COLORADO SPRINNGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team hit the ball all over a breezy Mountain Lion Park on Thursday as 10 extra base hits push the Mountain Lions to a 16-11 victory over Colorado Christian University in game one of the series.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 16, CCU 11
Records: UCCS (11-24, 6-11 RMAC), CCU (12-21, 8-9 RMAC)
Location: Mountain Lion Park | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Series: In 21 total games, the Mountain Lions have had the Cougar's number by boasting a record of 18-3, having won the last 13 matchups.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• UCCS'
Jonathan Cowles started off on the right foot by fanning CCU's leadoff batter in the first but a Frankie Shearn drag bunt gave the Cougars their first hit of the game. That setup CCU's home run leader Wyatt Crenshaw who went deep to right field for the 2-0 advantage.
• In the home half of the second it was the bottom of the UCCS lineup who tied the game up at two's as eight-hole hitter
Macully Sehr flared a triple down the right field line with two outs to bring in
Tyler Richardson. The next at-bat belonged to
Walker Rumsey who drove in the tying run with a double off the right center field fence for a new 2-2 ballgame through two innings of play.
• A half inning later, the Cougars retook the lead off an RBI single for the 3-2 lead but in the bottom of the fourth the Mountain Lions went back to work by plating two runs to swing the 4-3 advantage in their favor. Rumsey made another RBI appearance after a pair of singles from freshman
Brad Madison and Sehr setup an RBI double from Rumsey who peppered the left center field fence for a 3-3 game.
Jaeden Hegmann then followed up the extra base hit with an RBI of his own by scoring Sehr with a groundout to shortstop for the 4-3 UCCS lead.
• CCU continued to answer back by plating two runs in the top of the fifth after a Cowles balk gave CCU a run with a Jordan Medina single giving the Cougars their second run of the inning, giving them the 5-4 lead.
• But the bats remained hot for the Mountain Lions as Kit Wiginton roped a triple to right center to leadoff the inning as clean-up hitter
Caleb Stubbings tattooed a ball over the batter's eye to put the Mountain Lions back on top once again, 6-5. UCCS' offense wasn't finished in the bottom of the fifth as Sehr hammered a double down the left field line for two RBI to increase the Mountain Lions lead 8-5.
• In the sixth inning, CCU battled to cut the deficit to one run as a solo shot from pinch hitter Russell Cruz led a two-run spurt for an 8-7 ballgame.
• After scoring six runs in the last two innings, the Mountain Lion continued to cause more damage to the CCU pitching staff by hitting two moon shots provided by a solo home run from
Kiichi Sato and a two-run bomb from
Brad Madison to extend UCCS' lead, 11-7.
• With Cowles day wrapped up through six innings of work, reliever
Dylan Grierson took over on the bump by working out of a bases loaded jam with a punchout to maintain the four-run lead into the bottom of the seventh.
• The Mountain Lions showed no sign of slowing down as the bats continued to make noise by posting another four-run inning. Wigington was responsible for UCCS's 12
th run of the game after sending a single up the middle for an RBI, but the other three runs would belong to Stubbings who sent a belt-high fastball over the left field fence for a three-run home run, making it 16-7.
• Grierson mowed down the Cougars through the eighth inning then ran into some trouble in the ninth after another Cruz home run brought in three runs with a fourth run being driven in by a triple to make it 16-11 with two outs. Needing one last out, head coach
Dave Hajek made a call to the bullpen to bring on
JJ Rytz who did just that by providing a groundball putout to Sato to close out the game.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• The Mountain Lions and Cougars matched each other in hits (18) on Thursday with UCCS holding the advantage in extra base hits after tallying 10 XBH, including four home runs, four doubles, and two triples.
• Seven different Mountain Lions tallied one or more hits and one or more RBI as freshman
Macully Sehr was responsible for four of the team's hits after going a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs scored, three RBI, one triple, and one double.
• The RBI leader between both teams was
Caleb Stubbings who went deep twice in a 3-for-5 day to register five RBI.
• Graduate student
Jonathan Cowles grabs his fourth win of the season after tossing six innings while allowing seven runs and six earned on 10 hits with five strikeouts.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• There were a total of five different lead changes during Thursday's game.
• Caleb Stubbings hit two home runs for the third time this season and the second straight game to register his second game with five or more RBI.
• Macully Sehr becomes the fifth Mountain Lion to notch four hits in a single game.
• Brad Madison set a new career high and season high in both RBI and runs scored by driving in three Mountain Lions and scoring three times on a 2-for-4 afternoon that included a home run.
• Senior
Walker Rumsey tallied two doubles in one game for the second time this season after finishing 2-for-3.
• UCCS hit four home runs in a single game for the third time this season.
• UCCS' 16 runs ties for the second most runs scored in a single game this season.
UP NEXT:
• The Mountain Lions are back on the diamond tomorrow afternoon for games two and three against CCU with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. inside Mountain Lion Park.
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.
