This Week's Matchup
UCCS Baseball (8-14, 4-4 RMAC) awaits Metropolitan State University of Denver this weekend as the Mountain Lions take on the Roadrunners in a four-game series starting on Friday, Mar. 25 at 3 p.m. The series will continue with a seven-inning doubleheader on Saturday at 12 and 2 p.m. with the series scheduled to end with game four on Sunday, Mar. 27 at 12 p.m.
 
Game Coverage
Live Stream: https://www.rmacnetwork.com/gomountainlions/
Live Stats: https://gomountainlions.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
 
Last Time Out

• The Mountain Lions faced a tough series on the road last weekend by visiting No. 6 Colorado Mesa University who took the series win, 3-1.
• UCCS struggled with shutout losses in the first two games but came out in game three to get a little offense going but still coming up short, 5-10.
• Down 3-0 in the series, the Mountain Lions came out hungry and managed to hand the Mavericks their largest loss of the season by defeating CMU 14-6 on Sunday. Starting pitcher Jon Sotto tossed five innings of work to grab the win as redshirt freshman Caleb Stubbings and the rest of the Mountain Lion lineup posting 17 combined hits, the most the Mavericks have given up all season. Stubbings' went 4-for-6 in his big day at the office where he gathered seven RBI and three doubles.

 
RMAC Standings

• CMU still remains atop the RMAC Standings with an 18-6 overall record and 9-3 RMAC record, but the ThunderWolves of Colorado State University Pueblo (15-10, 9-3 RMAC) have notched series wins over Regis, MSU Denver, and Colorado School of Mines to tie the Mavericks in first place.
• Regis (14-11-1, 8-4 RMAC) takes their spot in third place with the Roadrunners claiming fourth (16-10, 7-5 RMAC) with the Mountain Lions currently placed fifth.

 
The Series

• A total of 19 games have been played between UCCS and MSU Denver with the Roadrunners holding a winning record of 11-8 over the Mountain Lions. Last season, MSU Denver won the series 3-1 at home and currently holds a two-game winning streak against UCCS.

 
Scouting MSU Denver

• The Roadrunners (16-10, 7-5 RMAC) have won their last three games after earning the 3-1 series win over New Mexico Highlands University in Denver, Colo. last weekend.
• MSU Denver has been able to produce a steady dose of offense so far in 2022 with a team batting average of .317 that is made up of the nation's third most doubles (65) and 10^th most home runs (41). Their ability to grab extra bases results in the second-best slugging percentage in the league at .561, which also ranks 12^th in Division II.
• In 26 games this season, the Roadrunners have plated 217 runs and average 8.3 per game for the second most runs and second highest runs per game average in the conference. MSU Denver has reached double-digit runs in eight games this season and are 7-1 when they have done so.
• With the second most RBI in the RMAC (205), the Roadrunners have four student-athletes above the 20 RBI mark. Junior Bill Ralston represents one of those Roadrunners with his RBI count currently at 29 as he is also batting .333 that includes 11 home runs which ties for second most in the RMAC. Starting outfielder Ross Smith joins Ralston at a team high 29 RBI while he holds a .357 average, a team high 1.144 on-base plus slugging percentage and nine doubles on the year.
• At 26 RBI is freshman Cam Yuran who is hitting the RMAC's second best average of .444 and has 11 multi-hit games in 23 games played this season. Yuran adds six doubles and six home runs to his stat sheet where he boasts an .857 slugging percentage that ranks third in the conference.
• In the field, the Roadrunners are fielding a .969 fielding percentage and have recorded 19 double plays which ties for the most in the league.
• Sophomore right-hander Reichle Arcilise has served as the ace for MSU Denver with a 4-2 record, 3.00 ERA (second lowest in RMAC), and impressive 1.06 WHIP. In 36 innings pitched, Arcilise has struck out 49 batters (second most in RMAC) and has worked his way through two complete games.
• Out of the pen is the RMAC leader in saves, junior Eric Cox. With four saves on the year, Cox owns a 1.06 WHIP in seven appearances and 11.1 innings where he also holds a 2-0 record and 3.18 ERA.

 
Hot Takes

• Jon Sotto's first win of the season came through in a big way as the junior threw five complete innings allowing three runs, two earned, and nine hits with three strikeouts.
• Caleb Stubbings became just the fourth Mountain Lion in program history, and the second this season, to tally a program record seven RBI (Kit Wigington, Jake Anderson, Matt Berg) and the fourth Mountain Lion to record three doubles in a single game (Evan Richards, Matt McDermott, Efrain Medina).
• Jaeden Hegmann's four-hit day marks the second time in his career that he has reached that feat, with Mar. 24 of 2018 being the last time the Colorado Springs native has notched four hits in a single game.
• In 15 consecutive games Hegmann has reached base safely and has also drove in 15 RBI in that span.
• Luis Samorano delivered just his second career home run as a Mountain Lion on Sunday.
• Sunday marks the fifth time this season that the Mountain Lions have recorded 15 or more hits.
• The Mountain Lions registered more hits in game four of the CMU series (17) than the first three games of the series combined (14).
• UCCS is owning the term "double" on both sides of the ball with the Mountain Lions leading the conference in double plays turned per game (0.77) on the defensive side of the ball while posting an RMAC leading 2.82 doubles per game on offense.
• Doubles have been the Mountain Lions' staple so far this season with 62 total doubles, ranking them 12^th in Division II, with their doubles per game average ranking a stellar fifth in the country.
• Leading UCCS with a team high 25 RBI and five home runs is Stubbings who is hitting .329 on the season and holds a team high seven multi-RBI games.
• Producing a team best 10 multi-hit games is Kiichi Sato who currently paces the RMAC in doubles per game (0.52) and is second in the league in doubles (11) behind a team high .388 batting average.
• UCCS has plated 161 runs through 22 games with 88 runs coming in the first five innings, including a season high 30 runs scored in the sixth inning.
• Holding the lowest ERA is true freshman Brock Weiss at 4.66 as he's allowed just six hits and given up four walks for a 1.06 WHIP in 9.2 innings pitched out of the bullpen.
• Starter John Hoffman has limited the opposition to a batting average of .200 and has given up just 15 hits through 21.1 innings of work.
• Jonathan Cowles' seven strikeouts last Friday is the graduate students' second most strikeouts in a single game this season and the sixth time in his career that he's posted seven or more strikeouts.

 
UCCS Under Head Coach Dave Hajek

• Dave Hajek, who led UCCS to its first RMAC championship in program history, is in his sixth season as the Head Coach of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball program in 2022. He's coached the only MLB Draft pick in Zach Hall and the only All-Americans in Matt McDermott, Matt Clarke, Jake Anderson, and Evan Richards.
• In six seasons, Hajek holds a .544 winning percentage with a 122-103 overall record that includes, four RMAC Tournament appearances, one RMAC Tournament Championship, a 5-7 RMAC Tournament record, and one NCAA Tournament appearance.

 
Upcoming Games

• UCCS Baseball will travel north on I-25 to Golden, Colo. for a non-conference pod series between Colorado School of Mines and New Mexico Highlands University next week. The Mountain Lions will start the weekend with a 4 p.m. game against the Orediggers on Friday, Apr. 1.

 
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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.