COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team nabs their first conference victory over the visiting New Mexico Highlands University Cowboys by a score of 5-1 behind a stellar pitching performance.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 5, NMHU 1
Records: UCCS (5-10, 1-0 RMAC), NMHU (3-14, 1-4 RMAC)
Facility: Mountain Lion Park | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions improve to a 19-4 record against the Cowboys in the history of this matchup.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- To open the weekend series against the Cowboys, the Mountain Lions got ahead early after a scoreless first frame for starting pitcher Jonathan Cowles allowed UCCS the first crack at the lead. Kit Wigington took advantage by driving the first pitch he saw to deep right center that had plenty of distance to carry over the fence and give the Mountain Lions the 1-0 lead in the first.
- Both pitchers would settle in as the long ball from Wigington would be the only run to cross for either side through the first three innings. After Aaron Faragallah roped one into the right center gap, Matt Johnson smoked a ball off the pitcher's foot. The ball deflected away from the field of play which allowed Faragallah to score and Johnson to reach first with ease.
- With a 2-0 lead, Cowles continued to dominate opposing hitters as he finished off his fifth inning of work by punching out the NMHU first baseman with a slider to keep the Cowboys off the board.
- A two-run fifth inning for the Mountain Lions kicked off with back-to-back doubles on back-to-back pitches. Kiichi Sato struck first and scored on Jaeden Hegmann's two-bagger. Hegmann would then come around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Caleb Stubbings to give UCCS the 4-0 lead.
- The bats remained hot for UCCS in the bottom half of the sixth inning as they added another run on a Walker Rumsey single. The Cowboys would get that run back in the top of the seventh on a homerun to right center that got them on the board still trailing 5-1 to the Mountain Lions.
- After getting into a bit of trouble in the eighth inning, Jonathan Cowles capped off his outing with a strikeout and came away unscathed in the inning with the four-run Mountain Lion lead still intact.
- Brock Weiss entered the game in the ninth and quickly struck out the first two batters he faced in the inning. The Cowboys got back to the top of the order and their leadoff hitter lined one into the left field gap for a double. Weiss got the next batter to fly out to center field to end the game and seal the first conference win for the Mountain Lions this season with a final score of 5-1.
STATS FROM THE GAME
- With a phenomenal pitching performance this afternoon, Jonathan Cowles improves to a 3-1 record on the season as he tossed eight innings while striking out five batters, and only allowing one free pass in the game.
- Every starter for the Mountain Lions recorded at least one hit in the game. UCCS tallied 13 total hits as a team.
- All four Mountain Lions who recorded multi-hit games collected a double as one of their hits. Kiichi Sato, Jaeden Hegmann, Caleb Stubbings, and Aaron Faragallah were the four to find the gaps and get the extra bags.
- Kit Wigington had the lone homerun for the Mountain Lions with his first inning blast.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Mountain Lions now hold a perfect 13-0 all-time record when playing NMHU at home.
- Kiichi Sato now has a hitting streak of four games and has recorded multiple hits in each of those four games. He also leads the team in hits with 26.
- Kit Wigington has two homeruns on the season as he extends his hitting streak to eight games. His season batting average comes to .483, the highest on the team.
- With eight complete innings, this was Jonathan Cowles' longest outing of the year. His season ERA improves to 3.29 on four starts in five appearances.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions are back at home tomorrow, March 13th, for a doubleheader against New Mexico Highlands with first pitch in game one scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
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.
