THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

• The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team is set to close out the home portion of their schedule with a four-game series against New Mexico Highlands University on April 23-24 at Mountain Lion Field.
• Saturday's doubleheader is slated to begin at 12 p.m. while Sunday's action will get underway at 11 a.m. The Mountain Lions will honor their two graduating seniors, Bryn Horton and Sawyer Brewster, immediately following the conclusion of the second game on Sunday.

GAME COVERAGE

• Live stream and live stats links for the Mountain Lion's series against New Mexico Highlands can be found below.
  • Live Stream
  • Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT

• The Mountain Lions hosted the co-RMAC leader in the standings, Colorado Mesa University, for a four-game set on April 15-16 and were competitive throughout the weekend but ultimately ended the series 0-4 against the Mavericks.
• The nation's leading home run squad flashed their potential in the first inning of game one as Colorado Mesa used three long balls to take an early 5-0 lead. The Mavericks would be silenced by starting pitcher Braelyne Crenshaw in the middle innings, but CMU found their power stroke again in the sixth and seventh innings to earn a series-opening 10-4 victory.
• The Mountain Lions were done in by a pair of spectacular performances in the second game of the series, as CMU's Brandi Haller drove in five runs with a two-home run day and pitcher Shea Mauser tossed five innings of one-run ball to help the Mavericks to a 9-1 run-rule win.
• In the third game of the series, UCCS got on the board first against the conference's top pitcher, Paige Adair, with some aggressive baserunning and a Mavericks error leading to a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Adair would proceed to shut down the Mountain Lions the rest of the way as the Mavericks rallied to score one run in the third, two in the fourth, and another in the sixth for a 4-1 victory.
• The series finale turned out to be a instant classic with the Mountain Lions and Mavericks battling for an extra inning affair. With the game tied at two in the bottom of the seventh, UCCS got their first two batters of the inning on base, but a double play and fly out would thwart the rally and send the game to an eighth inning. Freshman Mackenzie Rutkoff, who pitched an excellent game against one of the top offenses in the nation, got the first two outs of the eighth inning before surrendering a pair of home runs that gave the Mavericks a 5-2 lead. After finishing the inning, the Mountain Lions were unable to muster enough offense in the bottom half of the inning as CMU earned the series sweep with a 5-2 victory in game four.

RMAC RECORD/STANDINGS

• Colorado Mesa University and Colorado Christian University remain tied at the top of the conference standings with records of 29-1. The Mavericks and Cougars will match up this weekend in a series that is likely to decide the regular season conference champion.
• Regis University took three out of four games from Colorado School of Mines last weekend to improve to 22-10 and extend their lead on the third spot in the RMAC standings.
• Metropolitan State University Denver went 1-3 in their series against Fort Lewis College and fell to 18-12 in conference play, but still hold on to the fourth seed in the standings.
• Despite being swept by Colorado Mesa, the Mountain Lions hold a 17-15 record in RMAC play and currently hold the fifth spot in the conference.
• Fort Lewis (15-17), Mines (14-16) and Colorado State University Pueblo (14-18) are each in contention for the sixth and final playoff spot with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
• Rounding out the rest of the conference standings are Chadron State College (9-21), Black Hills State University (8-24), Adams State University (6-24), and New Mexico Highlands University (5-27). 

THE SERIES

• The Mountain Lions hold a record of 59-50 all-time against New Mexico Highlands and UCCS is 8-6 in their last 14 games against the Cowgirls with each of those games being played on the road. UCCS' last home series with NMHU came during the 2017 season when the Mountain Lions took three out of four games against the Cowgirls.

