- Kiichi Sato then stepped up to the plate and found his way on base with a line drive into left field which put runners on second and third for Brian Madison. Madison delivered with a single up the middle to drive in two runs and give the Mountain Lions a 4-2 lead after three innings of play.
- In the top of the fourth, the SCSU designated hitter hit another homerun deep over the right field fence to bring the Huskies back within one.
- The Mountain Lions got right back to work in the bottom half of the inning as Matt Johnson roped a double into the left-center gap to bring in Samorano. Rumsey followed up Johnson with a double of his own to bring in the runner and extend the lead to three runs.
- The Huskies fought back in the top half of the fifth inning by getting two runners on at second and third with only one out, bringing the tying run to the plate. Cowles was able to escape the jam as he struck out SCSU's center fielder, and then retired the next batter as he lined out to center to end the inning with the Mountain Lion lead still intact.
- With the momentum on their side, the Mountain Lions exploded for five runs in the fifth inning. They were able to string together a couple of hits and capitalize on some defensive mistakes and got out to an 11-3 lead.
- Cowles only allowed one more run in the top of the sixth and then finished his outing by recording a strikeout in the top of the seventh.
- With the score at 13-4 going in the bottom of the seventh, Rumsey lined one into center field and eventually came around to score on a Faragallah double to the left center gap. Due to an agreed 10-run rule from both coaches, the game came to an end with the Mountain Lions coming out on top 14-4.
STATS FROM THE GAME | GAME ONE
- Jonathan Cowles pitched a full seven innings while only allowing four runs on eight hits and striking out four batters.
- Four Mountain Lions tallied multi-hit games with Kiichi Sato, Aaron Faragallah, and Walker Rumsey each recording three hits. The other Mountain Lion with a multi-hit game this morning was Brad Madison with two hits, one being for extra bases.
- The Mountain Lions ran the bases well as they stole five bags.
- Faragallah found the gaps and tallied two extra base hits, both being doubles. His three RBI tied for the team lead with Rumsey.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME TWO
- The visiting Marauders got off to a fast start in what would be an offensive onslaught for UMARY. They launched two balls over the fence, both of them being two-run homeruns, to give the visitors an early 4-0 lead.
- The pitching struggles continued into the second inning after the UMARY designated hitter doubled home two runs to extend the lead to 6-0.
- As the Mountain Lions continued to struggle controlling the strike zone, they allowed two more runs in the top of third, bringing the score to 8-0 in favor of the Marauders. UCCS was able to get one run back in the bottom half of the inning as two defensive blunders by UMARY led to Jaeden Hegmann scoring on a Brian Madison groundout.
- Any momentum the Mountain Lions had was soon lost after UMARY posted seven runs in the top of the fourth, large in part to a grand slam from the opposing first baseman, extending the lead to 15-1.
- With only one out in the top of the fourth, Hunter Owens came in out of the bullpen for the Mountain Lions following the blast and put a stop to the bleeding as he struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
- After replacing Brian Madison at third base, Andrew Danko stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning and added a run for the Mountain Lions as he smashed a homerun just left of the batter's eye in center field.
- Owens continued to shut down the hot UMARY offense as he capped off the top of the seventh inning by forcing a fly out to left field, stranding two runners on base.
- The bottom of the seventh inning began with a double smoked off the bat of Tyler Richardson over the left fielder's head. Shortly after, with the bases loaded, Nate Heflebower drew a walk that brought in the third run of the game for the home team.
- Rumsey scored on a wild pitch in the next at bat, which was later followed by a groundout that scored Hegmann to bring the score to 15-5. The scoring would hault as a groundout ended the game due to an agreed 10-run rule from both coaches.
STATS FROM THE GAME | GAME TWO
- Jaeden Hegmann led off the game for the Mountain Lions with a base hit and later added another making him the only Mountain Lion with a multi-hit game this afternoon.
- Hunter Owens stepped up for the Mountain Lions as he struck out five and did not allow any runs to score in his 3.2 innings of work.
- The UCCS pitching staff struck out a total of 11 Marauder batters.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With five this morning, the Mountain Lions set a team high for stolen bases in a game this season in their matchup with SCSU.
- In game one, The Mountain Lions did well putting the ball in play and limiting strike outs as only three batters walked back to the bench on strike three in the game. This marks the least amount of strikeouts they have had as a team in a game this season.
- The Mountain Lions plated 14 runs in the first game, the most they have scored in a game this season. The also achieved a single game high 16 hits as a team.
- This was Jonathan Cowles longest outing of the year, the third time he has pitched at least five innings this year.
- Andrew Danko's homerun in game two was his first homerun of the season and his first as a Mountain Lion.
UP NEXT:
- The Mountain Lions return home tomorrow, February 27th, for an 11:00 am matchup with the University of Mary Marauders.
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.
