GOLDEN, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Colorado Springs baseball rallies a bounce back performance behind a stellar six-inning outing by
Cole Philip as the Mountain Lions claim a 6-4 neutral site win over New Mexico Highlands University in day two of RMAC pod play.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 6, NMHU 4
Records: UCCS (10-19, 5-7 RMAC), NMHU (9-22, 5-11 RMAC)
Location: Jim Darden Field | Golden, Colo.
Series: UCCS now holds a 22-6 all-time record over NMHU with Saturday's win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The first two innings rendered scoreless on both sides as UCCS starter
Cole Philip was ready out of the gate by sitting down the Cowboys in order through the first two innings and stranding a Cowboy at third base with a strikeout in the top of the third for his fourth punchout of the day.
• Then in the home half of the third, the Mountain Lions busted the game open with Kit Wiginton leading the way by supplying a two-run home run after
Macully Sehr started the inning with a single. The inning continued for UCCS as Faragallah drew a walk and advanced to third off a
Zac Dammel double down the right field line to setup
Matt Johnson with runners on second and third. With one swing of the bat, the Mountain Lions claimed another two runs as Johnson jumped on the first pitch to send it right back up the middle for a pair of RBI and a 4-0 UCCS lead.
• NMHU was able to get two back from Philips and cut the deficit in half in the top of the fourth as their second hit of the game went down as a double leadoff the inning. Philips bounced back to retire the next two hitters but John Kuhn kept the inning alive for the Cowboys with a two-run home run to bring the score to 4-2.
• The Mountain Lions saw two NMHU runs come across and matched that in the bottom half of the fourth as
Walker Rumsey received some help getting on base and it took it upon himself to come around to score. The senior reached on an error from the third basemen and proceeded to steal second base, advance to third on a passed ball, then took home on a wild pitch for a UCCS run. Sehr kept the inning going by driving a single through the right side as Wigington drew a walk to put Sehr in scoring position to bring up Faragallah who drove in the freshman with a single up the middle to retake a four-run lead, 6-2.
• With a four-run lead in hand, Philip went back to work to retire the Cowboys three-up and three-down in the fifth while taking it upon himself to get out of a runner on first and third jam by seeking revenge on Kuhn with a strikeout to end the sixth inning and his day on the mound.
• In the top of the seventh, freshman
Brock Weiss came in for relief and went after the Cowboys by bagging two outs on two batters, including a punch out of Allan Salas. The freshman reliever began the inning on a high note but quickly lost momentum as a single was followed by two straight walks to give NMHU bases loaded on two outs. A single to right field from Brandon Baier brought in two for the Cowboys but Weiss settled in to shut it down to maintain the 6-4 lead.
• NMHU struggled to touch Weiss in the final two innings as the Colorado native came into his own by tallying three strikeouts in the final six outs to register the save and chalk up a win for the Mountain Lions at a 6-4 final.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• A clean day on the field put a zero in the error column for UCCS as the Mountain Lions went on to outhit the Cowboys 13-6 as
Macully Sehr led all hitters with three hits and two runs scored in a 3-for-5 day at the plate.
• Both
Kit Wigington and
Matt Johnson supplied two RBI in the win as Wigington went 2-for-3 with a home run while Johnson finished the day 2-for-4.
• Redshirt freshman
Cole Philip had his best start as a Mountain Lion after going six full innings and allowing two runs on just three hits with six strikeouts.
• Freshman
Brock Weiss came in and closed the doors on NMHU by matching Philip's two runs on three hits while striking out five Cowboys in three innings on the bump.
• Seven different Mountain Lions tallied a hit on Saturday with all six runs scored coming from the top half of the lineup.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• Cole Philip notched his first career win in the black and gold with
Brock Weiss recording his first career save.
• After registering 11 team strikeouts, the Mountain Lion pitching staff has tallied double-digit strikeouts for the third consecutive game.
UP NEXT:
• UCCS Baseball returns to Jim Darden Field in Golden, Colo. tomorrow afternoon to close out RMAC pod play with a 2 p.m. game against Colorado School of Mines.
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.