SCOUTING NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS

• The Cowgirls enter the week on a 13-game slide that has seen their overall record fall to 7-35 and their conference record drop to 5-27. NMHU is slated to play a twin bill with Eastern New Mexico University this afternoon (April 19) before making their way to Colorado Springs, Colo. to match up with the Mountain Lions.
• As a team, New Mexico Highlands has recorded an overall batting average of .242 and are scoring an average of 2.81 runs per game.
• Freshman Heaven Medina leads the Cowgirls with a .298 batting average on the season and has slugged a team-high five home runs. Medina also leads the club in runs scored with 17 and ranks second on the team with 17 RBIs.
• Another impactful bat in the middle of the NMHU lineup has been junior Arianna Ramirez, who leads the team with 20 RBIs and 12 doubles while ranking second on the squad in batting average (.296), on base percentage (.377), hits (29), and home runs (2).
• Outfielder Camrynn Ziegler has started 40 of the Cowgirls 42 games and holds the team lead with 34 hits while scoring the second most runs with 17. The graduate student is also a threat on the bases as she stolen 11 bags in 13 attempts.
• Defensively, New Mexico Highlands carries a .944 fielding percentage and has turned 20 double plays, which ranks as the ninth most in the country.
• The Cowgirls pitching has struggled to a 7.23 ERA through 42 games, allowing a total of 257 earned runs in 248.2 innings pitched.
• Junior Nathalie Blattmann sits third in the conference with 20 games started as she has tossed a team-leading 107.2 innings with a 4.94 ERA and 78 strikeouts.

HOT TAKES

• Despite running into the best pitching staff in the conference last weekend, the Mountain Lion offense continues to rank well in the conference as they currently sit second in doubles per game (1.85), third in home runs (44), fourth in slugging percentage (.498), and fifth in batting average (.306) and runs scored per game (5.25).
• UCCS also ranks among the top-25 teams in the nation with their 1.85 doubles per game (19th) and 44 total home runs (21st).
• With eight games remaining in the regular season, the Mountain Lions' 44 home runs already ranks as the ninth-most in a single season in program history. The program record was set at 84 by the 2007 UCCS squad.
• Redshirt junior Sawyer Brewster has started 39 games for the Mountain Lions in the clean-up spot in the order and continues to lead the team in most offensive categories, including batting average (.397), OPS (1.243), hits (50), doubles (13), home runs (12), and total bases (99).
• In addition, Brewster has been among the top hitters in the RMAC this season as she ranks in the top 10 of the conference for batting average (ninth), home runs (T-fifth), slugging percentage (sixth), and total bases (sixth).
• The Mountain Lions have three players that have recorded 30 or more runs batted in, led by redshirt junior Peyton Reisman with 32. Freshman Paige White holds a tie for second on the team with Brewster at 31 RBIs on the season.
• White has also displayed a potent power stroke in her first collegiate season with nine home runs and the second highest slugging percentage on the team at .637.
• Freshman Brianna Jennings leads the team with 11 stolen bases, followed by sophomore Mia Perez with seven and redshirt junior Bryn Horton with five.
• In the circle, the Mountain Lions have posted the fifth-lowest ERA and WHIP in the conference with their marks of 4.55 and 1.70, respectively, across 263.1 innings pitched collectively.
• Redshirt junior Braelyne Crenshaw is the staff workhorse as she has tossed a team-leading 113.1 innings across 20 appearances (19 starts). The native of Aurora, Colo., has finished 11 of her 19 starts with complete games and currently holds a 4.14 ERA for the season.
• Crenshaw's 103 strikeouts this season rank as a career high and she currently sits in fifth-place all-time in the UCCS record book with 265 career strikeouts. She now sits 19 away from tying Taylor Reidhead for fourth in program history with 284 career strikeouts.

UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH RICKI ROTHBAUER-STUBBS

• Ricki Rothbauer-Stubbs, who picked up her 200^th career Division II victory last season with a 9-7 win over Chadron State on March 8, is currently in 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

• The weather on Saturday is expected to feature a high of 54 degrees with partly cloudy skies in the morning turning into showers later in the afternoon. On Sunday, there is a 40% chance for rain and snow showers in the morning with a daytime high of 49 degrees.

UPCOMING GAMES

• The Mountain Lions are set to close out the regular season next weekend on the road with a four-game set against Colorado State University Pueblo on April 29-30.

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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.