COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team drops seven inning contest to the University of Mary Marauders 9-4 after big sixth inning.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 4, UMARY 9
Records: UCCS (4-8, 0-0 RMAC), UMARY (4-2, 0-0 NSIC)
Facility: Mountain Lion Park | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: UCCS now falls to 0-2 against the Marauders after today's game as it was only the second time these teams have matched up.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Mountain Lions saw a familiar start to the game as the batter in the two spot for the Marauders launched a two-run homerun into center field to give UMARY the early 2-0 lead.
- With UCCS getting into further trouble in the inning, the UMARY second baseman got ahold of a pitch that looked like it had enough to fall behind the center field fence until Walker Rumsey made a last second leap to keep the ball in the park and get the Mountain Lions out of the inning.
- After a balk moved Caleb Stubbings to second base after reaching first on a lead-off walk, Kit Wigington drove him home with a single up the middle just out of the hands of the diving shortstop to bring the score to a 2-1 UMARY advantage.
- Two hits from the Marauders to open the third inning put the pressure on starting pitcher, Cole Philip. He was able to escape the inning unscathed after forcing the next batter to ground into a double play and then got an assist from Tyler Richardson who threw out the runner stealing from first who got on with a walk following the double play.
- In the bottom half of the inning, Jaeden Hegmann came around to score standing up on a Kiichi Sato drive the right center gap to tie the game at two apiece.
- After getting two quick outs in the top of the fourth, the next two Marauder batters found their way on base and then ended up crossing home plate on a two-run triple off the bat of the UMARY shortstop. This brought Brock Weiss in from the bullpen to limit the damage who struck out the first batter he faced with a changeup to end the inning with UMARY now ahead 4-2.
- The Mountain Lions fought back in the fourth frame as Richardson got a pitch he could hit and tied the game with one swing as the two-run blast brought home Wigington who found his way on with a double down the left field line to lead off the inning.
- Weiss came back out to start the fifth and retired the side in order by forcing weak contact and kept the game tied with only a couple more turns at bat.
- Following a scoreless fifth inning, UMARY got the bats going again as they strung together a couple of hits to force Weiss out of the game. The Marauders continued to do damage as they plated four runs in the inning to take an 8-4 lead.
- The Marauders brought one more across in the top of the seventh. While the Mountain Lions got a man on base with Brian Madison lining one into center field, they could not find the gaps as they made good contact on balls tracked down by the UMARY center fielder. The game ended after seven innings with the visiting Marauders coming away with a 9-4 victory.
STATS FROM THE GAME
- Kiichi Sato swung the bat well today with three hits in four at bats, including his RBI single in the second inning.
- Wigington hit a perfect 1.000 today as he went 2-for-2 with a long ball that gave the designated hitter two RBI.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Tyler Richardson's fourth inning homerun was his first of the year and the second of his Mountain Lion career.
- Kiichi Sato has now stolen five bases this season with his first inning swipe of second base in today's game.
- The Mountain Lions have now hit a homerun in three of their last four games.
- Kit Wigington has registered at least one hit in each of his five games played this season bringing his season batting average to .467. Richardson also now has a hitting streak of five games with his two hits today.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions return home tomorrow, February 28th, for a 1:00 p.m. 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.
