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Isaiah J. Downing

PREVIEW | Softball Continues RMAC Play at Home Against Regis

3/8/2022 11:00:00 AM

By: Tyler Tvelia, Assistant Sports Information Director
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
  • The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team will host Regis University for a four-game set at Mountain Lion Field beginning on Saturday, March 12, with a doubleheader at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. The Mountain Lions and Rangers will continue their series on Sunday, March 13, as they will play another twin bill with games scheduled at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
GAME COVERAGE
  • Live stream and live stats links for the Mountain Lion's series against Regis can be found below. In addition to being streamed on the RMAC Network, this weekend's series will also be produced and streamed on YouTube by the UCCS Media Services team.
LAST TIME OUT
  • The Mountain Lions won their second consecutive conference series as they took three out of four games from the Black Hills State University Yellow Jackets on March 4-5. UCCS came out on top in both games of Friday's doubleheader before splitting the doubleheader with BHSU on Saturday.
  • In what was a tightly contested series with neither team earning a victory by more than three runs, it was the Mountain Lions who came out on top of the first game of the series by a score of 6-5. UCCS' power stroke came to life with home runs from Sawyer Brewster, Courtnie Heller and Peyton Reisman accounting for five of the six Mountain Lion runs, while redshirt junior Braelyne Crenshaw was excellent inside the circle as she pitched a complete game, allowing three earned runs and striking out 13 Yellow Jacket hitters.
  • In game two of Friday's doubleheader, the Mountain Lions continued to benefit from the long ball as home runs from Morgan Hernandez-Belew, Paige White and Brewster helped UCCS take a 7-3 lead to the bottom of the fifth inning. After a two-run home run by BHSU's Crystal Amaral in the bottom half of the inning made it a 7-5 game, Crenshaw continued her solid day as she came on in relief to pitch a scoreless final two innings and earn the save.
  • Black Hills State would flip the script in the first game of Saturday's twin bill, jumping out to a 3-0 advantage in the first inning before extending their lead to 7-2 after scoring runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. UCCS would get three runs back in their half of the sixth inning on an RBI single from White and a two-run home run by Heller, but the scoring would stop there as the Yellow Jackets took the third game of the series 7-5.
  • The fourth and final game of the series was a close one throughout as the Mountain Lions and Yellow Jackets traded runs in the fifth and sixth innings to result in a 4-4 tie heading into the seventh inning. A clutch two-run homer from Brewster and a run scored on a passed ball in the top half of the seventh helped UCCS break through for a 7-4 lead, and junior Lexi Rayburn pitched a perfect bottom half of the inning to earn the victory and clinch the series win.
  • For the series, the Mountain Lions recorded a .352 batting average at the plate while slugging 11 home runs and averaging just over six runs per game. Brewster was the leading run producer for UCCS with three home runs and six RBIs over the weekend while adding 17 total bases. Junior Solana Martinez was the team leader with seven hits against the Yellow Jacket pitching as she posted a .438 batting average for the weekend with three extra-base hits.
RMAC RECORD/STANDINGS
  • Regis earned a series sweep for the second straight week to move to 8-0 in conference play and stay atop the RMAC standings. Colorado Mesa University went 2-0 last week to remain a perfect 6-0 in conference but had the remaining two games of their series with Colorado School of Mines canceled due to inclement weather.
  • Colorado Christian University sits in third place in the conference at 5-1 after going 1-1 last week. The Cougars were also affected by inclement weather as the final two games of their series against Metropolitan State University Denver were nixed due to cold temperatures.
  • UCCS holds the fourth spot in the conference standings with a 6-2 record after earning series wins in each of their first two conference meetings. Just behind the Mountain Lions in fifth place is Colorado State University Pueblo with a 5-3 RMAC record.
  • Rounding out the rest of the conference standings are Black Hills State (3-5), Chadron State College (3-5), Fort Lewis College (3-5), New Mexico Highlands University (2-6), MSU Denver (1-5), Colorado School of Mines (1-5), and Adams State University (1-7).
THE SERIES
