COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team closes the series against New Mexico Highlands University with a 16-8 victory, giving the Mountain Lions a 3-to-1 series win.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 16, NMHU 8
Records: UCCS (7-11, 3-1 RMAC), NMHU (4-16, 2-6 RMAC)
Facility: Mountain Lion Park | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: UCCS picks up a win in the history of this matchup as they improve their record to 21-5 against the Cowboys.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the first time in the series, the Cowboys took the first lead of the game as three singles brought two runs across in the opening frame, putting the Mountain Lions behind early.
- It did not take long for the Mountain Lions to erase the deficit. Kit Wigington connected on an outside pitch and found open grass down the left field line to score Jaeden Hegmann from first base. Aaron Faragallah then brought in the tying run with a single to center field and the Mountain Lions scratched their third run of the inning on a passed ball to take the 3-2 lead in the first.
- The Cowboys added three more in the second and another in the third. Caleb Stubbings helped to work the Mountain Lions back into the game with a two-run homerun to right field that brought the score to a 6-5 NMHU lead.
- Tyler Richardson then stepped into the box and launched a solo homerun to go back-to-back with Stubbings and tie the game at six in the third.
- After giving the lead back to NMHU in the top of the fourth, the Mountain Lions tied it up as Jaeden Hegmann drove in Walker Rumsey on a base hit the other way. The rest of the lineup piled on for six more runs in the inning to take a 13-7 lead going into the top of the fifth.
- The Mountain Lions would respond to a solo homerun from the Cowboys in the top of the sixth by adding three more to their total bringing the score to 16-8 in favor of UCCS.
- Brian Marquez entered the game in relief in the top of the seventh for the Mountain Lions and proceeded to strike out the side to keep the Cowboys off the scoreboard.
- With Marquez back on the mound for the eighth, he got some help from strong defensive play as Macully Sehr fielded a ball to his right at third base and started a double play that got the Mountain Lions out of the inning with no runs allowed.
- In his third and final inning of work, Marquez allowed only one hit and came away with the save as the Mountain Lions wrapped up the 16-8 victory and sealed the series win against NMHU.
STATS FROM THE GAME
- Kit Wigington found his way on base every time he stepped up to the plate as he went 4-for-4 with a walk while driving in three runners and scoring twice.
- Evan Langston had a good outing as he limited damage from the Cowboys in relief as he tossed three innings while allowing only two runs.
- Brian Marquez pitched phenomenally in the final three innings of the game today as he did not allow anyone to score. He only allowed one walk, one hit and struck out five NMHU batters to get the three inning save.
- Two triples were hit in the game off the bats of Aaron Faragallah and Walker Rumsey.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With three innings of work under his belt to close out today's game, Brian Marquez picks up his first save of the season.
- Evan Langston earned the win for the Mountain Lions, his first of the season and the first of his Mountain Lion career.
- Kit Wigington's four-hit game marks a single game career high for the left fielder and brings his season hit total to 20 and his batting average to .488, now the highest on the team.
- With 16 runs scored today, the Mountain Lions have now scored at least 10 runs in six games this season. The run total today marks the second highest they have had in a game this season.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions travel to Grand Junction, Colo. to take on the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks on Friday, March 18th with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 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.