  • The Mountain Lions hold a record of 44-87 all-time against the Rangers but are 2-2 in their last four meetings with Regis, including an 11-0 win in the 2019 RMAC Tournament.
SCOUTING REGIS UNIVERSITY
  • The Rangers are off to a hot start to the 2022 conference season as they have recorded series sweeps over Adams State and New Mexico Highlands to claim the top spot in the RMAC standings at 8-0 and move their overall record to 13-8.
  • At the plate, Regis has registered a team batting average of .335 and are scoring an average of 7.19 runs per game throughout their first 21 games of the season. The Rangers hold the RMAC lead in multiple offensive categories, including total bases (306), triples (20), and stolen bases (40).
  • RU's trio of graduate student Allisha Martinez, sophomore Katherine Raper, and senior Jessi Case have each contributed heavily to the offensive success of the Rangers. Martinez leads the team with 28 hits and a .483 batting average along with her 1.448 OPS on the season, while Case and Raper have been the leading run manufacturers with a team leading 23 and 22 RBIs on the young season. Case, who paces the squad with six home runs, has also been formidable on the basepaths as she has gone a perfect 18-18 on her stolen base attempts this season.
  • Freshman Kylie Harpman has been excellent inside the circle for the Rangers thus far, holding a 6-3 record and throwing 56.0 innings with an even 3.00 ERA. Harpman has also limited baserunners as she maintains a 1.20 WHIP and has recorded 54 strikeouts.
HOT TAKES
  • The Mountain Lions are slashing to a .311 batting average across their first 14 games of the season and rank among the top three teams in the conference with 19 home runs. UCCS also ranks in the top-five in the league with a team OBP of .372.
  • After another strong series against BHSU, Brewster continues to lead the Mountain Lions in most offensive categories as she has posted 18 hits in 42 at bats for a .429 batting average and recorded four doubles and four home runs with 10 RBIs.
  • White and Martinez have also been exceptional at the plate this season, tying for second on the squad with 17 hits each. White also leads the team with her five home runs and 13 RBIs as she carries a .386 batting average.
  • On the basepaths, UCCS has been successful on 15 of their 16 stolen base attempts thus far, with sophomore Mia Perez leading the way with six stolen bases in six attempts.
  • The Mountain Lion pitching has been steady to this point in the season as the staff holds a combined 4.26 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 93.2 innings pitched.
  • Rayburn has come on strong this season with a 2.46 ERA through her first 31.1 innings this season and a record of 3-1 to show for it. The Bennett, Colo., native has tossed three complete games, including one shutout, and punched out 28 hitters across her six appearances (five starts).
  • Crenshaw is the team-leader in innings pitched with 34.2 innings and has pitched to a 4.64 ERA with a team-leading 41 strikeouts. The redshirt junior holds a 3-3 record on the season and sits tied with Rayburn with three complete games in her seven appearances.
  • Freshman Mackenzie Rutkoff has also appeared in seven games for UCCS this season, making one start, and has posted a solid 4.30 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 14.2 innings.
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH RICKI ROTHBAUER-STUBBS
  • Ricki Rothbauer-Stubbs, who picked up her 200th career Division II victory last season with a 9-7 win over Chadron State on March 8, enters her seventh season at the helm of the UCCS Softball program during the 2022 season. In her first six seasons as the head coach of the Mountain Lions, Rothbauer-Stubbs has collected 120 wins and made three appearances in the RMAC Tournament.
  • During the 2021 season, Rothbauer-Stubbs coached two players to the All-RMAC team with Brianna Santos receiving First Team honors and Solana Martinez being named as an Honorable Mention. She also led her team to great academic success, as Santos was named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team and 13 more softball student-athletes were named to the Honor Roll.
WEATHER
  • After a week full of projected winter conditions, Saturday's weather is expected to take a turn for the better with sunny skies and a high of 51 degrees.
  • Sunday's weather will feature more sunshine as temperatures are projected to reach as high as 57 degrees.
UPCOMING GAMES
  • The Mountain Lions will head out on their first road trip in over a month as they travel up north to take on Colorado School of Mines for a four-game series on March 19-20. 
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.  
 
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